Leviticus 25

The Sabbath Year

1 And the LORD spoke unto Moses in Mount Sinai, saying, 2 Speak unto the sons of Israel and say unto them, When ye have come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the LORD. 3 Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard and gather in the fruit thereof, 4 but the seventh year the land shall have a sabbath of rest, a sabbath unto the LORD: thou shalt neither sow thy field nor prune thy vineyard. 5 That which grows of its own accord in thy land that was harvested, thou shalt not reap; neither fence in the grapes of thy consecrated vine; for it is a year of rest unto the land. 6 But the sabbath of the land shall be food for you, for thee and for thy slave and for thy maid and for thy hired servant and for thy stranger that sojourns with thee 7 and for thy beast and for the animals that are in thy land shall all the fruit thereof be food.

The Year of Jubilee

8 And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty-nine years. 9 Then shalt thou cause the shofar to sound an alarm on the tenth day of the seventh month; in the day of the reconciliations shall ye cause the shofar to sound throughout all your land. 10 And ye shall sanctify the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof; it shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every one unto his possession, and ye shall return each one unto his family. 11 A jubilee shall that fiftieth year be unto you; ye shall not sow nor reap that which grows of itself in it nor fence in thy consecrated vine. 12 For it is the jubilee; it shall be holy unto you; ye shall eat the fruit of the land.

13 In this year of jubilee ye shall return each one unto his possession. 14 And if thou sell anything unto thy neighbour or buy anything of thy neighbour’s hand, ye shall not oppress one another. 15 According to the number of years after the jubilee thou shalt buy of thy neighbour, and according unto the number of years of the fruits he shall sell unto thee. 16 According to the multitude of years thou shalt increase the price thereof, and according to the fewness of years thou shalt diminish the price of it; for according to the number of the years of the fruits does he sell unto thee. 17 Ye shall not therefore oppress one another; but thou shalt fear thy God; for I am the LORD your God.

18 Execute, therefore, my statutes and keep my rights and do them; and ye shall dwell in the land in safety; 19 and the land shall yield her fruit, and ye shall eat your fill and dwell therein in safety. 20 And if ye shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we shall not sow nor gather in our fruits, 21 then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years. 22 And ye shall sow the eighth year and eat yet of old fruit; until the ninth year, until her fruits come in ye shall eat of the old store.

Redemption of Property

23 The land shall not be sold for ever, for the land is mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with me. 24 Therefore, in all the land of your possession, ye shall grant a redemption for the land.

25 If thy brother becomes poor and has sold away some of his possession, his redeemer shall come, his closest kinsman, and shall redeem that which his brother sold. 26 And when the man has no redeemer and is able to stretch forth his hand and find enough for his redemption, 27 then he shall count the years from the sale thereof and pay that which remains unto the man to whom he sold it; that he may return unto his possession. 28 But if he is not able to stretch forth his hand and find enough to return unto it, then that which is sold shall remain in the hand of the one that has bought it until the year of jubilee; and in the jubilee the land shall go out free, and he shall return unto his possession.

29 And if a man sells a dwelling house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it is sold; within a full year may he redeem it. 30 And if it is not redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house that is in the walled city shall be established for ever to the one that bought it for his descendants; it shall not go out in the jubilee. 31 But the houses of the villages which have no wall round about them shall be counted as the fields of the country; they may be redeemed, and they shall go out in the jubilee. 32 Notwithstanding the cities of the Levites and the houses of the cities of their possession, the Levites may redeem at any time. 33 And if a man makes a purchase from the Levites, then the house that was sold and the city of his possession, shall go out in the year of jubilee; for the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the sons of Israel. 34 But the field of the suburbs of their cities may not be sold, for it is their perpetual possession.

Kindness for Poor Brothers

35 And if thy brother becomes poor and comes unto thee, then thou shalt receive him; as a stranger, or a sojourner, he shall live with thee. 36 Take thou no usury of him, or increase; but thou shalt have the fear of thy God, and thy brother shall live with thee. 37 Thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury, nor lend him thy food for increase. 38 I AM your God, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God.

39 And when thy brother becomes poor, being with thee, and if he should sell himself unto thee, thou shalt not compel him to serve as a slave. 40 As a hired servant and as a sojourner, he shall be with thee and shall serve thee unto the year of jubilee. 41 Then he shall depart free from thy house, both he and his children with him, and shall return unto his own family, and unto the possession of his fathers shall he be restored. 42 For they belong to me, I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as slaves. 43 Thou shalt not rule over him with rigor, but shalt fear thy God. 44 Both thy menslaves and thy maidslaves, which thou shalt have, shall be of the Gentiles that are round about you; of them shall ye buy slaves. 45 Ye may also buy of the children of the strangers that live among you and of those of their lineage that are born in your land, who are with you, and they shall be your possession. 46 And ye shall possess them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit as a possession; they shall be your bondmen for ever; but over your brethren, the sons of Israel, ye shall not rule over one another with rigor.

Redeeming a Poor Man

47 And if a sojourner or stranger who is with thee becomes rich and thy brother who is with him becomes poor and sells himself unto the stranger or sojourner who is with thee or to the race of the lineage of the stranger, 48 after he is sold he shall have redemption; one of his brethren shall redeem him; 49 either his uncle or his uncle’s son shall redeem him; or any that is near of kin unto him of his lineage shall redeem him; or if he is able, he may redeem himself. 50 And he shall reckon with him that bought him from the year that he was sold to him unto the year of jubilee; and the price of his sale shall be according to the number of years, according to the time of a hired servant shall it be with him. 51 If there are yet many years, according unto them he shall give again the price of his redemption out of the money that he was bought for. 52 And if there remain but few years unto the year of jubilee, then he shall count with him, and according unto his years shall he give him again the price of his redemption. 53 And as a yearly hired servant shall he be with him; and the other shall not rule with rigor over him in thy sight. 54 And if he is not redeemed in these years, then he shall go out in the year of jubilee, both he and his children with him. 55 For the sons of Israel are mine; they are my slaves whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt. I AM your God.

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