Leviticus 25

1 And Yahweh spake unto Moses in Mount Sinai, saying—

And the Lord said to Moses on Mount Sinai,

2 Speak unto the sons of Israel, and thou shalt say unto them: —When ye enter into the land which, I, am giving you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto Yahweh.

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.

3 Six years, shalt thou sow thy field, and, six years, shalt thou prune thy vineyard, —and gather the increase thereof;

For six years put seed into your land, and for six years give care to your vines and get in the produce of them;

4 but, in the seventh year—a sabbath of sacred rest, shall there be unto the land, a sabbath unto Yahweh: thy field, shalt thou not sow, and, thy vineyard, shalt thou not prune;

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.

5 that which groweth of itself of thy harvest, shalt thou not reap; and the grapes of thine unpruned vines, shalt thou not cut off: a year of sacred rest, shall there be to the land.

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.

6 So shall the sabbath of the land be unto you for food: unto thee, and unto thy servant and unto thy handmaid, —and unto thy hireling, and unto thy settlers that are sojourning with thee;

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;

7 and unto thy tame-beasts, and unto the wild-beasts that are in thy land, shall belong all the increase thereof for food.

And for your cattle and the beasts on the land; all the natural increase of the land will be for food.

8 And thou shalt count to thee seven weeks of years, seven years, seven times, —so shall the days of the seven weeks of years become to thee forty-nine years.

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;

9 Then shalt thou cause a signal-horn to pass through in the seventh month, on the tenth of the month: on the Day of Propitiation, shall ye cause a horn to pass throughout all your land.

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.

10 So shall ye hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim freedom throughout the land to all the dwellers thereof, —a jubilee, shall it be unto you, and ye shall return, every man unto his possession, and every man unto his family, shall ye return.

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.

11 A jubilee, shall that fiftieth year be unto you, —ye shall not sow, neither shall ye reap the self-grown corn thereof, nor cut off the grapes of the unpruned vines thereof.

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.

12 For, a jubilee, it is, holy, shall it be unto you, —out of the field, shall ye eat her increase.

For it is the Jubilee, and it is holy to you; your food will be the natural increase of the field.

13 In this same jubilee year, shall ye return every man unto his possession.

In this year of Jubilee, let every man go back to his heritage.

14 And when ye sell anything to thy neighbour, or buy aught at thy neighbour’s hand, do not overreach one another.

And in the business of trading goods for money, do no wrong to one another.

15 By the number of years after the jubilee, shalt thou buy of thy neighbour, —by the number of the years of increase, shall he sell unto thee;

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.

16 according to the multitude of the years, shalt thou increase the price thereof, and, according to the fewness of the years, shalt thou diminish the price thereof, —because the sum of the increase, it is that he selleth thee.

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.

17 So then ye shall not overreach one another; but thou shalt stand in awe of thy God, —for, I—Yahweh, am your God.

And do no wrong, one to another, but let the fear of your God be before you; for I am the Lord your God.

18 Wherefore ye shall do my statutes, and my regulations, shall ye observe and do them, —so shall ye dwell upon the land with confidence;

So keep my rules and my decisions and do them, and you will be safe in your land.

19 and the land shall yield her fruit; and ye shall eat to the full, —and shall dwell with confidence thereupon.

And the land will give her fruit, and you will have food in full measure and be safe in the land.

20 And since ye may say, What shall we eat in the seventh year? Lo! we are not to sow, neither are we to gather our increase!

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

21 Therefore will I command my blessing upon you, in the sixth year, —and it shall make the increase of three years;

Then I will send my blessing on you in the sixth year, and the land will give fruit enough for three years.

22 and ye shall sow, the eighth year, and eat of old store, —until the ninth year until the coming in of the increase thereof, shall ye eat old store.

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.

23 The land moreover shall not be sold beyond recovery, for, mine, is the land, —for, sojourners and settlers, ye are with me.

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.

24 And, in all the land of your possession, a right of redemption, shall ye give to the land.

Wherever there is property in land, the owner is to have the right of getting it back.

25 When thy brother waxeth poor, and so selleth aught of his possession, then may his kinsman that is near unto him come in, and redeem that which was sold by his brother.

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.

26 And, when, any man, hath no kinsman, —but his own hand getteth enough, so that he findeth what is needed to redeem it,

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;

27 then shall he reckon the years since he sold it, and restore the overplus to the man to whom he sold it, —and shall return to his possession.

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.

28 But, if his hand have not found enough to get it back unto him, then shall that which he sold remain in the hand of him that bought it, until the year of the jubilee, —and shall go out in the jubilee, and he shall return unto his possession.

