Leviticus 25

1 Then the LORD said to Moses on Mount Sinai,

2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When you enter the land that I am giving you, the land itself must observe a Sabbath to the LORD.

3 For six years you may sow your field and prune your vineyard and gather its crops.

4 But in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of complete rest for the land—a Sabbath to the LORD. You are not to sow your field or prune your vineyard.

5 You are not to reap the aftergrowth of your harvest or gather the grapes of your untended vines. The land must have a year of complete rest.

6 Whatever the land yields during the Sabbath year shall be food for you—for yourself, your manservant and maidservant, the hired hand or foreigner who stays with you,

7 and for your livestock and the wild animals in your land. All its growth may serve as food.

8 And you shall count off seven Sabbaths of years—seven times seven years—so that the seven Sabbaths of years amount to forty-nine years.

9 Then you are to sound the horn far and wide on the tenth day of the seventh month, the Day of Atonement. You shall sound it throughout your land.

10 So you are to consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty in the land for all its inhabitants. It shall be your Jubilee, when each of you is to return to his property and to his clan.

11 The fiftieth year will be a Jubilee for you; you are not to sow the land or reap its aftergrowth or harvest the untended vines.

12 For it is a Jubilee; it shall be holy to you. You may eat only the crops taken directly from the field.

13 In this Year of Jubilee, each of you shall return to his own property.

14 If you make a sale to your neighbor or a purchase from him, you must not take advantage of each other.

15 You are to buy from your neighbor according to the number of years since the last Jubilee; he is to sell to you according to the number of harvest years remaining.

16 You shall increase the price in proportion to a greater number of years, or decrease it in proportion to a lesser number of years; for he is selling you a given number of harvests.

17 Do not take advantage of each other, but fear your God; for I am the LORD your God.

18 You are to keep My statutes and carefully observe My judgments, so that you may dwell securely in the land.

19 Then the land will yield its fruit, so that you can eat your fill and dwell in safety in the land.

20 Now you may wonder, ‘What will we eat in the seventh year if we do not sow or gather our produce?’

21 But I will send My blessing upon you in the sixth year, so that the land will yield a crop sufficient for three years.

22 While you are sowing in the eighth year, you will be eating from the previous harvest, until the ninth year’s harvest comes in.

23 The land must not be sold permanently, because it is Mine, and you are but foreigners and residents with Me.

24 Thus for every piece of property you possess, you must provide for the redemption of the land.

25 If your brother becomes impoverished and sells some of his property, his nearest of kin may come and redeem what his brother has sold.

26 Or if a man has no one to redeem it for him, but he prospers and acquires enough to redeem his land,

27 he shall calculate the years since its sale, repay the balance to the man to whom he sold it, and return to his property.

28 But if he cannot obtain enough to repay him, what he sold will remain in possession of the buyer until the Year of Jubilee. In the Jubilee, however, it is to be released, so that he may return to his property.

29 If a man sells a house in a walled city, he retains his right of redemption until a full year after its sale; during that year it may be redeemed.

30 If it is not redeemed by the end of a full year, then the house in the walled city is permanently transferred to its buyer and his descendants. It is not to be released in the Jubilee.

31 But houses in villages with no walls around them are to be considered as open fields. They may be redeemed, and they shall be released in the Jubilee.

32 As for the cities of the Levites, the Levites always have the right to redeem their houses in the cities they possess.

33 So whatever belongs to the Levites may be redeemed—a house sold in a city they possess—and must be released in the Jubilee, because the houses in the cities of the Levites are their possession among the Israelites.

34 But the open pastureland around their cities may not be sold, for this is their permanent possession.

35 Now if your countryman becomes destitute and cannot support himself among you, then you are to help him as you would a foreigner or stranger, so that he can continue to live among you.

36 Do not take any interest or profit from him, but fear your God, that your countryman may live among you.

37 You must not lend him your silver at interest or sell him your food for profit.

38 I 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 If a countryman among you becomes destitute and sells himself to you, then you must not force him into slave labor.

