Leviticus 25
25
The Sabbatic Year and Year of Jubilee
1The Lord then spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai, saying, 2“Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you come into the land which I shall give you, then the land shall have a sabbath to the Lord. 3Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its crop, 4but during the seventh year the land shall have a sabbath rest, a sabbath to the Lord; you shall not sow your field nor prune your vineyard. 5Your harvest’s #Lit growth from spilled kernelsaftergrowth you shall not reap, and your grapes of untrimmed vines you shall not gather; the land shall have a sabbatical year. 6All of you shall have the sabbath products of the land for food; yourself, and your male and female slaves, and your hired man and your foreign resident, those who live as aliens with you. 7Even your cattle and the animals that are in your land shall have all its crops to eat.
8‘You are also to count off seven sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years, so that you have the time of the seven sabbaths of years, namely, forty-nine years. 9You shall then sound a ram’s horn abroad on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the day of atonement you shall sound a horn all through your land. 10You shall thus consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim #Or libertya release through the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, and each of you shall return to his own property, and each of you shall return to his family. 11You shall have the fiftieth year as a jubilee; you shall not sow, nor reap its aftergrowth, nor gather in from its untrimmed vines. 12For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you. You shall eat its crops out of the field.
13‘On this year of jubilee each of you shall return to his own property. 14If you make a sale, moreover, to your friend or buy from your friend’s hand, you shall not wrong one another. 15Corresponding to the number of years after the jubilee, you shall buy from your friend; he is to sell to you according to the number of years of crops. 16In proportion to the extent of the years you shall increase its price, and in proportion to the fewness of the years you shall diminish its price, for it is a number of crops he is selling to you. 17So you shall not wrong one another, but you shall fear your God; for I am the Lord your God.
18‘You shall thus observe My statutes and keep My judgments, so as to carry them out, that you may live securely on the land. 19Then the land will yield its produce, so that you can eat your fill and live securely on it. 20But if you say, “What are we going to eat on the seventh year if we do not sow or gather in our crops?” 21then I will so order My blessing for you in the sixth year that it will bring forth the crop for three years. 22When you are sowing the eighth year, you can still eat old things from the crop, eating the old until the ninth year when its crop comes in.
The Law of Redemption
23‘The land, moreover, shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are but aliens and sojourners with Me. 24Thus for every piece of your property, you are to provide for the redemption of the land.
25‘If a fellow countryman of yours becomes so poor he has to sell part of his property, then his nearest kinsman is to come and buy back what his relative has sold. 26Or in case a man has no kinsman, but so recovers his means as to find sufficient for its redemption, 27then he shall calculate the years since its sale and refund the balance to the man to whom he sold it, and so return to his property. 28But if he has not found sufficient means to get it back for himself, then what he has sold shall remain in the hands of its purchaser until the year of jubilee; but at the jubilee it shall revert, that he may return to his property.
29‘Likewise, if a man sells a dwelling house in a walled city, then his redemption right remains valid until a full year from its sale; his right of redemption lasts a full year. 30But if it is not bought back for him within the space of a full year, then the house that is in the walled city passes permanently to its purchaser throughout his generations; it does not revert in the jubilee. 31The houses of the villages, however, which have no surrounding wall shall be considered as open fields; they have redemption rights and revert in the jubilee. 32As for cities of the Levites, the Levites have a permanent right of redemption for the houses of the cities which are their possession. 33What, therefore, belongs to the Levites may be redeemed and a house sale in the city of this possession reverts in the jubilee, for the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the sons of Israel. 34But pasture fields of their cities shall not be sold, for that is their perpetual possession.
