Leviticus 25
25
1And the Lord spoke to Moses in mount Sinai, saying:
2Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them: When you shall have entered into the land which I will give you, observe the rest of the sabbath to the Lord.
3Six years thou shalt sow thy field and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and shalt gather the fruits thereof.
4But in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath to the land, of the resting of the Lord. Thou shalt not sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.
5What the ground shall bring forth of itself thou shalt not reap: neither shalt thou gather the grapes of the first-fruits as a vintage. For it is a year of rest to the land.
6But they shall be unto you for meat, to thee and to thy man-servant, to thy maid-servant and thy hireling, and to the strangers that sojourn with thee.
7All things that grow shall be meat to thy beasts and to thy cattle.
8Thou shalt also number to thee seven weeks of years: that is to say, seven times seven, which together make forty-nine years.
9And thou shalt sound the trumpet in the seventh month, the tenth day of the month, in the time of the expiation in all your land.
10And thou shalt sanctify the fiftieth year, and shalt proclaim remission to all the inhabitants of thy land: for it is the year of jubilee. Every man shall return to his possession, and every one shall go back to his former family:
11Because it is the jubilee and the fiftieth year. You shall not sow, nor reap the things that grow in the field of their own accord, neither shall you gather the first-fruits of the vines,
12Because of the sanctification of the jubilee. But as they grow you shall presently eat them.
13In the year of the jubilee all shall return to their possessions.
14When thou shalt sell any thing to thy neighbour, or shalt buy of him; grieve not thy brother. But thou shalt buy of him according to the number of years from the jubilee.
15And he shall sell to thee according to the computation of the fruits.
16The more years remain after the jubilee, the more shall the price increase: and the less time is counted, so much the less shall the purchase cost. For he shall sell to thee the time of the fruits.
17Do not afflict your countrymen: but let every one fear his God. Because I am the Lord your God.
18Do my precepts, and keep my judgments, and fulfil them: that you may dwell in the land without any fear.
19And the ground may yield you its fruits, of which you may eat your fill, fearing no man's invasion.
20But if you say: What shall we eat the seventh year, if we sow not, nor gather our fruits?
21I will give you my blessing the sixth year: and it shall yield the fruits of three years.
22And the eighth year you shall sow, and shall eat of the old fruits, until the ninth year: till new grow up, you shall eat the old store.
23The land also shall not be sold for ever: because it is mine, and you are strangers and sojourners with me.
24For which cause all the country of your possession shall be under the condition of redemption.
25If thy brother being impoverished sell his little possession, and his kinsman will: he may redeem what he had sold.
26But if he have no kinsman, and he himself can find the price to redeem it:
27The value of the fruits shall be counted from that time when he sold it. And the overplus he shall restore to the buyer, and so shall receive his possession again.
28But if his hands find not the means to repay the price, the buyer shall have what he bought, until the year of the jubilee. For in that year all that is sold shall return to the owner, and to the ancient possessor.
29He that selleth a house within the walls of a city, shall have the liberty to redeem it, until one year be expired.
30If he redeem it not, and the whole year be fully out, the buyer shall possess it, and his posterity for ever, and it cannot be redeemed, not even in the jubilee.
31But if the house be in a village, that hath no walls, it shall be sold according to the same law as the fields. If it be not redeemed before, in the jubilee it shall return to the owner.
32The houses of Levites, which are in cities, may always be redeemed.
33If they be not redeemed, in the jubilee they shall all return to the owners: because the houses of the cities of the Levites are for their possessions among the children of Israel.
34But let not their suburbs be sold, because it is a perpetual possession.
35If thy brother be impoverished, and weak of hand, and thou receive him as a stranger and sojourner, and he live with thee:
36Take not usury of him nor more than thou gavest. Fear thy God, that thy brother may live with thee.
37Thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury: nor exact of him any increase of fruits.
38I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that I might give you the land of Chanaan, and might be your God.
39If thy brother constrained by poverty sell himself to thee, thou shalt not oppress him with the service of bondservants.
