Leviticus 25
1 The Lord told Moses on Mount Sinai,
And the LORD spake unto Moses in mount Sinai, saying,
2 “Tell the Israelites: When you enter the land that I'm giving you, the land itself must also observe a Sabbath rest in honor of the Lord.
Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the LORD.
3 Six years you can cultivate your fields, take care of your vineyards, and harvest your crops.
Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruits thereof;
4 But the seventh year is to be a Sabbath of complete rest for the land, a Sabbath in honor of the Lord. Don't plant your fields or care for your vineyards.
but in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a sabbath unto the LORD: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.
5 Don't harvest what may have grown up in your fields, or collect the grapes from your vineyards that you haven't cared for. The land is to have a year of complete rest.
That which groweth of itself of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, and the grapes of thy undressed vine thou shalt not gather: it shall be a year of solemn rest for the land.
6 You can eat whatever the land produces during the Sabbath year. This applies to yourself, your male and female slaves, paid workers and foreigners who live with you,
And the sabbath of the land shall be for food for you; for thee, and for thy servant and for thy maid, and for thy hired servant and for thy stranger that sojourn with thee;
7 and to your livestock and the wild animals living in your land. Whatever grows can be used for food.
and for thy cattle, and for the beasts that are in thy land, shall all the increase thereof be for food.
8 Count seven ‘sabbaths’ of years, in other words, seven times seven years, so that the seven sabbaths of years come to forty-nine years.
And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and there shall be unto thee the days of seven sabbaths of years, even forty and nine years.
9 Then blow the trumpet all through the country on the tenth day of the seventh month, which is the Day of Atonement. Make sure this signal is heard throughout your whole country.
Then shalt thou send abroad the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month; in the day of atonement shall ye send abroad the trumpet throughout all your land.
10 You are to dedicate the fiftieth year and announce freedom everywhere in the country for all who live there. This is to be your Jubilee, when each of you is to return to reclaim your property and to be part of your family once more.
And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.
11 The fiftieth year will be a Jubilee for you. Don't sow the land; don't harvest what may have grown up in your fields, or collect the grapes from your vineyards that you haven't cared for.
A jubile shall that fiftieth year be unto you: ye shall not sow, neither reap that which groweth of itself in it, nor gather [the grapes] in it of the undressed vines.
12 It is a Jubilee and it is to be holy to you. You can eat whatever the land produces.
For it is a jubile; it shall be holy unto you: ye shall eat the increase thereof out of the field.
13 In this Jubilee Year, every one of you shall return to your own property.
In this year of jubile ye shall return every man unto his possession.
14 If you sell land to your neighbor, or buy land from him, don't exploit one another.
And if thou sell aught unto thy neighbour, or buy of thy neighbour’s hand, ye shall not wrong one another:
15 When you buy from your neighbor work out how many years have passed since the last Jubilee, for he is to sell to you depending on how many years of harvest remain.
according to the number of years after the jubile thou shalt buy of thy neighbour, [and] according unto the number of years of the crops he shall sell unto thee.
16 The more years that are left, the more you shall pay; the fewer years that are left, the less you shall pay, because he is actually selling you a specific number of harvests.
According to the multitude of the years thou shalt increase the price thereof, and according to the fewness of the years thou shalt diminish the price of it; for the number of the crops doth he sell unto thee.
17 Don't exploit one another, but have respect for your God, because I am the Lord your God.
And ye shall not wrong one another; but thou shalt fear thy God: for I am the LORD your God.
18 Keep my rules and observe my regulations, so you can live in safety in the land.
Wherefore ye shall do my statutes, and keep my judgments and do them; and ye shall dwell in the land in safety.
19 Then the land will produce good harvest, so you will have plenty to eat and live in safety there.
And the land shall yield her fruit, and ye shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety.
20 But if you ask, ‘What are we going to in the seventh year if we do not sow or harvest our crops?’
And if ye shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase:
21 I will bless you in the sixth year, so that the land will produce a crop that will be enough for three years.
then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for the three years.
22 As you sow in the eighth year, you will still be eating from that harvest, which will last until your harvest in the ninth year.
And ye shall sow the eighth year, and eat of the fruits, the old store; until the ninth year, until her fruits come in, ye shall eat the old store.
23 Land must not be permanently sold, because it really belongs to me. To me you are only foreigners and travelers passing through.
And the land shall not be sold in perpetuity; for the land is mine: for ye are strangers and sojourners with me.
24 So whatever land you buy to own, you must make arrangements so it can be returned to its original owner.
And in all the land of your possession ye shall grant a redemption for the land.
25 If one of your people becomes poor and sells you some of their land, their close family can come and buy back what they have sold.
If thy brother be waxen poor, and sell some of his possession, then shall his kinsman that is next unto him come, and shall redeem that which his brother hath sold.
26 However, if they don't have anyone who can buy it back, but in the meantime their financial situation improves and they have enough to buy back the land,
And if a man have no one to redeem it, and he be waxen rich and find sufficient to redeem it;
27 they will work how many years it has been since the sale, and pay back the balance to the person who bought it, and go back to their property
then let him count the years of the sale thereof, and restore the overplus unto the man to whom he sold it; and he shall return unto his possession.
28 If they can't raise enough to pay the person back for the land, the buyer will remain its owner until the Jubilee Year. But in the Jubilee the land will be returned so that the original owner can so that they can go back to their property.
But if he be not able to get it back for himself, then that which he hath sold shall remain in the hand of him that hath bought it until the year of jubile: and in the jubile it shall go out, and he shall return unto his possession.
