Leviticus 25
25
The Sabbatic Year and Year of Jubilee
1The Lord spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai, saying, 2“Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘When you come into the land which I am giving you, then the land shall keep a Sabbath to the Lord. 3For six years you shall sow your field, and for six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its crop. 4But in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of rest for the land, a Sabbath to the Lord; you shall not sow [seed in] your field nor prune your vineyard. 5Whatever reseeds itself (uncultivated) in your harvest you shall not reap, nor shall you gather the grapes from your uncultivated vine, it shall be a year of sabbatical rest for the land. 6And all of you shall have for food whatever the [untilled] land produces during its Sabbath year; yourself, and your male and female slaves, your hired servant, and the foreigners who reside among you, 7even your domestic animals and the [wild] animals that are in your land shall have all its crops to eat.
The Year of Jubilee
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. 9Then you shall sound the ram’s horn everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month (almost October); on the Day of Atonement you shall sound the trumpet throughout your land. 10And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year and #25:10 The quote on the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia is from this verse and reads, “Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.”proclaim freedom [for the slaves] throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee (year of remission) for you, and each of you shall return to his own [ancestral] property [that was sold to another because of poverty], and each of you shall return to his family [from whom he was separated by bondage]. 11That fiftieth year shall be a Jubilee for you; you shall not sow [seed], nor reap what reseeds itself, nor gather the grapes of the uncultivated vines. 12For it is the Jubilee; it shall be holy to you; you shall eat its crops out of the field.
13‘In this Year of Jubilee each of you shall return to his own [ancestral] property. 14If you sell anything to your friend or buy from your friend, you shall not wrong one another. 15According to the number of years after the Jubilee, you shall #25:15 The transfer of land in Israel was more like a lease than an outright purchase. Since all property reverted to the original owner at the Jubilee year, the purchaser would pay a price only for the years of use remaining until the next Jubilee.buy from your friend. And he is to sell to you according to the number of years of crops [which may be harvested before you must restore the property to him]. 16If the years [until the next Jubilee] are many, you shall increase the price, but if the years remaining are few, you shall reduce the price, because it is the number of crops that he is selling to you. 17You shall not wrong one another, but you shall fear your God [with profound reverence]; for I am the Lord your God.
18‘Therefore you shall carry out My statutes and keep My ordinances and do them, so 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. 20And if you say, “What are we going to eat in the seventh year if we do not sow [seed] or gather in our crops?” 21then [this is My answer:] I will order My [special] blessing for you in the sixth year, so that it will produce [sufficient] crops for three years. 22When you are sowing the eighth year, you can still eat old things from the crops, eating the old until the ninth year when its crop comes in.
The Law of Redemption
23‘The land shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; you are [only] foreigners and temporary residents with Me. [Heb 11:13; 1 Pet 2:11-17] 24So in all the country that you possess, you are to provide for the redemption of the land [in the Year of Jubilee].
25‘If a fellow countryman of yours becomes so poor he has to sell some of his property, then his nearest relative is to come and buy back (redeem) what his relative has sold. 26Or in case a man has no relative [to redeem his property], but he has become more prosperous and has enough to buy it back, 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 [ancestral] property. [1 Kin 21:2, 3] 28But if #25:28 Lit his hand has not found enough.he is unable to redeem it, then what he has sold shall remain in the hands of the purchaser until the Year of Jubilee; but at the Jubilee it shall revert, and he may return to his property.
29‘If a man sells a house in a walled city, then his right of redemption remains valid for a full year after its sale; his right of redemption lasts a full year. 30But if it is not redeemed for him within a full year, then the house that is in the walled city passes permanently and irrevocably to the purchaser throughout his generations. It does not revert back in the Year of Jubilee. 31The houses of the villages that have no surrounding walls, however, shall be considered as open fields. They may be redeemed, and revert in the Year of Jubilee. 32As for the cities of the Levites, the Levites have a permanent right of redemption for the houses in the cities which they possess. 33Therefore, what is [purchased] from the Levites may be redeemed [by a Levite], and the house that was sold in the city they possess reverts in the Year of Jubilee, for the houses in the Levite cities are their [ancestral] property among the Israelites. 34But the pasture lands of their cities may not be sold, for that is their permanent possession.
