Leviticus 25

1 The Lord told Moses on Mount Sinai,

And the LORD spoke to 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 to the children of Israel, and say to them, When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath to 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 fruit 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 rest to the land, a sabbath for 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 its own accord of thy harvest, thou shalt not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed: [for] it is a year of rest to 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 food for you; for thee, and for thy servant, and for thy maid, and for thy hired servant, and for thy stranger that sojourneth 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 beast that [are] in thy land, shall all the increase of it be 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 to thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be to thee 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 cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound, on the tenth [day] of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound 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 [all] the land to all its inhabitants: it shall be a jubilee to you; and ye shall return every man to his possession, and ye shall return every man to 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 jubilee shall that fiftieth year be to you: ye shall not sow, neither reap that which groweth of itself in it, nor gather [the grapes] in it of thy vine undressed.

12 It is a Jubilee and it is to be holy to you. You can eat whatever the land produces.

For it [is] the jubilee; it shall be holy to you: ye shall eat the increase of it out of the field.

13 In this Jubilee Year, every one of you shall return to your own property.

In the year of this jubilee ye shall return every man to his possession.

14 If you sell land to your neighbor, or buy land from him, don't exploit one another.

And if thou shalt sell aught to thy neighbor, or buy [aught] of thy neighbor's hand, ye shall not oppress 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 jubilee thou shalt buy of thy neighbor, [and] according to the number of years of the fruits he shall sell to 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 years thou shalt increase the price of it, and according to the fewness of years thou shalt diminish the price of it: for [according] to the number [of the years] of the fruits doth he sell to thee.

17 Don't exploit one another, but have respect for your God, because I am the Lord your God.

Ye shall not therefore oppress 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 in it 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 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 old fruit until the ninth year; until its fruits come in ye shall eat [of] 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.

The land shall not be sold for ever; 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 shall have become poor, and have sold [some] of his possession, and if any of his kin shall come to redeem it, then shall he redeem that which his brother 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 the man shall have none to redeem it, and himself be able 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 of it, and restore the overplus to the man to whom he sold it; that he may return to 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 shall not be able to restore [it] to him, then that which is sold shall remain in the hand of him that hath bought it until the year of jubilee: and in the jubilee it shall go out, and he shall return to 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 shall sell a dwelling-house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it is sold: [within] a full year may he redeem it.

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 shall not be redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house that [is] in the walled city shall be established for ever to him that bought it, throughout his generations: it shall not go out in the jubilee,

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 walls around them, shall be counted as the fields of the country: they may be redeemed, and they shall go out in the jubilee.

32 However, the Levites always have the right to buy back their houses in the towns that belong to them.

Notwithstanding the cities of the Levites, [and] 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 a man shall purchase of the Levites, then the house that was sold, and the city of his possession shall go out in the [year of] jubilee; 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 shall have become poor, and fallen in decay with thee; then thou shalt relieve him: [yea, though he] may [be] a stranger, or a sojourner; that he may 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 interest 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 interest, nor lend 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, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, [and] 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 [that dwelleth] by thee shall have become poor, and be sold to thee; thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bond servant:

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.

[But] as a hired servant, [and] as a sojourner he shall be with thee, [and] shall serve thee to the year of jubilee.

41 Then they and their children must be freed, and they can go back to their family and to their family's property.

And [then] shall he depart from thee, [both] he and his children with him, and shall return to his own family, and to 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 out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as bond-men.

43 Don't treat them with brutality. Have respect for your God.

Thou shalt not rule over him with rigor, but shalt fear thy God.

44 Buy your male and female slaves from the surrounding nations.

Both thy bond-men, and thy bond-maids, which thou shalt have, [shall be] of the heathen that are around you; of them shall ye buy bond-men and bond-maids.

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 sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy, and of their families that are with you, which they begat 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 take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit [them for] a possession, they shall be your bond-men for ever: but over your brethren the children of Israel, ye shall not rule one over another with rigor.

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 sojourner or a stranger shall become rich by thee, and thy brother [that dwelleth] by him shall become poor, and sell himself to the stranger [or] sojourner by 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 again; 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.

Either his uncle, or his uncle's son may redeem him, or [any] that is nigh of kin to him of his family, may redeem him; or if he is able, 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 was sold to him, to the year of jubilee: and the price of his sale shall be according to the number of years, according to the time of a hired servant shall it be with him.

51 If there are many years left, they must pay a larger percentage of the purchase price.

If [there shall be] yet many years [behind], according to them he shall give again 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 shall remain but few years to the year of jubilee, then he shall count with him, [and] according to his years shall he give him again 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.

[And] as a yearly hired servant shall he be with him: [and the other] shall not rule with rigor 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 shall not be redeemed in these [years], then he shall go out in the year of jubilee, [both] 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 to me the children of Israel [are] servants, they [are] my servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt: I [am] the LORD your God.