Leviticus 25

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BBE WEB

The sabbath of rest for the land in the seventh year

And the Lord said to Moses on Mount Sinai, Yahweh said to Moses in Mount Sinai,
Say to the children of Israel, When you come into the land which I will give you, let the land keep a Sabbath to the Lord. “Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall keep a Sabbath to Yahweh.
For six years put seed into your land, and for six years give care to your vines and get in the produce of them; Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather in its fruits;
But let the seventh year be a Sabbath of rest for the land, a Sabbath to the Lord; do not put seed into your land or have your vines cut. but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to Yahweh. You shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard.
That which comes to growth of itself may not be cut, and the grapes of your uncared-for vines may not be taken off; let it be a year of rest for the land. What grows of itself in your harvest you shall not reap, and the grapes of your undressed vine you shall not gather. It shall be a year of solemn rest for the land.
And the Sabbath of the land will give food for you and your man-servant and your woman-servant and those working for payment, and for those of another country who are living among you; The Sabbath of the land shall be for food for you; for yourself, for your servant, for your maid, for your hired servant, and for your stranger, who lives as a foreigner with you.
And for your cattle and the beasts on the land; all the natural increase of the land will be for food. For your livestock also, and for the animals that are in your land, shall all its increase be for food.

The year of freedom of the fiftieth year, Oppression forbidden

And let seven Sabbaths of years be numbered to you, seven times seven years; even the days of seven Sabbaths of years, that is forty-nine years; “‘You shall count off seven Sabbaths of years, seven times seven years; and there shall be to you the days of seven Sabbaths of years, even forty-nine years.
Then let the loud horn be sounded far and wide on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the day of taking away sin let the horn be sounded through all your land. Then you shall sound the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month. On the Day of Atonement you shall sound the trumpet throughout all your land.
And let this fiftieth year be kept holy, and say publicly that everyone in the land is free from debt: it is the Jubilee, and every man may go back to his heritage and to his family. You shall make the fiftieth year holy, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee to you; and each of you shall return to his own property, and each of you shall return to his family.
Let this fiftieth year be the Jubilee: no seed may be planted, and that which comes to growth of itself may not be cut, and the grapes may not be taken from the uncared-for vines. That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee to you. In it you shall not sow, neither reap that which grows of itself, nor gather from the undressed vines.
For it is the Jubilee, and it is holy to you; your food will be the natural increase of the field. For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you. You shall eat of its increase out of the field.
In this year of Jubilee, let every man go back to his heritage. “‘In this Year of Jubilee each of you shall return to his property.
And in the business of trading goods for money, do no wrong to one another. “‘If you sell anything to your neighbor, or buy from your neighbor, you shall not wrong one another.
Let your exchange of goods with your neighbours have relation to the number of years after the year of Jubilee, and the number of times the earth has given her produce. According to the number of years after the Jubilee you shall buy from your neighbor. According to the number of years of the crops he shall sell to you.
If the number of years is great, the price will be increased, and if the number of years is small, the price will be less, for it is the produce of a certain number of years which the man is giving you. According to the length of the years you shall increase its price, and according to the shortness of the years you shall diminish its price; for he is selling the number of the crops to you.
And do no wrong, one to another, but let the fear of your God be before you; for I am the Lord your God. You shall not wrong one another; but you shall fear your God: for I am Yahweh your God.
So keep my rules and my decisions and do them, and you will be safe in your land. “‘Therefore you shall do my statutes, and keep my ordinances and do them; and you shall dwell in the land in safety.
And the land will give her fruit, and you will have food in full measure and be safe in the land. The land shall yield its fruit, and you shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety.
And if you say, Where will our food come from in the seventh year, when we may not put in seed, or get in the increase If you said, “What shall we eat the seventh year? Behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase;”
Then I will send my blessing on you in the sixth year, and the land will give fruit enough for three years. then I will command my blessing on you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for the three years.
And in the eighth year you will put in your seed, and get your food from the old stores, till the fruit of the ninth year is ready. You shall sow the eighth year, and eat of the fruits, the old store; until the ninth year, until its fruits come in, you shall eat the old store.