Of Poor Countrymen
35‘Now if your fellow countryman becomes poor and his hand falters with you [that is, he has trouble repaying you for something], then you are to help and sustain him, [with courtesy and consideration] like [you would] a stranger or a temporary resident [without property], so that he may live among you. [1 John 3:17] 36Do not charge him usurious interest, but fear your God [with profound reverence], so your countryman may [continue to] live among you. 37You shall not give him your money at interest, nor your food at a profit. 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‘And if your fellow countryman becomes so poor [in his dealings] with you that he sells himself to you [as payment for a debt], you shall not let him do the work of a slave [who is ineligible for redemption], 40but he is to be with you as a hired man, as if he were a temporary resident; he shall serve with you until the Year of Jubilee, 41and then he shall leave you, he and his children with him, and shall go back to his own family and return to the property of his fathers. 42For the Israelites are My servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold in a slave sale. [1 Cor 7:23] 43You shall not rule over him with harshness (severity, oppression), but you are to fear your God [with profound reverence]. [Eph 6:9; Col 4:1] 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. 45Moreover, from the children of the strangers who live as aliens among you, from them you may buy slaves and from their families who are with you, whom they have produced in your land; they may become your possession. 46You may even bequeath them as an inheritance to your children after you, to receive as a possession; you can use them as permanent slaves. But in respect to your fellow countrymen, the children of Israel, you shall not rule over one another with harshness (severity, oppression).
Of Redeeming a Poor Man
47‘Now if the financial means of a stranger or temporary resident among you become sufficient, and your fellow countryman becomes poor in comparison to him and sells himself to the stranger who is living among you or to the descendants of the stranger’s family, 48then after he is sold he shall have the right of redemption. One of his relatives may redeem him: 49either 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. 50Then he [or his redeemer] shall calculate with his purchaser from the year when he sold himself to the purchaser to the Year of Jubilee, and the [original] price of his sale shall be adjusted according to the number of years. The time he was with his owner shall be considered as that of a hired man. 51If there are still many years [before the Year of Jubilee], in proportion to them he must refund [to the purchaser] part of the price of his sale for his redemption and release. 52And if only a few years remain until the Year of Jubilee, he shall so calculate it with him. He is to refund the proportionate amount for his release. 53Like a man hired year by year he shall deal with him; he shall not rule over him with harshness in your sight. 54Even if he is not redeemed during these years and under these provisions, then he shall go free in the Year of Jubilee, he and his children with him. 55For the children of Israel are My servants; My servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.
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Leviticus 25
25
The Sabbath Year
1Then#Or “And” Yahweh spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai,#Literally “the mountain of Sinai” saying, 2“Speak to the Israelites,#Literally “sons/children of Israel” and say to them, ‘When you#Plural come into the land that I am about to give to you,#Plural then#Or “and” the land shall observe a Sabbath for Yahweh. 3Six years you#Singular throughout this verse shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and you shall gather its yield. 4But#Or “And” in the seventh year it shall be a Sabbath of complete rest#Literally “a Sabbath of ‘Sabbathation.’ ” “Sabbathation” is not a real word, but it is devised as an attempt to convey the sounds of the related nouns in the Hebrew phrase for the land—a Sabbath for Yahweh; you#Singular throughout this verse must not sow your field, and you must not prune your vineyard. 5You#Singular throughout this verse must not reap your harvest’s aftergrowth, and you must not harvest the grapes of your unpruned vines—it shall be a year of complete rest#Literally “a year of a rest period” for the land. 6And a Sabbath of the land shall be for food for you:#Plural for you#Singular here and through the rest of this verse and for your slave and for your slave woman and for your hired worker and for your temporary residents#Collective singular; Hebrew “temporary resident” who are dwelling as aliens with you; 7and all its yield shall be for your#Singular throughout this verse domestic animal and for the wild animal, which are in your land to eat.
The Year of Jubilee
8“ ‘And you#Singular throughout this verse shall count for yourself seven Sabbaths of years, seven times seven years, and they shall be for you time periods of#Literally “days of” years: forty-nine#Literally “nine and forty” years. 9And you#Singular shall cause a loud horn blast#Literally “a ram’s horn of a blast” to be heard on the seventh month on the tenth of the month; on the Day of Atonement you#Plural shall cause a ram’s horn to be heard in all your#Plural land. 10And you#Plural throughout this verse shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and you shall proclaim a release in the land for all its inhabitants. It is a Jubilee; it shall be for you, and you shall return. You must return—everyone to his property and everyone to his clan.#Or “each of you must return to his property and to his clan” 11You#Plural throughout this verse shall have the fiftieth year as a Jubilee;#Literally “a Jubilee it the year of the fiftieth year it shall be for you” you must not reap its aftergrowth, and you must not harvest its unpruned vines. 12Because it is a Jubilee, it shall be holy to you. You must eat its#That is, the field’s produce from the field.
