Leviticus 25
25
The Sabbath of the Seventh Year
1And the Lord spoke to Moses on Mount #Lev. 26:46Sinai, saying, 2“Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall #Lev. 26:34, 35keep a sabbath to the Lord. 3Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather its fruit; 4but in the #Deut. 15:1; Neh. 10:31seventh year there shall be a sabbath of solemn #(Heb. 4:9)rest for the land, a sabbath to the Lord. You shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard. 5#2 Kin. 19:29What grows of its own accord of your harvest you shall not reap, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine, for it is a year of rest for the land. 6And the sabbath produce of the land shall be food for you: for you, your male and female servants, your hired man, and the stranger who dwells with you, 7for your livestock and the beasts that are in your land—all its produce shall be for food.
The Year of Jubilee
8‘And you shall count seven sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years; and the time of the seven sabbaths of years shall be to you forty-nine years. 9Then you shall cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month; #Lev. 23:24, 27on the Day of Atonement you shall make the trumpet to sound throughout all your land. 10And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and #Is. 61:2; 63:4; Jer. 34:8, 15, 17; (Luke 4:19)proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you; and each of you shall return to his possession, #Lev. 25:13, 28, 54; Num. 36:4and each of you shall return to his family. 11That fiftieth year shall be a Jubilee to you; in it #Lev. 25:5you shall neither sow nor reap what grows of its own accord, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine. 12For it is the Jubilee; it shall be holy to you; #Lev. 25:6, 7you shall eat its produce from the field.
13#Lev. 25:10; 27:24; Num. 36:4‘In this Year of Jubilee, each of you shall return to his possession. 14And if you sell anything to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor’s hand, you shall not #Lev. 19:13oppress one another. 15#Lev. 27:18, 23According to the number of years after the Jubilee you shall buy from your neighbor, and according to the number of years of crops he shall sell to you. 16According to the multitude of years you shall increase its price, and according to the fewer number of years you shall diminish its price; for he sells to you according to the number of the years of the crops. 17Therefore #Lev. 25:14; Prov. 14:31; 22:22; Jer. 7:5, 6; 1 Thess. 4:6you shall not oppress one another, #Lev. 19:14, 32; 25:43but you shall fear your God; for I am the Lord your God.
Provisions for the Seventh Year
18#Lev. 19:37‘So you shall observe My statutes and keep My judgments, and perform them; #Lev. 26:5; Deut. 12:10; Ps. 4:8; Jer. 23:6and you will dwell in the land in safety. 19Then the land will yield its fruit, and #Lev. 26:5; Ezek. 34:25you will eat your fill, and dwell there in safety.
20‘And if you say, #Matt. 6:25, 31“What shall we eat in the seventh year, since #Lev. 25:4, 5we shall not sow nor gather in our produce?” 21Then I will #Deut. 28:8command My blessing on you in the #Ex. 16:29sixth year, and it will bring forth produce enough for three years. 22#2 Kin. 19:29And you shall sow in the eighth year, and eat #Lev. 26:10; Josh. 5:11old produce until the ninth year; until its produce comes in, you shall eat of the old harvest.
Redemption of Property
23‘The land shall not be sold permanently, for #Ex. 19:5; 2 Chr. 7:20the land is Mine; for you are #Gen. 23:4; Ex. 6:4; 1 Chr. 29:15; Ps. 39:12; Heb. 11:13; 1 Pet. 2:11strangers and sojourners with Me. 24And in all the land of your possession you shall grant redemption of the land.
25#Ruth 2:20; 4:4, 6‘If one of your brethren becomes poor, and has sold some of his possession, and if #Num. 5:8; Ruth 3:2, 9, 12; (Job 19:25); Jer. 32:7, 8his redeeming relative comes to redeem it, then he may redeem what his brother sold. 26Or if the man has no one to redeem it, but he himself becomes able to redeem it, 27then #Lev. 25:50–52let him count the years since its sale, and restore the remainder to the man to whom he sold it, that he may return to his possession. 28But if he is not able to have it restored to himself, then what was sold shall remain in the hand of him who bought it until the Year of Jubilee; #Lev. 25:10, 13and in the Jubilee it shall be released, and he shall return to his possession.
29‘If a man sells a house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it is sold; within a full year he may redeem it. 30But if it is not redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house in the walled city shall belong permanently to him who bought it, throughout his generations. It shall not be released in the Jubilee. 31However the houses of villages which have no wall around them shall be counted as the fields of the country. They may be redeemed, and they shall be released in the Jubilee. 32Nevertheless #Num. 35:1–8; Josh. 21:2the cities of the Levites, and the houses in the cities of their possession, the Levites may redeem at any time. 33And if a man purchases a house from the Levites, then the house that was sold in the city of his possession shall be released in the Jubilee; for the houses in the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Israel. 34But #Num. 35:2–5the field of the common-land of their cities may not be #Acts 4:36, 37sold, for it is their perpetual possession.
