Leviticus 25
1 AND the Lord spake unto Moses in mount Sinai, saying,
The Lord told Moses on Mount Sinai,
2 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.
“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.
3 Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof;
Six years you can cultivate your fields, take care of your vineyards, and harvest your crops.
4 But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the Lord: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.
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.
5 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 unto 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. The land is to have a year of complete rest.
6 And the sabbath of the land shall be meat 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,
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,
7 And for thy cattle, and for the beast that are in thy land, shall all the increase thereof be meat.
and to your livestock and the wild animals living in your land. Whatever grows can be used for food.
8 And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years.
Count seven ‘sabbaths’ of years, in other words, seven times seven years, so that the seven sabbaths of years come to forty-nine years.
9 Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubile 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.
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.
10 And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all 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.
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.
11 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 thy vine undressed.
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.
12 For it is the jubile; it shall be holy unto you: ye shall eat the increase thereof out of the field.
It is a Jubilee and it is to be holy to you. You can eat whatever the land produces.
13 In the year of this jubile ye shall return every man unto his possession.
In this Jubilee Year, every one of you shall return to your own property.
14 And if thou sell ought unto thy neighbour, or buyest ought of thy neighbour’s hand, ye shall not oppress one another:
If you sell land to your neighbor, or buy land from him, don't exploit one another.
15 According to the number of years after the jubile thou shalt buy of thy neighbour, and according unto the number of years of the fruits he shall sell unto thee:
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.
16 According to the multitude of years thou shalt increase the price thereof, 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 unto thee.
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.
17 Ye shall not therefore oppress one another; but thou shalt fear thy God: for I am the Lord your God.
Don't exploit one another, but have respect for your God, because I am the Lord your God.
18 Wherefore ye shall do my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them; and ye shall dwell in the land in safety.
Keep my rules and observe my regulations, so you can live in safety in the land.
19 And the land shall yield her fruit, and ye shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety.
Then the land will produce good harvest, so you will have plenty to eat and live in safety there.
20 And if ye shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase:
But if you ask, ‘What are we going to in the seventh year if we do not sow or harvest our crops?’
21 Then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years.
I will bless you in the sixth year, so that the land will produce a crop that will be enough for three years.
22 And ye shall sow the eighth year, and eat yet of old fruit until the ninth year; until her fruits come in ye shall eat of the old store.
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.
23 The land shall not be sold for ever: for the land is mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with me.
Land must not be permanently sold, because it really belongs to me. To me you are only foreigners and travelers passing through.
24 And in all the land of your possession ye shall grant a redemption for the land.
So whatever land you buy to own, you must make arrangements so it can be returned to its original owner.
25 If thy brother be waxen poor, and hath sold away some of his possession, and if any of his kin come to redeem it, then shall he redeem that which his brother sold.
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.
26 And if the man have none to redeem it, and himself be able to redeem it;
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,
27 Then let him count the years of the sale thereof, and restore the overplus unto the man to whom he sold it; that he may return unto his possession.
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
28 But if he be not 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 jubile: and in the jubile it shall go out, and he shall return unto his possession.
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.
29 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; within a full year may he redeem it.
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.
30 And if it be not 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 jubile.
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.
31 But the houses of the villages which have no wall round about them shall be counted as the fields of the country: they may be redeemed, and they shall go out in the jubile.
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.
32 Notwithstanding the cities of the Levites, and the houses of the cities of their possession, may the Levites redeem at any time.
However, the Levites always have the right to buy back their houses in the towns that belong to them.
33 And if a man purchase of the Levites, then the house that was sold, and the city of his possession, shall go out in the year of jubile: for the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Israel.
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.
34 But the field of the suburbs of their cities may not be sold; for it is their perpetual possession.
However, the fields surrounding their towns must not be sold because they belong to the Levites permanently.
35 And if thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen in decay with thee; then thou shalt relieve him: yea, though he be a stranger, or a sojourner; that he may live with thee.
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.
36 Take thou no usury of him, or increase: but fear thy God; that thy brother may live with thee.
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.
37 Thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury, nor lend him thy victuals for increase.
Don't lend them silver with interest or sell them food at an inflated price.
38 I am the Lord your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your God.
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.
39 And if thy brother that dwelleth by thee be waxen poor, and be sold unto thee; thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bondservant:
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.
40 But as an hired servant, and as a sojourner, he shall be with thee, and shall serve thee unto the year of jubile:
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.
41 And then shall he depart from thee, both he and his children with him, and shall return unto his own family, and unto the possession of his fathers shall he return.
Then they and their children must be freed, and they can go back to their family and to their family's property.
42 For they are my servants, which I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: they shall not be sold as bondmen.
Israelites are not to be sold as slaves because they belong to me as my slaves—I led them out of Egypt.
43 Thou shalt not rule over him with rigour; but shalt fear thy God.
Don't treat them with brutality. Have respect for your God.
44 Both thy bondmen, and thy bondmaids, which thou shalt have, shall be of the heathen that are round about you; of them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids.
Buy your male and female slaves from the surrounding nations.
45 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 begat in your land: and they shall be your possession.
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.
46 And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them for a possession; they shall be your bondmen for ever: but over your brethren the children of Israel, ye shall not rule one over another with rigour.
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.
47 And if a sojourner or stranger wax rich by thee, and thy brother that dwelleth by him wax poor, and sell himself unto the stranger or sojourner by thee, or to the stock of the stranger’s family:
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,
48 After that he is sold he may be redeemed again; one of his brethren may redeem him:
they still have the right of being bought back after the sale. A member of their family can buy them back—
49 Either 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 able, he may redeem himself.
an uncle or cousin or any close relative from their family can buy them back. If they become successful, they can buy themselves back.
50 And he shall reckon with him that bought him from the year that he was sold 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 it be with him.
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.
51 If there be yet many years behind, according unto them he shall give again the price of his redemption out of the money that he was bought for.
If there are many years left, they must pay a larger percentage of the purchase price.
52 And if there remain but few years unto the year of jubile, then he shall count with him, and according unto his years shall he give him again the price of his redemption.
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.
53 And as a yearly hired servant shall he be with him: and the other shall not rule with rigour over him in thy sight.
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.
54 And if he be not redeemed in these years, then he shall go out in the year of jubile, both he, and his children with him.
If they are not bought back in any of the ways described, they and their children shall be freed in the Jubilee Year.
55 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.
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.”
