Leviticus 25
25
The Sabbath Year
1The Lord said to Moses at Mount Sinai, 2‘Speak to the Israelites and say to them: “When you enter the land I am going to give you, the land itself must observe a sabbath to the Lord. 3For six years sow your fields, and for six years prune your vineyards and gather their crops. 4But in the seventh year the land is to have a year of sabbath rest, a sabbath to the Lord. Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards. 5Do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the grapes of your untended vines. The land is to have a year of rest. 6Whatever the land yields during the sabbath year will be food for you – for yourself, your male and female servants, and the hired worker and temporary resident who live among you, 7as well as for your livestock and the wild animals in your land. Whatever the land produces may be eaten.
The Year of Jubilee
8‘ “Count seven sabbath years – seven times seven years – so that the seven sabbath years amount to a period of forty-nine years. 9Then sound the trumpet everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement sound the trumpet throughout your land. 10Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; each of you is to return to your family property and to your own clan. 11The fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you; do not sow and do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the untended vines. 12For it is a jubilee and is to be holy for you; eat only what is taken directly from the fields.
13‘ “In this Year of Jubilee everyone is to return to their own property.
14‘ “If you sell land to any of your own people or buy land from them, do not take advantage of each other. 15You are to buy from your own people on the basis of the number of years since the Jubilee. And they are to sell to you on the basis of the number of years left for harvesting crops. 16When the years are many, you are to increase the price, and when the years are few, you are to decrease the price, because what is really being sold to you is the number of crops. 17Do not take advantage of each other, but fear your God. I am the Lord your God.
18‘ “Follow my decrees and be careful to obey my laws, and you will live safely in the land. 19Then the land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill and live there in safety. 20You may ask, ‘What will we eat in the seventh year if we do not plant or harvest our crops?’ 21I will send you such a blessing in the sixth year that the land will yield enough for three years. 22While you plant during the eighth year, you will eat from the old crop and will continue to eat from it until the harvest of the ninth year comes in.
23‘ “The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you reside in my land as foreigners and strangers. 24Throughout the land that you hold as a possession, you must provide for the redemption of the land.
25‘ “If one of your fellow Israelites becomes poor and sells some of their property, their nearest relative is to come and redeem what they have sold. 26If, however, there is no-one to redeem it for them but later on they prosper and acquire sufficient means to redeem it themselves, 27they are to determine the value for the years since they sold it and refund the balance to the one to whom they sold it; they can then go back to their own property. 28But if they do not acquire the means to repay, what was sold will remain in the possession of the buyer until the Year of Jubilee. It will be returned in the Jubilee, and they can then go back to their property.
29‘ “Anyone who sells a house in a walled city retains the right of redemption a full year after its sale. During that time the seller may redeem it. 30If it is not redeemed before a full year has passed, the house in the walled city shall belong permanently to the buyer and the buyer’s descendants. It is not to be returned in the Jubilee. 31But houses in villages without walls round them are to be considered as belonging to the open country. They can be redeemed, and they are to be returned in the Jubilee.
32‘ “The Levites always have the right to redeem their houses in the Levitical towns, which they possess. 33So the property of the Levites is redeemable – that is, a house sold in any town they hold – and is to be returned in the Jubilee, because the houses in the towns of the Levites are their property among the Israelites. 34But the pasture-land belonging to their towns must not be sold; it is their permanent possession.
35‘ “If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and are unable to support themselves among you, help them as you would a foreigner and stranger, so that they can continue to live among you. 36Do not take interest or any profit from them, but fear your God, so that they may continue to live among you. 37You must not lend them money at interest or sell them food at a profit. 38I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God.
39‘ “If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and sell themselves to you, do not make them work as slaves. 40They are to be treated as hired workers or temporary residents among you; they are to work for you until the Year of Jubilee. 41Then they and their children are to be released, and they will go back to their own clans and to the property of their ancestors. 42Because the Israelites are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt, they must not be sold as slaves. 43Do not rule over them ruthlessly, but fear your God.
44‘ “Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves. 45You may also buy some of the temporary residents living among you and members of their clans born in your country, and they will become your property. 46You can bequeath them to your children as inherited property and can make them slaves for life, but you must not rule over your fellow Israelites ruthlessly.