Lending to the Poor
35‘If one of your brethren becomes poor, and falls into poverty among you, then you shall #Deut. 15:7–11; 24:14, 15; Luke 6:35; 1 John 3:17help him, like a stranger or a sojourner, that he may live with you. 36#Ex. 22:25; Deut. 23:19, 20Take no usury or interest from him; but #Neh. 5:9fear your God, that your brother may live with you. 37You shall not lend him your money for usury, nor lend him your food at a profit. 38#Lev. 11:45; 22:32, 33I 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.
The Law Concerning Slavery
39‘And if one of your brethren who dwells by you becomes poor, and sells himself to you, you shall not compel him to serve as a slave. 40As a hired servant and a sojourner he shall be with you, and shall serve you until the Year of Jubilee. 41And then he shall depart from you—he and his children #Ex. 21:3with him—and shall return to his own family. He shall return to the possession of his fathers. 42For they are #Lev. 25:55; (Rom. 6:22; 1 Cor. 7:22, 23)My servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as slaves. 43#Eph. 6:9; Col. 4:1You shall not rule over him #Ex. 1:13, 14; Lev. 25:46, 53; Ezek. 34:4with rigor, but you #Ex. 1:17; Deut. 25:18; Mal. 3:5shall fear your God. 44And as for your male and female slaves whom you may have—from the nations that are around you, from them you may buy male and female slaves. 45Moreover you may buy #(Is. 56:3, 6, 7)the children of the strangers who dwell among you, and their families who are with you, which they beget in your land; and they shall become your property. 46And #Is. 14:2you may take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them as a possession; they shall be your permanent slaves. But regarding your brethren, the children of Israel, you shall not rule over one another with rigor.
47‘Now if a sojourner or stranger close to you becomes rich, and one of your brethren who dwells by him becomes poor, and sells himself to the stranger or sojourner close to you, or to a member of the stranger’s family, 48after he is sold he may be redeemed again. One of his brothers may redeem him; 49or his uncle or his uncle’s son may redeem him; or anyone who is near of kin to him in his family may redeem him; or if he is able he may redeem himself. 50Thus he shall reckon with him who bought him: The price of his release shall be according to the number of years, from the year that he was sold to him until the Year of Jubilee; it shall be #Job 7:1; Is. 16:14according to the time of a hired servant for him. 51If there are still many years remaining, according to them he shall repay the price of his redemption from the money with which he was bought. 52And if there remain but a few years until the Year of Jubilee, then he shall reckon with him, and according to his years he shall repay him the price of his redemption. 53He shall be with him as a yearly hired servant, and he shall not rule with rigor over him in your sight. 54And if he is not redeemed in these years, then he shall be released in the Year of Jubilee—he and his children with him. 55For the children of Israel are servants to Me; they are My servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
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Leviticus 25: NKJV
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Leviticus 25
25
The Sabbath Year
1The Lord spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai. He said, 2“Speak to the Israelites. Tell them, ‘You will enter the land I am going to give you. When you do, you must honor the Lord every seventh year by not farming the land that year. 3For six years plant your fields. Trim the branches in your vineyards and gather your crops. 4But the seventh year must be a year of sabbath rest for the land. The land must rest during it. It is a sabbath year to honor the Lord. Do not plant your fields. Do not trim the branches in your vineyards. 5Do not gather what grows without being planted. And do not gather the grapes from the vines you have not taken care of. The land must have a year of rest. 6Anything the land produces during the sabbath year will be food for you. It will be for you and your male and female servants. Your hired workers will eat it. So will people who live with you for a while. 7And so will your livestock and the wild animals that are in your land. Anything the land produces can be eaten.
The Year of Jubilee
8“ ‘Count off seven sabbath years. Count off seven times seven years. The seven sabbath years add up to a total of 49 years. 9The tenth day of the seventh month is the day when sin is paid for. On that day blow the trumpet all through your land. 10Set the 50th year apart. Announce freedom all over the land to everyone who lives there. The 50th year will be a Year of Jubilee for you. Each of you must return to your own family property. And each of you must return to your own tribe. 11The 50th year will be a Year of Jubilee for you. Do not plant anything. Do not gather what grows without being planted. And do not gather the grapes from the vines you have not taken care of. 12It is a Year of Jubilee. It will be holy for you. Eat only what the fields produce.
13“ ‘In the Year of Jubilee all of you must return to your own property.