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.

29 And, when, any man, selleth a dwelling-house in a walled city, then shall his right of redemption remain until the completion of a year after he sold it, —for, [a year of] days, shall his right of redemption remain.

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.

30 But, if it be not redeemed before the end of a full year, then shall the house that is in the city that hath walls be confirmed, beyond recovery, to him who bought it, unto his generations, —it shall not go out in the jubilee.

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.

31 But as for the houses of villages which have no wall round about them, with the fields of land, shall it be reckoned, —a right of redemption, shall belong to it, and, in the jubilee, shall it go out.

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.

32 And as for the cities of the Levites, the houses of the cities of their possession, an age-abiding right of redemption, shall pertain unto the Levites.

But the houses in the towns of the Levites may be got back by the Levites at any time.

33 And, if one of the Levites should not redeem, then shall the sale of the house and the city of his possession go out in the jubilee; for, the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession, in the midst of the sons of Israel.

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.

34 But the field of the pasture-land of their cities, shall not be sold, —for an age-abiding possession, it is unto them.

But the land on the outskirts of their towns may not be exchanged for money, for it is their property for ever.

35 And, when thy brother waxeth poor, and his hand becometh feeble with thee, then shalt thou strengthen him, as a sojourner and a settler, so shall he live with thee.

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.

36 Do not accept from him interest or profit, but stand thou in awe of thy God, —so shall thy brother live with thee.

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.

37 Thy silver, shalt thou not give him on interest, —neither, for profit, shalt thou give him thy food.

Do not take interest on the money which you let him have or on the food which you give him.

38 I—Yahweh, am your God, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, —to give unto you the land of Canaan, to become your God,

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.

39 And when thy brother waxeth poor with thee, and so selleth himself unto thee, thou shalt not bind him with the bondage of a bondman:

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;

40 as a hired servant, as a settler, shall he remain with thee, —until the year of the jubilee, shall he serve with thee:

But let him be with you as a servant working for payment, till the year of Jubilee;

41 then shall he go forth from thee, he and his sons with him, —and shall return unto his family, and unto the possession of his fathers, shall he return.

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.

42 For, my bondmen, they are, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt, —they shall not sell themselves with the sale of a bondman.

For they are my servants whom I took out from the land of Egypt; they may not become the property of another.

43 Thou shalt not rule over him with rigour, —so shalt thou stand in awe of thy God.

Do not be a hard master to him, but have the fear of God before you.

44 And as for thy bondman and thy bond-maid which thou shalt have, of the nations that are round about you—from them, may ye buy bondman and bond-maid.

But you may get servants as property from among the nations round about; from them you may take men-servants and women-servants.

45 Moreover also, of the sons of the settlers who are sojourning with you—of them, may ye buy, and of their families that are with you, which they have begotten in your land, —so shall they become yours, as a possession;

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.

46 and ye may take them as an inheritance for your sons after you to inherit as a possession, unto times age-abiding, of them, may ye take to be bondmen, —but, over your brethren the sons of Israel—a man over his brother, ye shall not rule, over him with rigour.

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.

47 And, when the hand of the sojourner and settler with thee getteth possessions, and thy brother with him, waxeth poor, —and so he selleth himself to the sojourner [who is] a settler with thee, or to one who hath taken root, of the family of the sojourner,

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;

48 after that he hath sold himself, a right of redemption, pertaineth to him, —one of his brethren, may redeem him;

After he has given himself he has the right to be made free, for a price, by one of his brothers,

49 or, his uncle or his uncle’s son, may redeem him, or, a near flesh-relation of his, of his family, may redeem him, or, his own hand may have gotten enough, and, so he may redeem himself.

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.

50 Then shall he reckon with him that bought him, from the year that he was sold to him, unto the year of the jubilee, —and the silver for which he was sold shall be by the number of years, according to the days of a hired servant, shall he be with him.

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.

51 If there is yet a multitude of years, according to them, shall he return, as his redemption price, of the silver of him that bought 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.

52 Or, if [there is] but a small remainder of years, until the year of the jubilee, then shall he reckon to himself, according to the years thereof, shall he return his price of redemption.

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.

53 As a servant hired year by year, shall he be with him, he shall not rule over him with rigour, before thine eyes.

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.

54 But if he be not redeemed in any of these ways, then shall he go out in the jubilee year, he, and his sons with him.

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.

55 For, unto me, are the sons of Israel, bondmen, my bondmen, they are, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt. I, Yahweh, am your God.

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.