40 Let him stay with you as a hired worker or temporary resident; he is to work for you until the Year of Jubilee.

41 Then he and his children are to be released, and he may return to his clan and to the property of his fathers.

42 Because the Israelites are My servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt, they are not to be sold as slaves.

43 You are not to rule over them harshly, but you shall fear your God.

44 Your menservants and maidservants shall come from the nations around you, from whom you may purchase them.

45 You may also purchase them from the foreigners residing among you or their clans living among you who are born in your land. These may become your property.

46 You may leave them to your sons after you to inherit as property; you can make them slaves for life. But as for your brothers, the Israelites, no man may rule harshly over his brother.

47 If a foreigner residing among you prospers, but your countryman dwelling near him becomes destitute and sells himself to the foreigner or to a member of his clan,

48 he retains the right of redemption after he has sold himself. One of his brothers may redeem him:

49 either his uncle or cousin or any close relative from his clan may redeem him. Or if he prospers, he may redeem himself.

50 He and his purchaser will then count the time from the year he sold himself up to the Year of Jubilee. The price of his sale will be determined by the number of years, based on the daily wages of a hired hand.

51 If many years remain, he must pay for his redemption in proportion to his purchase price.

52 If only a few years remain until the Year of Jubilee, he is to calculate and pay his redemption according to his remaining years.

53 He shall be treated like a man hired from year to year, but a foreign owner must not rule over him harshly in your sight.

54 Even if he is not redeemed in any of these ways, he and his children shall be released in the Year of Jubilee.

55 For the Israelites are My servants. They are My servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.

1 ¶ And the LORD spake unto Moses in mount Sinai, saying,

2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye 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 in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the LORD: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.

5 That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed: [for] it is a year of rest unto the land.

6 And the sabbath of the land shall be meat for you; for thee, and for thy servant, and for thy maid, and for thy hired servant, and for thy stranger that sojourneth with thee,

7 And for thy cattle, and for the beast that [are] in thy land, shall all the increase thereof be meat.

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 and nine years.

9 Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubile to sound on the tenth [day] of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land.

10 And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout [all] the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.

11 A jubile shall that fiftieth year be unto you: ye shall not sow, neither reap that which groweth of itself in it, nor gather [the grapes] in it of thy vine undressed.

12 For it [is] the jubile; it shall be holy unto you: ye shall eat the increase thereof out of the field.

13 In the year of this jubile ye shall return every man unto his possession.

14 And if thou sell ought unto thy neighbour, or buyest [ought] of thy neighbour's hand, ye shall not oppress one another:

15 According to the number of years after the jubile 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 doth 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 Wherefore ye shall do my statutes, and keep my judgments, 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 increase:

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].

23 ¶ The land shall not be sold for ever: for the land [is] mine; for ye [are] strangers and sojourners with me.

24 And in all the land of your possession ye shall grant a redemption for the land.

25 If thy brother be waxen poor, and hath sold away [some] of his possession, and if any of his kin come to redeem it, then shall he redeem that which his brother sold.

26 And if the man have none to redeem it, and himself be able to redeem it;

27 Then let him count the years of the sale thereof, and restore the overplus unto the man to whom he sold it; that he may return unto his possession.

28 But if he be not able to restore [it] to him, then that which is sold shall remain in the hand of him that hath bought it until the year of jubile: and in the jubile it shall go out, and he shall return unto his possession.

29 And if a man sell 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 be not redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house that [is] in the walled city shall be established for ever to him that bought it throughout his generations: it shall not go out in the jubile.

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 jubile.

32 Notwithstanding the cities of the Levites, [and] the houses of the cities of their possession, may the Levites redeem at any time.

33 And if a man purchase of the Levites, then the house that was sold, and the city of his possession, shall go out in [the year of] jubile: for the houses of the cities of the Levites [are] their possession among the children of Israel.

34 But the field of the suburbs of their cities may not be sold; for it [is] their perpetual possession.

35 And if thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen in decay with thee; then thou shalt relieve him: [yea, though he be] a stranger, or a sojourner; that he may live with thee.