40But he shall be as a hireling, and a sojourner: he shall work with thee until the year of the jubilee.
41And afterwards he shall go out with his children: and shall return to his kindred and to the possession of his fathers.
42For they are my servants, and I brought them out of the land of Egypt: let them not be sold as bondmen.
43Afflict him not by might: but fear thy God.
44Let your bondmen, and your bondwomen, be of the nations that are round about you:
45And of the strangers that sojourn among you, or that were born of them in your land. These you shall have for servants:
46And by right of inheritance shall leave them to your posterity, and shall possess them for ever. But oppress not your brethren the children of Israel by might.
47If the hand of a stranger or a sojourner grow strong among you, and thy brother being impoverished sell himself to him, or to any of his race:
48After the sale he may be redeemed. He that will of his brethren shall redeem him:
49Either his uncle, or his uncle's son, or his kinsman, by blood, or by affinity. But if he himself be able also, he shall redeem himself:
50Counting only the years from the time of his selling unto the year of the jubilee: and counting the money that he was sold for, according to the number of the years and the reckoning of a hired servant.
51If there be many years that remain until the jubilee, according to them shall he also repay the price.
52If few, he shall make the reckoning with him according to the number of the years: and shall repay to the buyer of what remaineth of the years.
53His wages being allowed for which he served before: he shall not afflict him violently in thy sight.
54And if by these means he cannot be redeemed, in the year of the jubilee he shall go out with his children.
55For the children of Israel are my servants, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt.
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Leviticus 25: DRC1752
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An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
Leviticus 25
25
A Time of Rest for the Land
1The Lord spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai. He said, 2“Tell the Israelites: When you enter the land that I am giving to you, you must let the land have a special time of rest. This will be a special time of rest to honor the Lord. 3You will plant seed in your field for six years. You will trim your vineyards for six years and bring in its fruits. 4But during the seventh year, you will let the land rest. This will be a special time of rest to honor the Lord. You must not plant seed in your field or trim your vineyards. 5You must not cut the crops that grow by themselves after your harvest. You must not gather the grapes from your vines that are not trimmed. The land will have a year of rest.
6“The land will have a year of rest, but you will still have enough food. There will be enough food for your men and women servants. There will be food for your hired workers and for the foreigners living in your country. 7And there will be enough food for your cattle and other animals to eat.
Jubilee—the Year of Release
8“You will also count seven groups of seven years. This will be 49 years. During that time there will be seven years of rest for the land. 9On the Day of Atonement, you must blow a ram’s horn. That will be on the tenth day of the seventh month. You must blow the ram’s horn through the whole country. 10You will make the 50th year a special year. You will announce freedom for everyone living in your country. This time will be called ‘Jubilee.’ Each of you will go back to your own property.#25:10 own property In Israel, the land belonged to the family or tribe. A person might sell his land, but at Jubilee that land again belonged to the family and tribe that it was originally given to. And each of you will go back to your own family. 11The 50th year will be a special celebration#25:11 special celebration Literally, “Jubilee.” See “Jubilee” in the Word List. for you. Don’t plant seeds, don’t harvest the crops that grow by themselves, and don’t gather grapes from the vines that are not trimmed. 12That year is Jubilee. It will be a holy time for you. You will eat the crops that come from the field. 13In the year of Jubilee, you will go back to your own property.
14“Don’t cheat your neighbors when you sell your land to them. Don’t cheat one another when you buy or sell land. 15If you want to buy your neighbor’s land, count the number of years since the last Jubilee, and use that number to decide the right price. You are only buying the rights for harvesting crops until the next Jubilee. 16If there are many years before the next Jubilee, the price will be high. If the years are few, the price will be lower. So your neighbor is really only selling a number of crops to you. At the next Jubilee, the land will again belong to that family. 17You must not cheat each other. You must honor your God. I am the Lord your God.
18“Remember my laws and rules. Obey them and you will live safely in your country. 19And the land will produce good crops for you. Then you will have plenty of food, and you will live safely on the land.
