3 Mose 25

1 Mose wɔ Sinai Bepɔw so no, Awurade ka kyerɛɛ no se,

Yahweh said to Moses/me on Sinai Mountain,

2 “Ka kyerɛ Israelfo no se, ‘Sɛ mudu asase a mede rebɛma mo no so a, mfe ason biara, momma asase no nya Awurade mu homeda.

“Tell the Israelis [that I, Yahweh, say this]: When you enter the land that I am about to give you, every seventh year you must honor me by [not planting any seeds. You will be] allowing the ground to rest.

3 Momfa mfe asia nnua mo nnɔbae wɔ mo mfuw mu na munyiyi mo bobe nturo mu na muntwa mo nnɔbae.

For six years you are to plant seeds in your fields and prune your grapevines and harvest the crops.

4 Na mfe ason so no, asase no nna hɔ kwa wɔ Awurade anim. Monnyɛ so hwee. Munnnua so aba. Afe no nyinaa mu, munnyiyi mo bobe nturo no mu.

But the seventh/next year you must [dedicate] to me, and allow your fields to rest. Do not plant seeds in your fields or prune your grapevines [during that year].

5 Na aba biara a ebefifi no, monntew mfa, na bobe no nso, mommmoaboa ano mfa. Efisɛ ɛyɛ afe a ɛsɛ sɛ asase no home.

Do not reap [the grain] that grows in your fields without having been planted, or harvest the grapes that grow [without the vines being pruned]; you must allow the land to rest for that one year.

6 Nanso aba biara a asase no bɛma saa afe no bɛyɛ aduan ama wo ne wʼakoa, wʼafenaa, wo paani ne wo hɔho,

But you are permitted to eat whatever crops grow by themselves during that year without having been planted. You and your male and female servants, and workers whom you have hired, and people who are living among you temporarily are permitted to eat it.

7 wo nyɛmmoa ne wuram mmoa a ɛwɔ asase no so nyinaa. Munni biribiara a asase no bɛma biara.

Also, [during that year] your livestock and the wild animals in your land are permitted to eat it.’

8 “‘Bubu Homeda mfe ason, mfe ason ahorow ason, na wubenya mfe aduanan akron.

‘Also, after every 49 years has ended, you must do this: (On the tenth day of the seventh month/At the end of September) [of the next/50th year], blow trumpets throughout the country, to declare that it will be a day on which you request that I forgive you for the sins that you have committed.

9 Afei, ɔsram a ɛto so ason no da du no yɛ Mpata Da. Monhyɛn torobɛnto wɔ baabiara. Mpata Da no, monhyɛn torobɛnto no denneennen nkyɛ wɔ ɔman no mu baabiara.

10 Montew mfe aduonum no ho na mompae ahofadi mma wɔn a wɔtete asase no so mmaa nyinaa. Ɛbɛyɛ mfirihyia aduonum afahyɛ ama mo, na mo mu biara bɛsan akɔ asase a wɔde ama mo agyanom no so, na moakɔka mo abusuafo ho.

Set apart that year, and proclaim that throughout the country, it will be a year of restoring the land and freeing people: All the people [who sold their property] will receive back the property that they previously owned, and slaves must be (freed/allowed to return to [their property and] their families).

11 Mfe aduonum so no bɛyɛ mfirihyia aduonum afahyɛ ama mo; munnnua biribiara na munntwa nnɔbae biara, na bobe a moadua nso, monntew so aba.

That year will be a Year of Celebration; [during that year] do not plant anything, and do not harvest [in the usual way] the grain/wheat that grows without having been planted, or the grapes that grow without the vines being pruned.

12 Efisɛ ɛyɛ mfirihyia aduonum afahyɛ, na ɛsɛ sɛ ɛyɛ sononko na ɛho tew. Munni nea munya fi asase no mu nko ara.

It will be a Year of Celebration, so eat [only] what grows in the fields (by itself/without any work being done to produce anything).

13 “‘Saa mfirihyia aduonum afahyɛ yi, obiara bɛkɔ asase a wɔde maa nʼagyanom no so.

‘In that Year of Celebration, everyone must return to their own property.

14 “‘Sɛ wo ne wo yɔnko yɛ nhyehyɛe a wonam so retɔ anaa woretɔn agyapade bi a, ɛnsɛ sɛ obi sisi ne yɔnko.