47‘ “If a foreigner residing among you becomes rich and any of your fellow Israelites become poor and sell themselves to the foreigner or to a member of the foreigner’s clan, 48they retain the right of redemption after they have sold themselves. One of their relatives may redeem them: 49an uncle or a cousin or any blood-relative in their clan may redeem them. Or if they prosper, they may redeem themselves. 50They and their buyer are to count the time from the year they sold themselves up to the Year of Jubilee. The price for their release is to be based on the rate paid to a hired worker for that number of years. 51If many years remain, they must pay for their redemption a larger share of the price paid for them. 52If only a few years remain until the Year of Jubilee, they are to compute that and pay for their redemption accordingly. 53They are to be treated as workers hired from year to year; you must see to it that those to whom they owe service do not rule over them ruthlessly.
54‘ “Even if someone is not redeemed in any of these ways, they and their children are to be released in the Year of Jubilee, 55for the Israelites belong to me as servants. They are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.
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Leviticus 25: NIVUK
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The Holy Bible, New International Version® (Anglicised), NIV®
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Leviticus 25
25
1The Lord told 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. 3Six years you can cultivate your fields, take care of your vineyards, and harvest your crops. 4But 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. 5Don'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. 6You 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, 7and to your livestock and the wild animals living in your land. Whatever grows can be used for food.
8Count seven ‘sabbaths’ of years, in other words, seven times seven years, so that the seven sabbaths of years come to forty-nine years. 9Then 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. 10You 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.#25:10. This meant that whatever property had been sold during the previous 50 years now reverted back to its original owner, and that anyone who had become a slave was set free and allowed to return to their own family. 11The 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. 12It is a Jubilee and it is to be holy to you. You can eat whatever the land produces. 13In this Jubilee Year, every one of you shall return to your own property.
14If you sell land to your neighbor, or buy land from him, don't exploit one another. 15When 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. 16The 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. 17Don't exploit one another, but have respect for your God, because I am the Lord your God.
18Keep my rules and observe my regulations, so you can live in safety in the land. 19Then the land will produce good harvests, so you will have plenty to eat and live in safety there. 20But if you ask, ‘What are we going to do in the seventh year if we do not sow or harvest our crops?’ 21I will bless you in the sixth year, so that the land will produce a crop that will be enough for three years. 22As you sow in the eighth year, you will still be eating from that harvest, which will last until your harvest in the ninth year.
23Land must not be permanently sold, because it really belongs to me. To me you are only foreigners and travelers passing through. 24So whatever land you buy to own, you must make arrangements so it can be returned to its original owner.#25:24. “Returned to its original owner”: literally, “the redemption of the land.” 25If 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. 26However, 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, 27they will work however 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 28If 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 Year the land will be returned so that the original owners can go back to their property.
29If 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. 30If it isn't bought back by 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. 31But 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.
32However, the Levites always have the right to buy back their houses in the towns that belong to them. 33Whatever 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. 34However, the fields surrounding their towns must not be sold because they belong to the Levites permanently.
35If any of your people become poor and can't survive,#25:35. “Can't survive”: literally, “his hand has failed.” 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. 36Don'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. 37Don't lend them silver with interest or sell them food at an inflated price. 38Remember, I am the Lord your God who led you out of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God.
39If any of your people become poor and have to sell themselves to work for you, don't force them to work as a slave. 40Have 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. 41Then they and their children must be freed, and they can go back to their family and to their family's property. 42Israelites are not to be sold as slaves because they belong to me as my slaves—I led them out of Egypt. 43Don't treat them with brutality. Have respect for your God.
44Buy your male and female slaves from the surrounding nations. 45You 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. 46You 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.
47If 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, 48they still have the right of being bought back after the sale. A member of their family can buy them back— 49an uncle or cousin or any close relative from their family can buy them back. If they become successful, they can buy themselves back. 50The 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. 51If there are many years left, they must pay a larger percentage of the purchase price. 52If 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. 53They 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. 54If they are not bought back in any of the ways described, they and their children shall be freed in the Jubilee Year. 55For the Israelites belong to me as my slaves. They are my slaves—I led them out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.”
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com