29 If someone sells a house located in a walled town, they have the right to buy it back for a full year after selling it. It can be bought back any time during that year.
And if a man sell a dwelling house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it is sold; for a full year shall he have the right of redemption.
30 If it isn't bought back be the end of a full year, then ownership of the house in the walled town is permanently transferred to the one who bought it and their descendants. It won't be returned in the Jubilee.
And if it be not redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house that is in the walled city shall be made sure in perpetuity to him that bought it, throughout his generations: it shall not go out in the jubile.
31 But houses in villages that don't have walls around them are to be treated as located in the fields. They can be bought back, and will be returned in the Jubilee.
But the houses of the villages which have no wall round about them shall be reckoned with the fields of the country: they may be redeemed, and they shall go out in the jubile.
32 However, the Levites always have the right to buy back their houses in the towns that belong to them.
Nevertheless the cities of the Levites, the houses of the cities of their possession, may the Levites redeem at any time.
33 Whatever the Levites own can be bought back, even houses sold in their towns, and must be returned in the Jubilee. That's because the houses in the towns of the Levites are what they were given to own as their share among the Israelites.
And if one of the Levites redeem, then the house that was sold, and the city of his possession, shall go out in the jubile: for the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Israel.
34 However, the fields surrounding their towns must not be sold because they belong to the Levites permanently.
But the field of the suburbs of their cities may not be sold; for it is their perpetual possession.
35 If any of your people become poor and can't survive, you must help them in the same way you would help a foreigner or a stranger, so that they can go on living in your neighborhood.
And if thy brother be waxen poor, and his hand fail with thee; then thou shalt uphold him: [as] a stranger and a sojourner shall he live with thee.
36 Don't make them pay you any interest or demand more than they borrowed, but respect your God so that they can remain living in your area.
Take thou no usury of him or increase; but fear thy God: that thy brother may live with thee.
37 Don't lend them silver with interest or sell them food at an inflated price.
Thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury, nor give him thy victuals for increase.
38 Remember, I am the Lord your God who led you out of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God.
I am the LORD your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, to be your God.
39 If any of your people become poor and have to sell themselves to work for you, don't force them to work as a slave.
And if thy brother be waxen poor with thee, and sell himself unto thee; thou shalt not make him to serve as a bondservant:
40 Have them live with you like a paid worker who is staying with you for a while. They are to work for you until the Jubilee Year.
as an hired servant, and as a sojourner, he shall be with thee; he shall serve with thee unto the year of jubile:
41 Then they and their children must be freed, and they can go back to their family and to their family's property.
then shall he go out from thee, he and his children with him, and shall return unto his own family, and unto the possession of his fathers shall he return.
42 Israelites are not to be sold as slaves because they belong to me as my slaves—I led them out of Egypt.
For they are my servants, which I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: they shall not be sold as bondmen.
43 Don't treat them with brutality. Have respect for your God.
Thou shalt not rule over him with rigour; but shalt fear thy God.
44 Buy your male and female slaves from the surrounding nations.
And as for thy bondmen, and thy bondmaids, which thou shalt have; of the nations that are round about you, of them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids.
45 You can also buy them from foreigners who have come to live among you, or from their descendants born in your land. You can treat them as your property.
Moreover of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy, and of their families that are with you, which they have begotten in your land: and they shall be your possession.
46 You can pass them on to your children to inherit as property after you die. You can make them slaves for life, but you must not brutally treat any of your own people, the Israelites, as a slave.
And ye shall make them an inheritance for your children after you, to hold for a possession; of them shall ye take your bondmen for ever: but over your brethren the children of Israel ye shall not rule, one over another, with rigour.
47 If a foreigner among you becomes successful, and one of your people living nearby becomes poor and sells themselves to the foreigner or to a member of the foreigner's family,
And if a stranger or sojourner with thee be waxen rich, and thy brother be waxen poor beside him, and sell himself unto the stranger [or] sojourner with thee, or to the stock of the stranger’s family:
48 they still have the right of being bought back after the sale. A member of their family can buy them back—
after that he is sold he may be redeemed; one of his brethren may redeem him:
49 an uncle or cousin or any close relative from their family can buy them back. If they become successful, they can buy themselves back.
or his uncle, or his uncle’s son, may redeem him, or any that is nigh of kin unto him of his family may redeem him; or if he be waxen rich, he may redeem himself.
50 The person concerned and their buyer will work out the time from the year of the sale up to the Jubilee Year. The price will depend on the number of years, calculated using the daily rate for a paid worker.
And he shall reckon with him that bought him from the year that he sold himself to him unto the year of jubile: and the price of his sale shall be according unto the number of years; according to the time of an hired servant shall he be with him.
51 If there are many years left, they must pay a larger percentage of the purchase price.
If there be yet many years, according unto them he shall give back the price of his redemption out of the money that he was bought for.
52 If there are only a few years remaining before the Jubilee Year, then they only have to pay a percentage depending on the number of years still left.
And if there remain but few years unto the year of jubile, then he shall reckon with him; according unto his years shall he give back the price of his redemption.
53 They are to live with their foreign owner just like a paid worker, hired from year to year, but see to it that the owner doesn't treat him brutally.
As a servant hired year by year shall he be with him: he shall not rule with rigour over him in thy sight.
54 If they are not bought back in any of the ways described, they and their children shall be freed in the Jubilee Year.
And if he be not redeemed by these [means], then he shall go out in the year of jubile, he, and his children with him.
55 For the Israelites belong to me as my slaves. They are my slaves—I led them out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.”
For unto me the children of Israel are servants; they are my servants whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