‘If you sell some of your land to a fellow Israeli or if you buy some land from one of them, you must treat that person fairly:

15 Sɛ woretɔ asase afi wo yɔnko nkyɛn a, mobɛkan mfe dodow no so fa afi Mfirihyia Aduonum Afahyɛ a etwaa mu no. Ɔdetɔnfo no begye wo bo a egyina mfe dodow a aka ansa na mfirihyia aduonum afahyɛ a ɛreba no.

If you buy land, the price that you will pay will depend on the number of years there will be until the next Year of Celebration. If someone sells land to you, he will charge a price that is determined by the number of years until the next Year of Celebration.

16 Mfe no dodow na ɛma ɛbo no kɔ soro. Saa ara nso na mfe kakra bi ma ɛbo no kɔ fam. Eyinom nyinaa mu no, onipa a ɔretɔn asase no retɔn otwa dodow a wobetwa afi asase no so.

If there will be many years before the next Year of Celebration, the price will be higher; if there will be only a few years until the next Year of Celebration, the price will be lower. [You could say that] what he is really selling you is the number of crops [which you can harvest before the next Year of Celebration].

17 Munsuro mo Nyankopɔn na obi ansisi ne yɔnko. Na mene Awurade.

Do not cheat each other; instead, revere me. I, Yahweh your God, [am the one who am commanding this].

18 “‘Sɛ mopɛ sɛ motena asase no so asomdwoe mu de a, munni me mmara so.

‘Obey all my laws [DOU] carefully. If you do that, you will continue to live safely in your country [DOU].

19 Sɛ moyɛ osetie a, aduan bebu so wɔ asase no so na moadi amee wɔ asomdwoe mu.

And crops will grow well on the land, and you will have plenty to eat.

20 Mubebisa se, “Na sɛ wose yennnua anaa yenntwa saa afe no so a, dɛn na yebedi wɔ mfe ason no so no?”

But you may ask, “If we do not plant or harvest our crops during the seventh year, what will we have to eat?”

21 Mmuae ara ne sɛ, mfe asia no so, mehyira mo ama nnɔbae aba abu so kosi sɛ mubetwa mfe awotwe mu nnɔbae no.

[My answer is that] I will bless you very much during the sixth/previous year, with the result that during that year there will be enough crops to provide food for you for three years!

22 Sɛ mudua nnɔbae wɔ mfe awotwe no mu a, mobɛkɔ so adi afe a etwaa mu no mu nnuan. Nokware, nnuan dedaw no na mubedi akosi sɛ otwabere bedu so mfe akron no mu.

Then, after you plant seed during the eighth/next year [and wait for the crops to grow], you will eat the food grown in the sixth year, and continue to eat it until more food is harvested in the ninth year!

23 “‘Na monkae sɛ asase no yɛ me dea enti munni ho kwan sɛ motɔn no afebɔɔ. Moyɛ ahɔho na meyɛ asase wura ma mo.

‘You must not sell any of your land to belong to someone else permanently, because the land [is not yours, it]; is really mine, and you are only living on it temporarily and (farming/taking care of) it for me.

24 Asasetɔn mu no, ɛsɛ sɛ moyɛ nhyehyɛe sɛ asasetɔnfo no tumi san begye asase no bere biara.

Throughout the country that you will possess, you must remember that if someone sells some of his land to you, he is permitted to buy it back from you [if he wants to].

25 “‘Sɛ ohia hia obi ma ɔtɔn nʼasase fa bi a, nʼabusuafo tumi begye.

‘So, if one of your fellow Israelis becomes poor and sells some of his property [to obtain some money], the person who is most closely related to him is permitted to come and buy that land for him.

26 Sɛ onni obi a obegye ama no na sɛ ɔno ankasa nya sika a,

However, if a man has no one to buy the land for him, and he himself prospers again and saves enough money to buy that land back,

27 wɔbɛsese ɛso nnɔbae a wɔatwa ansa na Ahosɛpɛw Afe no reba na wɔagyina so atua ka no, na nea ɔtɔe no nso adan asase no ama no.

he must calculate how many years there will be until the next Year of Celebration. Then he must pay to the man who bought the land the money that he would have earned by continuing to grow crops on that land for those years.

28 Na sɛ nea asase no yɛ ne de no ankasa antumi annye a, ɛno de, ɛbɛyɛ nea ɔtɔ no dea ara kosi Mfirihyia Aduonum Afahyɛ no, na nea ɔtɔe no de onipa no ade asan ama no.