20“But maybe you will say, ‘If we don’t plant seeds or gather our crops, we will not have anything to eat during the seventh year.’ 21I will order my blessing to come to you during the sixth year. The land will continue growing crops for three years. 22When you plant in the eighth year, you will still be eating from the old crop. You will eat the old crop until the ninth year, when the crop you planted in the eighth year comes in.
Property Laws
23“The land really belongs to me, so you cannot sell it permanently. You are only foreigners and travelers living on my land with me. 24People might sell their land, but the family will always get their land back. 25If someone in your country becomes very poor and must sell their property, a close relative must come and buy it back. 26If there is not a close relative to buy back the land, the person might get enough money to buy it back. 27Then the years must be counted since the land was sold. That number must be used to decide how much to pay for the land. The person must then buy back the land, and it will be their property again. 28But if this first owner cannot find enough money to buy the land back, it will stay in the hands of the one who bought it until the year of Jubilee. Then during that special celebration, the land will go back to the first owner’s family. So the property will again belong to the right family.
29“Anyone who sells a home in a walled city still has the right to get it back until a full year after it was sold. Their right to get the house back will continue one year. 30But if the owner does not buy back the house before a full year is finished, the house that is in the walled city will belong to the one who bought it and to their descendants. The house will not go back to the first owner at the time of Jubilee. 31Towns without walls around them will be treated like open fields. So houses built in these small towns will go back to the first owners at the time of Jubilee.
32“But about the cities of the Levites: The Levites can buy back at any time their houses in the cities that belong to them. 33If someone buys a house from a Levite, that house in the Levites’ city will again belong to the Levites at the time of Jubilee. This is because houses in Levite cities belong to those from the tribe of Levi. The Israelites gave these cities to the Levites. 34Also, the fields and pastures around the Levite cities cannot be sold. They belong to the Levites forever.
Rules for Slave Owners
35“If anyone from your own country becomes too poor to support themselves, you must let them live with you like a visitor. 36Don’t charge them any interest on money you might loan to them. Respect your God and let those from your own country live with you. 37Don’t charge them interest on any money you lend them. And don’t try to make a profit from the food you sell them. 38I am the Lord your God. I brought you out of the land of Egypt to give the land of Canaan to you and to become your God.
39“If anyone from your own country becomes so poor that they must sell themselves to you, don’t make them work like slaves. 40They will be like hired workers and visitors with you until the year of Jubilee. 41Then they can leave you, take their children, and go back to their family. They can go back to the property of their ancestors, 42because they are my servants. I brought them out of slavery in Egypt. They must not become slaves again. 43You must not be a cruel master to them. You must respect your God.
44“About your men and women slaves: You may get men and women slaves from the other nations around you. 45Also, you may get children as slaves if they come from the families of the foreigners living in your land. These child slaves will belong to you. 46You may even pass these foreign slaves on to your children after you die so that they will belong to them. They will be your slaves forever. You may make slaves of these foreigners. But you must not be a cruel master over your own brothers, the Israelites.
47“Maybe a foreigner or visitor among you becomes rich. Or maybe someone from your own country becomes so poor that they sell themselves as slaves to a foreigner living among you or to a member of a foreigner’s family. 48These people have the right to be bought back and become free. Someone from their own country can buy them back. 49Or their uncle, their cousin, or one of their close relatives from their family can buy him back. Or if they get enough money, they can pay the money themselves and become free again.
50“You must count the years from the time they sold themselves to the foreigner up to the next year of Jubilee. Use that number to decide the price, because really the person only ‘hired’ them for a few years. 51If there are still many years before the year of Jubilee, the one sold must give back a large part of the price. It all depends on the number of years. 52If only a few years are left until the year of Jubilee, the one who was sold must pay a small part of the original price. 53But that person will live like a hired worker with the foreigner every year. Don’t let the foreigner be a cruel master over that person.
54“Those who sold themselves will become free, even if no one buys them back. At the year of Jubilee, they and their children will become free. 55This is because the Israelites are my servants. They are the servants who I brought out of slavery in Egypt. I am the Lord your God!
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