36 Take thou no usury of him, or increase: but fear thy God; that thy brother may live with thee.

37 Thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury, nor lend him thy victuals for increase.

38 I [am] the LORD your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, [and] to be your God.

39 ¶ And if thy brother [that dwelleth] by thee be waxen poor, and be sold unto thee; thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bondservant:

40 [But] as an hired servant, [and] as a sojourner, he shall be with thee, [and] shall serve thee unto the year of jubile:

41 And [then] shall he depart from thee, [both] he and his children with him, and shall return unto his own family, and unto the possession of his fathers shall he return.

42 For they [are] my servants, which I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: they shall not be sold as bondmen.

43 Thou shalt not rule over him with rigour; but shalt fear thy God.

44 Both thy bondmen, and thy bondmaids, which thou shalt have, [shall be] of the heathen that are round about you; of them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids.

45 Moreover of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy, and of their families that [are] with you, which they begat in your land: and they shall be your possession.

46 And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit [them for] a possession; they shall be your bondmen for ever: but over your brethren the children of Israel, ye shall not rule one over another with rigour.

47 And if a sojourner or stranger wax rich by thee, and thy brother [that dwelleth] by him wax poor, and sell himself unto the stranger [or] sojourner by thee, or to the stock of the stranger's family:

48 After that he is sold he may be redeemed again; one of his brethren may redeem him:

49 Either his uncle, or his uncle's son, may redeem him, or [any] that is nigh of kin unto him of his family may redeem him; or if he be 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 jubile: and the price of his sale shall be according unto the number of years, according to the time of an hired servant shall it be with him.

51 If [there be] yet many years [behind], 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 jubile, 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 rigour over him in thy sight.

54 And if he be not redeemed in these [years], then he shall go out in the year of jubile, [both] he, and his children with him.

55 For unto me the children of Israel [are] servants; they [are] my servants whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: I [am] the LORD your God.

1 And the LORD spake unto Moses in mount Sinai, saying:

2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them: When ye come into the land which I will give you, then shall the land keep her feast unto the LORD,

2 Keep my sabbaths, and fear my sanctuary. I am the LORD.

3 That thou sow thy field six years, and prune thy vineyard six years, and gather in the fruit thereof.

4 But in the seventh year the land shall keep her great feast unto the LORD, in the which thou shalt not sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.

5 But that which groweth of itself after thy harvest thou shalt not reap: and the grapes which grow without thy labour thou shalt not gather, because it is a solemn year of the land.

6 But ye shall keep the feast of the land, that thou mayest eat thereof, thy manservant, thy maidservant, thy hired servant, thy household, and thy stranger that sojourneth with thee,

7 Thy cattle and the beasts of thy land. All the fruits shall be food.

8 And thou shalt number the seven solemnities, and seven years shall be numbered seven times: and the seven solemnities shall be forty and nine years.

9 Then shalt thou sound a trumpet throughout all your land in the tenth day of the seventh month, even in the day of atonement.

10 And ye shall keep holy the fiftieth year, and ye shall call it a year of restitution in the land unto all that dwell therein: for it is your year of restitution, and every man shall be restored unto his possession and to his family among you.

11 For the fiftieth year is your year of rejoicing: ye shall not sow, neither shall ye reap that which groweth of itself; neither shall ye gather that which groweth without labour in the vineyard.

12 For the year of jubilee shall be holy among you. But ye shall eat that which the field yieldeth.

13 This is the year of jubilee, when every man shall come again to his own.

14 Now therefore, if thou sell any thing unto thy neighbour, or buy any thing of him, let no man take advantage of his brother,

15 But according to the number of the year of jubilee thou shalt buy it of him: and the years that follow shall he sell unto thee.

16 According to the multitude of years thou shalt increase the purchase, and according to the fewness of years thou shalt contend for the purchase: for he shall sell it unto thee according to his bearing.

17 Now therefore let no man take advantage of his neighbour, but fear your God: for I am the LORD your God.

18 Therefore do according to my statutes, and keep my judgments, that ye may do them; that ye may dwell safely in the land.