But if the original owner does not have any money to buy the land that he sold, it will continue to belong to the man who bought it, until the next Year of Celebration. In that year it must be returned to its original owner, and he will be able to live on it again.

29 “‘Sɛ obi tɔn ofi wɔ kurom a, ɔwɔ afe a otumi san gye nʼade a biribiara nsiw no ho kwan.

‘If someone who lives in a city that has a wall around it sells a house there, during the next year he will be permitted to buy it from the man who bought it.

30 Na sɛ afe no mu wantumi annye a, ɛbɛyɛ nea ɔtɔe no de korakora. Ɔrensan mfa mma onipa a kan no na ɛyɛ ne dea no wɔ Ahosɛpɛw Afe no mu.

If he does not buy it during that year, it will belong permanently to the man who bought it and to his descendants. It must not be returned to the original owner in the Year of Celebration.

31 Nanso akuraa dan a wɔntoo ɔfasu ntwaa ho nhyiae te sɛ agyapade a ɛwɔ wuram de, wotumi san kogye no bere biara, na Mfe Aduonum Afahyɛ mu no, ɛsɛ sɛ wɔsan de ma ne wura ankasa.

But houses that are in villages that do not have walls around them are considered to be as though they are in a field. So if someone sells one of those houses, he is permitted to buy it back at any time. And [if he does not buy it], it must be returned to him in the Year of Celebration.

32 “‘Asɛm baako bi na ɛnka ho. Lewifo afi a ɛwɔ nkurow a wɔde afasu atwa ho mu no, wotumi san gye no bere biara.

‘If any descendants of Levi sell their houses in the towns in which they live, they are permitted to buy them back at any time.

33 Enti Lewifo de, wotumi gye wɔn agyapade; wɔn kurow biara mu ofi a wɔtɔnee, ɛsɛ sɛ wɔdan ma wɔn wuranom wɔ Ahosɛpɛw Afe no mu, efisɛ afi no yɛ wɔn dea.

And because the houses in their towns are on land that [was given to them by] other Israelis, that land will become theirs again in the Year of Celebration [if they do not buy it back before then].

34 Ɛnsɛ sɛ wɔtɔn nsase a atwa Lewifo no nkurow ho ahyia, efisɛ eyinom yɛ wɔn agyapade afebɔɔ a ɛnsɛ sɛ wɔne obiara kyɛ.

But the pastureland near their towns must not be sold. It must belong to the original owners permanently/forever.

35 “‘Sɛ ohia hia wo nua a, ɛsɛ sɛ woboa no; ma no mmra ma ɔmmɛtena hɔ bi.

‘If one of your fellow Israelis becomes poor and is unable to buy what he needs [IDM], others of you must help him like you would help a foreigner who is living among you [DOU] temporarily.

36 Suro wo Nyankopɔn na ma wo nua ntena wo nkyɛn; na sɛ wobɔ no bosea a, nnye no ho mfɛntom.

[If you lend money to him], do not charge any kind of interest [DOU]. Instead, [show by what you do that you] revere me, your God, and help that man, in order that he will be able to continue to live among you.

37 Kae sɛ worennye ho mfɛntom biara; na ma no biribiara a ɛho hia no na ɛnyɛ wo ka. Mpɛ mfaso!

If you lend him money, do not charge interest; and if you sell food to him, [charge him only what you paid for it]; do not get a profit from it.

38 Efisɛ me Awurade a meyɛ mo Nyankopɔn no yii mo fii Misraim de Kanaan asase maa mo sɛnea mɛyɛ mo Nyankopɔn.

[Do not forget that] I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of Egypt to be your God and to give you the land of Canaan, [and I did not charge you for doing that].

39 “‘Sɛ ohia hia wo yɔnko Israelni na ɔtɔn ne ho ma wo a, nhyɛ ne so sɛ ɔdɔnkɔ;

‘If one of your fellow Israelis becomes poor and sells himself to you, do not force him to work like a slave.

40 na mmom, yɛ no sɛ obi a wutua no ne som a ɔsom ho ka, anaa fa no sɛ wo hɔho na ɔnsom wo nkosi Mfirihyia Aduonum Afahyɛ no.

Treat him like you treat workers that you hire or like someone who is living on your land temporarily. But he must work for you [only] until the Year of Celebration.

41 Edu saa bere no a, ɔne ne mma nyinaa tumi tu de wɔn agyapade nyinaa kɔ wɔn abusuafo nkyɛn.

During that year, you must free him, and he will go back to his family and to the property that his ancestors owned.