Of Poor Countrymen
35‘Now in case a countryman of yours becomes poor and his means with regard to you falter, then you are to sustain him, like a stranger or a sojourner, that he may live with you. 36Do not take usurious interest from him, but revere your God, that your countryman may live with you. 37You shall not give him your silver at interest, nor your food for gain. 38I 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 a countryman of yours becomes so poor with regard to you that he sells himself to you, you shall not subject him to a slave’s service. 40He shall be with you as a hired man, as if he were a sojourner; he shall serve with you until the year of jubilee. 41He shall then go out from you, he and his sons with him, and shall go back to his family, that he may return to the property of his forefathers. 42For they are My servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt; they are not to be sold in a slave sale. 43You shall not rule over him with severity, but are to revere your God. 44As for your male and female slaves whom you may have—you may acquire male and female slaves from the pagan nations that are around you. 45Then, too, it is out of the sons of the sojourners who live as aliens among you that you may gain acquisition, and out of their families who are with you, whom they will have produced in your land; they also may become your possession. 46You may even bequeath them to your sons after you, to receive as a possession; you can use them as permanent slaves. But in respect to your countrymen, the sons of Israel, you shall not rule with severity over one another.
Of Redeeming a Poor Man
47‘Now if the means of a stranger or of a sojourner with you becomes sufficient, and a countryman of yours becomes so poor with regard to him as to sell himself to a stranger who is sojourning with you, or to the descendants of a stranger’s family, 48then he shall have redemption right after he has been sold. One of his brothers may redeem him, 49or his uncle, or his uncle’s son, may redeem him, or one of his blood relatives from his family may redeem him; or if he prospers, he may redeem himself. 50He then with his purchaser shall calculate from the year when he sold himself to him up to the year of jubilee; and the price of his sale shall correspond to the number of years. It is like the days of a hired man that he shall be with him. 51If there are still many years, he shall refund part of his purchase price in proportion to them for his own redemption; 52and if few years remain until the year of jubilee, he shall so calculate with him. In proportion to his years he is to refund the amount for his redemption. 53Like a man hired year by year he shall be with him; he shall not rule over him with severity in your sight. 54Even if he is not redeemed by these means, he shall still go out in the year of jubilee, he and his sons with him. 55For the sons of Israel are My servants; they are My servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.
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Leviticus 25: NASB1995
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Vayikra (Lev) 25
25
1Adonai spoke to Moshe on Mount Sinai; he said, 2“Tell the people of Isra’el, ‘When you enter the land I am giving you, the land itself is to observe a Shabbat rest for Adonai. 3Six years you will sow your field; six years you will prune your grapevines and gather their produce. 4But in the seventh year is to be a Shabbat of complete rest for the land, a Shabbat for Adonai; you will neither sow your field nor prune your grapevines. 5You are not to harvest what grows by itself from the seeds left by your previous harvest, and you are not to gather the grapes of your untended vine; it is to be a year of complete rest for the land. 6But what the land produces during the year of Shabbat will be food for all of you — you, your servant, your maid, your employee, anyone living near you, 7your livestock and the wild animals on your land; everything the land produces may be used for food.
8“‘You are to count seven Shabbats of years, seven times seven years, that is, forty-nine years. 9Then, on the tenth day of the seventh month, on Yom-Kippur, you are to sound a blast on the shofar; you are to sound the shofar all through your land; 10and you are to consecrate the fiftieth year, proclaiming freedom throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It will be a yovel for you; you will return everyone to the land he owns, and everyone is to return to his family. 11That fiftieth year will be a yovel for you; in that year you are not to sow, harvest what grows by itself or gather the grapes of untended vines; 12because it is a yovel. It will be holy for you; whatever the fields produce will be food for all of you. 13In this year of yovel, every one of you is to return to the land he owns.
(LY: ii) 14“‘If you sell anything to your neighbor or buy anything from him, neither of you is to exploit the other. 15Rather, you are to take into account the number of years after the yovel when you buy land from your neighbor, and he is to sell to you according to the number of years crops will be raised. 16If the number of years remaining is large, you will raise the price; if few years remain, you will lower it; because what he is really selling you is the number of crops to be produced. 17Thus you are not to take advantage of each other, but you are to fear your God; for I am Adonai your God.
18“‘Rather, you are to keep my regulations and rulings and act accordingly. If you do, you will live securely in the land. (RY: ii, LY: iii) 19The land will yield its produce, you will eat until you have enough, and you will live there securely.