13“ ‘In this Year of Jubilee each of you#Plural shall return#Literally “you shall return a man” or “you shall return everyone” to his property. 14And when you#Plural sell something to your#Singular fellow citizen or you buy from your#Singular neighbor’s hand, you#Plural must not oppress one another.#Literally “a man his brother” 15You#Singular throughout this verse must buy from your fellow citizen according to the number of years after the Jubilee; he must sell to you according to the number of years of yield. 16You#Singular throughout this verse must increase its price according to a greater number of years,#Literally “to the mouth of many of the years” but#Or “and” you must decrease its price according to a lesser number of years,#Literally “to the mouth of few of the years” because he is selling its yields to you. 17And you#Plural must not oppress one another,#Literally “a man his citizen” but#Or “and” you#Singular shall revere your God, because I am Yahweh, your#Plural God.
18“ ‘And you#Plural throughout this verse shall do my statutes, and you must keep my regulations, and you shall do them, so that#Or “and” you shall live securely#Literally “with confidence” on the land. 19And the land shall give its fruit, and you#Plural throughout this verse shall eat your fill,#Literally “to contentment” and you shall live securely#Literally “with confidence” on it. 20And if you#Plural should say, “What shall we eat in the seventh year, if#Literally “look” we do not sow and we do not gather its yield?” 21then#Or “and” I will command my blessing for you#Plural in the sixth year, so that#Or “and” it will make#Or “produce” the yield for three years. 22And you#Plural throughout this verse will sow in the eighth year, and you shall eat from the old yield;#The verse divides here until the ninth year, until the coming of its yield, you shall eat the old yield.
23“ ‘But#Or “And” the land must not be sold in#Or “for” perpetuity, because the land is mine, because you#Plural are aliens and temporary residents with me. 24And in all your#Plural property’s land you#Plural must provide redemption for the land.
25“ ‘When your#Singular brother becomes poor and he sells part of his property, then#Or “and” his nearest redeemer#Literally “his redeemer the nearest to him” shall come, and he shall redeem the thing sold by his brother. 26But#Or “And” if#Or “when” a man does not have#Literally “it is not for him” a redeemer, then#Or “and” he prospers#Literally “his hand produces” and he finds enough for his redemption, 27then#Or “and” he shall calculate the years of its selling, and he shall refund the balance to the man to whom he sold it, and he shall return to his property. 28But#Or “And” if his hand does not find enough to refund to him, then#Or “and” what he has sold#Literally “his thing sold” shall be in the buyer’s hand until the Year of Jubilee; and it shall go out of the buyer’s hand#Meaning derived from context; an alternative translation could be “shall not be released” (cf. NKJV, NRSV, ESV, NJPS) or “shall not revert” (NASB, NET) in the Jubilee, and he shall return to his property.
29“ ‘And if a man sells a residential house in a walled city,#Literally “a house of a dwelling of a city wall” then#Or “and” it shall be his redemption until completing a year after his selling;#Literally “a year of his selling” its redemption shall last#Literally “shall be” a year.#Literally “days” 30But#Or “And” if it is not redeemed before a full year has passed,#Literally “until the fulfilling of for him/it an entire year” then#Or “and” the house that is in the walled city#Literally “in the city that for it a wall” shall belong to the buyer in#Hebrew “for” perpetuity throughout his generations; it shall not go out of the buyer’s hand#Meaning derived from context; an alternative translation could be “shall not be released” (cf. NKJV, NRSV, ESV, NJPS) or “shall not revert” (NASB, NET) in the Jubilee. 31However,#Or “And” or “But” village houses that have no surrounding wall shall be considered open country;#Literally “the field of the land” there is redemption for it, and in the Jubilee it shall go out of the buyer’s hand.#Meaning derived from context; an alternative translation could be “shall not be released” (cf. NKJV, NRSV, ESV, NJPS) or “shall not revert” (NASB, NET)
32“ ‘As for#Or “And” the cities of the Levites, that is, the houses in#Hebrew “of” their property’s cities, it shall be a lasting redemption#Or “a permanent redemption”; literally “redemption of eternity” or “redemption of long duration” for the Levites. 33And whatever anyone redeems from the Levites then#Or “and” must go out of the buyer’s hand#Meaning derived from context; an alternative translation could be “shall not be released” (cf. NKJV, NRSV, ESV, NJPS) or “shall not revert” (NASB, NET) in the Jubilee, including a house’s selling in his city’s property,#Literally “the city of his property” because the houses in#Hebrew “of” the cities of the Levites are their property in the midst of the Israelites.#Literally “sons/children of Israel” 34But#Or “And” a#Hebrew “the” field of their cities’ pastureland must not be sold, because it is their property for all time.#Literally “a property of eternity it is for them” or “a property of long duration it is for them”
35“ ‘And if your#Singular throughout this verse countryman#Or “brother” becomes poor and if he becomes dependent on you,#Literally “and his hand is shaky with you” then#Or “and” you shall support him like an alien and like a temporary resident, and he shall live with you. 36You#Singular throughout this verse must not take interest or#Or “and” usury from him, but#Or “and” you shall revere your God, and your countryman#Or “brother” shall live with you. 37You#Singular throughout this verse must not give your money to him with interest or#Or “and” give your food for#Or “in” or “with” profit. 38I am Yahweh your#Plural throughout this verse God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt to give you#Literally “to you” the land of Canaan, to be as God for you.