42 Efisɛ Israelfo no yɛ mʼasomfo a mede wɔn fi Misraim asase so bae; ɛnsɛ sɛ wɔtɔn wɔn sɛ nkoa.

[It is as though] you Israelis are my slaves/servants, whom I [freed from being slaves] in Egypt. So none of you should be sold to become slaves.

43 Mommfa atirimɔden nni wɔn so; munsuro mo Nyankopɔn.

And do not treat the Israelis whom you buy cruelly; instead, revere me, your God.

44 “‘Nanso mubetumi atɔ asomfo afi aman afoforo a atwa mo ho ahyia no so.

‘If you want to have slaves, you are permitted to buy them from nearby countries.

45 Saa ara nso na mutumi tɔ ahɔho a mo ne wɔn te no mma a ɛmfa ho sɛ wɔte mo mu.

You are also permitted to buy some of the foreigners who are living among you, and members of their clans that were born in your country. Then you will own them.

46 Mubetumi ayɛ wɔn nkoa afebɔɔ ama mo ne mo nkyirimma, nanso mo nuanom Israelfo no de, ɛnsɛ sɛ moyɛ wɔn saa.

They will be your slaves for the remaining years of your life, and after you die, it is permitted for your children to own them. But you must not act in brutal ways toward your fellow Israelis.

47 “‘Sɛ ɔhɔho a ɔte mo mu no bɛyɛ ɔdefo, na sɛ Israelni di hia, na ɔtɔn ne ho ma ɔhɔho no anaa ɔhɔho no abusuafo a,

‘If a foreigner who is living among you [DOU] becomes rich, and if one of your fellow Israelis becomes poor and sells himself to that foreigner or to a member of his clan/family,

48 ɔwɔ kwan sɛ wogye no wɔ ne tɔn akyi; ne nuanom bi tumi begye no.

it is permitted for someone to pay for him to be freed. It is permitted for one of his relatives to pay for him to be released:

49 Saa ara nso na ne wɔfa, ne wɔfaase anaa ne ho nipa bi a ɔbɛn no tumi gye no ara ne no. Sɛ ɔno ara nso benya sika a, otumi de begye ne ho.

An uncle or a cousin or another relative in his clan may pay for him to be released. Or, if he prospers [and gets enough money], he is permitted to pay for his own release.

50 Ne ho a obegye no gyina mfe a aka na Mfirihyia Aduonum Afahyɛ no adu ne sika dodow a sɛ anka wɔde kɔfaa ɔsomfo a, anka obegye saa mfe a aka no mu no so.

The man who wants to pay for his own release must count the number of years until the next Year of Celebration. The price he pays to the man who bought him will depend on the pay that would be given to a hired worker for that number of years.

51 Sɛ aka mfe pii ansa na Ahosɛpɛw Afe no aso a, obetua sika a ogyee wɔ bere a ɔtɔn ne ho no nyinaa.

If there are a lot of years that remain until the Year of Celebration, he must pay for his release a larger amount of the money.

52 Sɛ mfe no pii atwam ama aka kakra na Mfirihyia Aduonum Afahyɛ no adu a, ɛno de, obetua sika a ogyee bere a ɔtɔn ne ho no mu kakraa bi.

If there are only a few years that remain until the Year of Celebration, he must pay a smaller amount to be released.

53 Sɛ ɔtɔn ne ho ma ɔhɔho a, ɔhɔho no bɛfa no sɛ ne somfo a otua no ka. Ɛnsɛ sɛ ɔfa no sɛ ne somfo koraa anaa nʼagyapade.

During the years that he is working for the man who bought him, the man who bought him must treat him like he would treat a hired worker, and all of you must make sure that his owner does not treat him cruelly.

54 “‘Sɛ Mfirihyia Aduonum Afahyɛ no du na wonnyee no a, wobegyaa ɔne ne mma nyinaa,

‘And even if a fellow Israeli who has sold himself to a rich man is not able to pay for himself to be freed by any of these ways, he and his children must be freed in the Year of Celebration,

55 efisɛ wɔyɛ mʼasomfo. Mede wɔn fi Misraim na ɛbae. Mene Awurade mo Nyankopɔn no.

because [it is as though] you Israelis are my slaves/servants, whom I, Yahweh your God, freed from [being slaves in] Egypt.’”