19 For the land shall yield her fruit unto you, that ye may have enough to eat, and dwell safely therein.

20 And if thou say, What shall we eat in the seventh year? for we sow not, neither gather we in corn:

21 Then will I command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and he shall make three years' corn,

22 That ye sow in the eighth year, and eat of the old corn until the ninth year; that ye eat of the old, until there be new corn again.

22 But if there be few years left until the year of jubilee, then he shall give again after that time for his ransom, and shall add his daily wages from year to year.

23 Therefore ye shall not sell the land for ever: for the land is mine, and ye are strangers and sojourners before me.

24 And ye shall give the land to be redeemed in all your land.

25 If thy brother be poor, and sell thee his goods, and his neighbour come to him to redeem them, he shall redeem them that his brother hath sold.

26 But if a man have no loosener, and he be able to do so much with his hand, that he looseneth it in part,

27 And it shall be reckoned from the year that he sold it, and the rest of the years shall be restored unto the seller, that he may recover his goods.

28 And if his hand be not able to find so much as shall be restored unto him, then that which he hath sold shall be in the hand of the buyer until the year of jubilee; and in that year it shall go out, and he shall recover his possession.

29 He that selleth a house within the wall of the city shall have a whole year to redeem it; and that shall be the time wherein he may redeem it.

30 And if he redeem it not before the whole year be expired, then the buyer shall keep it for ever, and his seed, and shall not go out in the year of jubile.

31 And if it be a house in the village, and there be no wall about it, it shall be counted as the field of the land, and shall be let go, and shall go out in the year of jubile.

32 The cities of the Levites, and the houses of the cities, where their substance is, shall be redeemed for ever.

33 And whosoever shall redeem any thing of the Levites shall leave it in the year of jubile, whether it be house or city which he possessed: for the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Israel.

34 But the field before their cities shall not be sold: for it is their possession for ever.

35 If thy brother be poor, and diminish beside thee, then thou shalt receive him as a stranger, or as a sojourner, that he may live beside thee.

36 And thou shalt not take usury of him, nor overcharge him: but thou shalt fear thy God, that thy brother may live beside thee.

37 For thou shalt not give him thy money for usury, neither shalt thou give him thy meat for ransom.

38 For I am the LORD your God, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, to be your God.

39 If thy brother be poor beside thee, and sell himself unto thee, thou shalt not suffer him to serve thee as a bondman,

40 But as a hired servant and a sojourner shall he be with thee, and shall serve thee until the year of jubile.

41 Then he shall go forth from thee, and his children with him; and he shall return unto his seed, and to his fathers' substance.

42 For they are my servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt: therefore they shall not be sold in bondage.

43 And thou shalt not rule over them with severity, but shalt fear thy God.

44 But if thou wilt have bondmen and bondmaids, thou shalt buy them of the heathen that are round about thee,

45 Of the sojourners that are strangers among you, and of their seed which they beget among you in your land, the same shall ye have for your own.

46 And ye shall possess them, and your children after you, for a possession by and by; and ye shall make them bond servants. But over your brethren the children of Israel shall not rule one against another with severity.

47 If any stranger or sojourner increase with thee, and thy brother be poor beside him, and sell himself to the stranger or sojourner with thee, or to any of his tribe,

48 Then he shall have a right to be redeemed after he hath sold, and some one of his brethren may redeem him,

49 or his cousin, or his cousin's son, or else his next of kin of his family; or if his own hand acquire so much, he shall be loosed.

50 And he shall reckon with his buyer from the year that he sold himself unto the year of jubilee; and the money shall be reckoned according to the number of the years of his selling; and his daily wages shall be reckoned in all that time.

51 If there be yet many years before the year of jubilee, he shall give the more to be redeemed after that he is bought.

53 And thou shalt not let rigour rule over him in thine eyes.

54 And if he be not loosed in this way, then he shall go out in the year of jubile, and his children with him.

55 For the children of Israel are my servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God. Chap. 6, v. 1. Ye shall not make unto yourselves any graven image, neither shall ye set up for yourselves any pillar, nor set any graven image in your land, to worship before it: for I am the LORD your God.