Leviticus 25

1 The Lord told Moses on Mount Sinai,

The LORD said to Moses on Mount Sinai,

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 tell them, ‘When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall keep a Sabbath to the LORD.

3 Six years you can cultivate your fields, take care of your vineyards, and harvest your crops.

You shall sow your field six years, and you shall prune your vineyard six years, and gather in its fruits;

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 there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the LORD. You shall not sow your field or prune your 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.

What grows of itself in your harvest you shall not reap, and you shall not gather the grapes of your undressed vine. 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,

The Sabbath of the land shall be for food for you; for yourself, for your servant, for your maid, for your hired servant, and for your stranger, who lives as a foreigner with you.

7 and to your livestock and the wild animals living in your land. Whatever grows can be used for food.

For your livestock also, and for the animals that are in your land, shall all its increase 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.

“‘You shall count off seven Sabbaths of years, seven times seven years; and there shall be to you the days of seven Sabbaths of years, even forty-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 you shall sound the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month. On the Day of Atonement you shall sound 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.

You shall make the fiftieth year holy, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee to you; and each of you shall return to his own property, and each of you shall return 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.

That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee to you. In it you shall not sow, neither reap that which grows of itself, nor gather from 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 jubilee; it shall be holy to you. You shall eat of its increase out of the field.

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

“‘In this Year of Jubilee each of you shall return to his property.

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

“‘If you sell anything to your neighbour, or buy from your neighbour, you 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 Jubilee you shall buy from your neighbour. According to the number of years of the crops he shall sell to you.

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 length of the years you shall increase its price, and according to the shortness of the years you shall diminish its price; for he is selling the number of the crops to you.

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

You shall not wrong one another, but you shall fear your 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.

“‘Therefore you shall do my statutes, and keep my ordinances and do them; and you 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.

The land shall yield its fruit, and you 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?’

If you said, “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 on you in the sixth year, and it shall bear 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.

You shall sow the eighth year, and eat of the fruits from the old store until the ninth year. Until its fruits come in, you 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.

“‘The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine; for you are strangers and live as foreigners with me.

24 So whatever land you buy to own, you must make arrangements so it can be returned to its original owner.

In all the land of your possession you 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 your brother becomes poor, and sells some of his possessions, then his kinsman who is next to him shall come, and redeem that which his brother has 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,

If a man has no one to redeem it, and he becomes prosperous and finds sufficient means 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 reckon the years since its sale, and restore the surplus to the man to whom he sold it; and he shall return to his property.

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 isn’t able to get it back for himself, then what he has sold shall remain in the hand of him who has bought it until the Year of Jubilee. In the Jubilee it shall be released, and he shall return to his property.

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.

“‘If a man sells a dwelling house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it has been sold. For a full year he shall 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.

If it isn’t 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 who bought it, throughout his generations. It shall not be released 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 wall around them shall be accounted for with the fields of the country: they may be redeemed, and they shall be released in the Jubilee.

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

“‘Nevertheless, in the cities of the Levites, the Levites may redeem the houses in the cities of their possession 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.

The Levites may redeem the house that was sold, and the city of his possession, and it shall be released in the Jubilee; for the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession amongst 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 pasture lands 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.

“‘If your brother has become poor, and his hand can’t support himself amongst you, then you shall uphold him. He shall live with you like an alien and a temporary resident.

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 no interest from him or profit; but fear your God, that your brother may live amongst you.

37 Don't lend them silver with interest or sell them food at an inflated price.

You shall not lend him your money at interest, nor give him your food for profit.

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.

“‘If your brother has grown poor amongst you, and sells himself to you, you shall not make him to serve as a slave.

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 a hired servant, and as a temporary resident, he shall be with you; he shall serve with you until 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.

Then he shall go out from you, he and his children with him, and shall return to his own family, and to the possession of his fathers.

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, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt. They shall not be sold as slaves.

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

You shall not rule over him with harshness, but shall fear your God.

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

“‘As for your male and your female slaves, whom you may have from the nations that are around you, from them you may buy male and female slaves.

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 aliens who live amongst you, of them you may buy, and of their families who are with you, which they have conceived in your land; and they will be your property.

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.

You may make them an inheritance for your children after you, to hold for a possession. Of them you may take your slaves forever, but over your brothers the children of Israel you shall not rule, one over another, with harshness.

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,

“‘If an alien or temporary resident with you becomes rich, and your brother beside him has grown poor, and sells himself to the stranger or foreigner living amongst you, or to a member 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 he is sold he may be redeemed. One of his brothers 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 who is a close relative to him of his family may redeem him; or if he has grown 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.

He shall reckon with him who bought him from the year that he sold himself to him to the Year of Jubilee. The price of his sale shall be according to the number of years; he shall be with him according to the time of a hired servant.

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

If there are yet many years, according to 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.

If there remain but a few years to the year of jubilee, then he shall reckon with him; according to his years of service he shall 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 harshness over him in your 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.

If he isn’t redeemed by these means, then he shall be released in the Year of Jubilee: 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.