20“‘If you ask, “If we aren’t allowed to sow seed or harvest what our land produces, what are we going to eat the seventh year?” 21then I will order my blessing on you during the sixth year, so that the land brings forth enough produce for all three years. 22The eighth year you will sow seed but eat the the old, stored produce until the ninth year; that is, until the produce of the eighth year comes in, you will eat the old, stored food.
23“‘The land is not to be sold in perpetuity, because the land belongs to me — you are only foreigners and temporary residents with me. 24Therefore, when you sell your property, you must include the right of redemption. (LY: iv) 25That is, if one of you becomes poor and sells some of his property, his next-of-kin can come and buy back what his relative sold. 26If the seller has no one to redeem it but becomes rich enough to redeem it himself, 27he will calculate the number of years the land was sold for, refund the excess to its buyer, and return to his property. 28If he hasn’t sufficient means to get it back himself, then what he sold will remain in the hands of the buyer until the year of yovel; in the yovel the buyer will vacate it and the seller return to his property.
(RY: iii, LY: v) 29“‘If someone sells a dwelling in a walled city, he has one year after the date of sale in which to redeem it. For a full year he will have the right of redemption; 30but if he has not redeemed the dwelling in the walled city within the year, then title in perpetuity passes to the buyer through all his generations; it will not revert in the yovel. 31However, houses in villages not surrounded by walls are to be dealt with like the fields in the countryside — they may be redeemed [before the yovel], and they revert in the yovel.
32“‘Concerning the cities of the L’vi’im and the houses in the cities they possess, the L’vi’im are to have a permanent right of redemption. 33If someone purchases a house from one of the L’vi’im, then the house he sold in the city where he owns property will still revert to him in the yovel; because the houses in the cities of the L’vi’im are their tribe’s possession among the people of Isra’el. 34The fields in the open land around their cities may not be sold, because that is their permanent possession.
35“‘If a member of your people has become poor, so that he can’t support himself among you, you are to assist him as you would a foreigner or a temporary resident, so that he can continue living with you. 36Do not charge him interest or otherwise profit from him, but fear your God, so that your brother can continue living with you. 37Do not take interest when you loan him money or take a profit when you sell him food. 38I am Adonai your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt in order to give you the land of Kena‘an and be your God.
(RY: iv, LY: vi) 39“‘If a member of your people has become poor among you and sells himself to you, do not make him do the work of a slave. 40Rather, you are to treat him like an employee or a tenant; he will work for you until the year of yovel. 41Then he will leave you, he and his children with him, and return to his own family and regain possession of his ancestral land. 42For they are my slaves, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; therefore they are not to be sold as slaves. 43Do not treat him harshly, but fear your God.
44“‘Concerning the men and women you may have as slaves: you are to buy men- and women-slaves from the nations surrounding you. 45You may also buy the children of foreigners living with you and members of their families born in your land; you may own these. 46You may also bequeath them to your children to own; from these groups you may take your slaves forever. But as far as your brothers the people of Isra’el are concerned, you are not to treat each other harshly.
(LY: vii) 47“‘If a foreigner living with you has grown rich, and a member of your people has become poor and sells himself to this foreigner living with you or to a member of the foreigner’s family, 48he may be redeemed after he has been sold. One of his brothers may redeem him; 49or his uncle or his uncle’s son may redeem him; or any near relative of his may redeem him; or, if he becomes rich, he may redeem himself. 50He will calculate with the person who bought him the time from the year he sold himself to him to the year of yovel; and the amount to be paid will be according to the number of years and his time at an employee’s wage. 51If many years remain, according to them will he refund the amount for his redemption from the amount he was bought for. 52If there remain only a few years until the year of yovel, then he will calculate with him; according to his years will he refund the amount for his redemption. 53He will be like a worker hired year by year. You will see to it that he is not treated harshly.
54“‘If he has not been redeemed by any of these procedures, nevertheless he will go free in the year of yovel — he and his children with him. (LY: Maftir) 55For to me the people of Isra’el are slaves; they are my slaves whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; I am Adonai your God.
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