14“ ‘Suppose you sell land to any of your own people. Or you buy land from them. Then do not take advantage of each other. 15The price you pay must be based on the number of years since the last Year of Jubilee. Here is how the price you charge must be decided. It must be based on the number of years left for gathering crops before the next Year of Jubilee. 16When there are many years left, you must raise the price. When there are only a few years left, you must lower the price. That is because what is really being sold to you is the number of crops the land will produce. 17Do not take advantage of each other. Instead, have respect for your God. I am the Lord your God.
18“ ‘Follow my rules. Be careful to obey my laws. Then you will live safely in the land. 19The land will produce its fruit. You will eat as much as you want. And you will live there in safety. 20Suppose you say, “In the seventh year we will not plant anything or gather our crops. So what will we eat?” 21I will send you a great blessing in the sixth year. The land will produce enough for three years. 22While you plant during the eighth year, you will eat food from the old crop. You will continue to eat food from it until the crops from the ninth year are gathered.
23“ ‘The land must not be sold without a way of getting it back. That is because it belongs to me. You are only outsiders and strangers in my land. 24You must make sure that you can buy the land back. That applies to all the land that belongs to you.
25“ ‘Suppose one of your own people becomes poor. And suppose they have to sell some of their land. Then their nearest relative must come and buy back what they have sold. 26But suppose they do not have anyone to buy it back for them. And suppose things go well for them and they earn enough money to buy it back themselves. 27Then they must decide how much the crops have become worth since the time they sold the land. They must take that amount off the price the land was sold for. They must give the one selling it back to them the money that is left. Then they can go back to their own property. 28But suppose they have not earned enough money to pay them back. Then the buyer they sold the land to will keep it until the Year of Jubilee. At that time it will be returned to them. Then they can go back to their property.
29“ ‘Suppose someone sells a house in a city that has a wall around it. Then for a full year after they sell it they have the right to buy it back. 30But suppose they do not buy it back before the full year has passed. Then the house in the walled city will continue to belong to the buyer and the buyer’s children. It will not be returned to the seller in the Year of Jubilee. 31But houses in villages that do not have walls around them must be treated like property outside walled cities. Those houses can be bought back at any time. And they must be returned in the Year of Jubilee.
32“ ‘The Levites always have the right to buy back their houses in the towns that belong to them. 33So their property among the Israelites can be bought back. That applies to a house sold in any of their towns. Any house that is sold must be returned to its original owner in the Year of Jubilee. That is because the houses of the Levites will always belong to them. 34But the grasslands around their towns must never be sold. They will belong to them for all time to come.
35“ ‘Suppose any of your own people become poor. And suppose they can’t take care of themselves. Then help them just as you would help an outsider or a stranger. In that way, the poor can continue to live among you. 36Do not charge them interest of any kind. Instead, have respect for God. Then those who have become poor can continue to live among you. 37If you lend them money, you must not charge them interest. And you must not sell them food for more than it cost you. 38I am the Lord your God. I brought you out of Egypt. I did it to give you the land of Canaan. I wanted to be your God.
39“ ‘Suppose any of your own people become poor. And suppose they sell themselves to you. Then do not make them work as slaves. 40You must treat them like hired workers. Or you must treat them like those living among you for a while. They must work for you until the Year of Jubilee. 41Then they and their children must be set free. They will go back to their own tribes. They will go back to the property their people have always owned. 42The Israelites are my servants. I brought them out of Egypt. So they must not be sold as slaves. 43Show them pity when you rule over them. Have respect for God.
44“ ‘You must get your male and female slaves from the nations that are around you. You can buy slaves from them. 45You can also buy as slaves some of the people living among you for a while. You can also buy members of their families born among you. They will become your property. 46You can leave them to your children as their share of your property. You can make them slaves for life. But when you rule over your own people, you must be kind to them.
47“ ‘Suppose an outsider living among you for a while becomes rich. Then suppose any of your own people become poor. Then they sell themselves to the outsider living among you. Or they sell themselves to a member of the outsider’s family. 48Then they keep the right to buy themselves back after they have sold themselves. One of their relatives can buy them back. 49An uncle or a cousin can buy them back after they have sold themselves. In fact, any relative in their tribe can do it. Or suppose things go well for them. Then they can buy themselves back. 50They and their buyer must count the number of years from the time of the sale up to the Year of Jubilee. The price for their freedom must be based on the amount paid to a hired man for that number of years. 51Suppose there are many years until the Year of Jubilee. Then for their freedom they must pay a larger share of the price paid for them. 52But suppose there are only a few years left until the Year of Jubilee. Then they must count the number of years that are left. The payment for their freedom must be based on that number. 53They must be treated as workers hired from year to year. You must make sure that those they must work for are kind to them when they rule over them.
54“ ‘Suppose they are not bought back in any of those ways. Then they and their children must still be set free in the Year of Jubilee. 55That’s because the Israelites belong to me. They are my servants. I brought them out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.
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