39“ ‘And if your#Singular throughout this verse countryman#Or “brother” who is with you becomes poor, and he is sold to you, you shall not treat him as a slave.#Literally “you shall not let him work the work of a slave” or “you shall not enslave him the work of a slave” 40He shall be with you like a hired worker, like a temporary resident; he shall work with you until the Year of Jubilee. 41And he and his sons with him shall go out from you, and he shall return to his clan, and to the property of his ancestors#Or “fathers” he shall return. 42Because they are my servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt, they shall not be sold as a slave.#Literally “a selling of a slave” 43You#Singular throughout this verse shall not rule over him with ruthlessness, but#Or “and” you shall revere your God.
44“ ‘As for#Or “And” your#Singular slave and your#Singular slave woman who are#Or “may be” (permission; cf. NASU, ESV, NRSV) or “can be” (ability) yours,#Singular from the nations that are all around you,#Plural from them you#Plural may buy a slave or#Or “and” a slave woman. 45And you#Plural throughout this verse may buy also from the children#Or “sons” of the temporary residents who are dwelling with you as aliens and from their clan who are with you, who have children in your land; indeed,#Or “and” they may be as property for you. 46And you#Plural may pass them on as an inheritance to your#Plural sons#Or “children” after you#Plural to take possession of as property for all time#Literally “to eternity” or “forever” or “for a long duration”—you#Plural may let them work. But#Or “And” as for your#Plural countrymen,#Or “brothers” the Israelites,#Literally “sons/children of Israel” you#Singular shall not rule with ruthlessness over one another.#Literally “a man over his brother”
47“ ‘And if the alien or#Or “and” the temporary resident who are with you#Singular throughout this verse prosper,#Literally “the hand produces” but#Or “and” your countryman#Or “brother” who is with him becomes poor and he is sold to an alien, a temporary resident who is with you, or to a descendant of an alien’s clan, 48after he is sold redemption shall be for him; one of his brothers may redeem him, 49or his uncle or his uncle’s son may redeem him, or one of#Literally “from” his close relatives#Literally “the direct relative of his flesh” from his clan may redeem him; or if he prospers,#Literally “his hand produces” he may redeem himself. 50And he shall calculate with his buyer from the year of his selling himself#Literally “his being sold for him” until the Jubilee; and the value of his selling shall be according to the number of years—it shall be with him like#Or “as” a hired worker’s days. 51If there are still many years, in keeping with them#Literally “to the mouth of them” he shall restore his redemption in proportion to his purchase price.#Literally “from the price of his acquisition” 52And if there are a few years left until the Year of Jubilee, then#Or “and” he shall calculate for himself; he shall restore his redemption according to the number of his years.#Literally “according to the mouth of his years” 53He shall be with him as a yearly hired worker;#Literally “as a hired worker of a year in a year” he shall not rule over him with ruthlessness in your#Singular sight.#Literally “to your eyes” or “for your eyes” 54And if he is not redeemed by#Or “in” any of these ways,#Bracketed words provided from the sense of the context then#Or “and” he and his sons with him shall go out in the Year of Jubilee. 55Indeed,#Emphatic use of כִּי, since there is no indication of direct causation to only what precedes in vv. 47–54; or “Because” the Israelites#Literally “sons/children of Israel” are servants for me; they are my servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh your#Plural God.’ ”
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