Redemption of the land and houses

No exchange of land may be for ever, for the land is mine, and you are as my guests, living with me for a time. “‘The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine; for you are strangers and live as foreigners with me.
Wherever there is property in land, the owner is to have the right of getting it back. In all the land of your possession you shall grant a redemption for the land.
If your brother becomes poor, and has to give up some of his land for money, his nearest relation may come and get back that which his brother has given up. “‘If your brother becomes poor, and sells some of his possessions, then his kinsman who is next to him shall come, and redeem that which his brother has sold.
And if he has no one to get it back for him, and later he himself gets wealth and has enough money to get it back; If a man has no one to redeem it, and he becomes prosperous and finds sufficient means to redeem it;
Then let him take into account the years from the time when he gave it up, and make up the loss for the rest of the years to him who took it, and so get back his property. then let him reckon the years since its sale, and restore the surplus to the man to whom he sold it; and he shall return to his property.
But if he is not able to get it back for himself, then it will be kept by him who gave a price for it, till the year of Jubilee; and in that year it will go back to its first owner and he will have his property again. But if he isn’t able to get it back for himself, then what he has sold shall remain in the hand of him who has bought it until the Year of Jubilee: and in the Jubilee it shall be released, and he shall return to his property.
And if a man gives his house in a walled town for money, he has the right to get it back for the space of a full year after he has given it up. “‘If a man sells a dwelling house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it has been sold. For a full year he shall have the right of redemption.
And if he does not get it back by the end of the year, then the house in the town will become the property of him who gave the money for it, and of his children for ever; it will not go from him in the year of Jubilee. If it isn’t redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house that is in the walled city shall be made sure in perpetuity to him who bought it, throughout his generations. It shall not be released in the Jubilee.
But houses in small unwalled towns will be the same as property in the country; they may be got back, and they will go back to their owners in the year of Jubilee. But the houses of the villages which have no wall around them shall be reckoned with the fields of the country: they may be redeemed, and they shall be released in the Jubilee.
But the houses in the towns of the Levites may be got back by the Levites at any time. “‘Nevertheless the cities of the Levites, the houses in the cities of their possession, the Levites may redeem at any time.
And if a Levite does not give money to get back his property, his house in the town which was exchanged for money will come back to him in the year of Jubilee. For the houses of the towns of the Levites are their property among the children of Israel. The Levites may redeem the house that was sold, and the city of his possession, and it shall be released in the Jubilee; for the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Israel.
But the land on the outskirts of their towns may not be exchanged for money, for it is their property for ever. But the field of the suburbs of their cities may not be sold; for it is their perpetual possession.

Pity and love towards the poor

And if your brother becomes poor and is not able to make a living, then you are to keep him with you, helping him as you would a man from another country who is living among you. “‘If your brother has become poor, and his hand can’t support him among you; then you shall uphold him. He shall live with you like an alien and a temporary resident.
Take no interest from him, in money or in goods, but have the fear of your God before you, and let your brother make a living among you. Take no interest from him or profit, but fear your God; that your brother may live among you.
Do not take interest on the money which you let him have or on the food which you give him. You shall not lend him your money at interest, nor give him your food for profit.
I am the Lord your God, who took you out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan, that I might be your God. I am Yahweh your God, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your God.

Laws about bondmen, Oppression forbidden

And if your brother becomes poor and gives himself to you for money, do not make use of him like a servant who is your property; “‘If your brother has grown poor among you, and sells himself to you; you shall not make him to serve as a slave.
But let him be with you as a servant working for payment, till the year of Jubilee; As a hired servant, and as a temporary resident, he shall be with you; he shall serve with you until the Year of Jubilee:
Then he will go out from you, he and his children with him, and go back to his family and to the property of his fathers. then he shall go out from you, he and his children with him, and shall return to his own family, and to the possession of his fathers.
For they are my servants whom I took out from the land of Egypt; they may not become the property of another. For they are my servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt. They shall not be sold as slaves.
Do not be a hard master to him, but have the fear of God before you. You shall not rule over him with harshness, but shall fear your God.
But you may get servants as property from among the nations round about; from them you may take men-servants and women-servants. “‘As for your male and your female slaves, whom you may have; of the nations that are around you, from them you may buy male and female slaves.
And in addition, you may get, for money, servants from among the children of other nations who are living with you, and from their families which have come to birth in your land; and these will be your property. Moreover of the children of the aliens who live among you, of them you may buy, and of their families who are with you, which they have conceived in your land; and they will be your property.
And they will be your children's heritage after you, to keep as their property; they will be your servants for ever; but you may not be hard masters to your countrymen, the children of Israel. You may make them an inheritance for your children after you, to hold for a possession; of them may you take your slaves forever: but over your brothers the children of Israel you shall not rule, one over another, with harshness.
And if one from another nation living among you gets wealth, and your countryman, at his side, becomes poor and gives himself for money to the man from another nation or to one of his family; “‘If an alien or temporary resident with you becomes rich, and your brother beside him has grown poor, and sells himself to the stranger or foreigner living among you, or to a member of the stranger’s family;
After he has given himself he has the right to be made free, for a price, by one of his brothers, after he is sold he may be redeemed. One of his brothers may redeem him;
Or his father's brother, or the son of his father's brother, or any near relation; or if he gets money, he may make himself free. or his uncle, or his uncle’s son, may redeem him, or any who is a close relative to him of his family may redeem him; or if he has grown rich, he may redeem himself.
And let the years be numbered from the time when he gave himself to his owner till the year of Jubilee, and the price given for him will be in relation to the number of years, on the scale of the payment of a servant. He shall reckon with him who bought him from the year that he sold himself to him to 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 he be with him.
If there is still a long time, he will give back, on account of it, a part of the price which was given for him. If there are yet many years, according to them he shall give back the price of his redemption out of the money that he was bought for.
And if there is only a short time, he will take account of it with his master, and in relation to the number of years he will give back the price of making him free. If there remain but a few years to the year of jubilee, then he shall reckon with him; according to his years of service he shall give back the price of his redemption.
And he will be with him as a servant working for payment year by year; his master is not to be cruel to him before your eyes. As a servant hired year by year shall he be with him: he shall not rule with harshness over him in your sight.
And if he is not made free in this way, he will go out in the year of Jubilee, he and his children with him. If he isn’t redeemed by these means, then he shall be released in the Year of Jubilee, he, and his children with him.
For the children of Israel are servants to me; they are my servants whom I took out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God. For to me the children of Israel are servants; they are my servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God.
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