Leviticus 25

1 And the Lord spak to Moises in the hil of Synai,

Yahweh spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying,

2 and seide, Speke thou to the sones of Israel, and thou schalt seye to hem, Whanne ye han entrid in to the lond which Y schal yyue to you, `the erthe kepe the sabat of the Lord;

“Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, 'When you come into the land that I give you, then the land must be made to keep a Sabbath for Yahweh.

3 sixe yeeris thou schalt sowe thi feeld, and sixe yeeris thou schalt kitte thi vyner, and thou schalt gadere the fruytis ther of;

You must plant your field for six years, and for six years you must prune your vineyard and gather the produce.

4 forsothe in the seuenthe yeer schal be sabat of the erthe of the restyng of the Lord;

But in the seventh year, a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land must be observed, a Sabbath for Yahweh. You must not plant your field or prune your vineyard.

5 thou schalt not sowe the feeld, and thou schalt not kitte the vyner, thou schalt not repe tho thingis whiche the erthe bryngith forth `bi fre wille, and thou schalt not gadere the grapis of thi firste fruytis, as vyndage; for it is the yeer of restyng of the lond; but tho schulen be to you in to mete,

You must not conduct an organized harvest of whatever grows by itself, and you must not conduct an organized harvest of whatever grapes grow on your unpruned vines. This will be a year of solemn rest for the land.

6 to thee, and to thi seruaunt, to thin handmaide, and to thin hirid man, and to the comelyng which is a pilgrym at thee; alle thingis that `comen forth,

Whatever the unworked land grows during the Sabbath year will be food for you. You, your male and female servants, your hired servants and the foreigners who live with you may gather food,

7 schulen yyue mete to thi werk beestis and smale beestis.

and your livestock and also wild animals may eat whatever the land produces.

8 Also thou schalt noumbre to thee seuene woukis of yeeris, that is, seuene sithes seuene, whiche togidere maken nyn and fourti yeer;

You must count off seven Sabbaths of years, that is, seven times seven years, so that there will be seven Sabbaths of years, totaling forty-nine years.

9 and thou schalt sowne with a clarioun in the seuenthe monethe, in the tenthe dai of the monethe, in the tyme of propiciacioun, `that is, merci, in al youre lond.

Then you must blow a loud trumpet everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month. On the Day of Atonement you must blow a trumpet throughout all your land.

10 And thou schalt halewe the fiftithe yeer, and thou schalt clepe remissioun to alle the dwellers of thi lond; for thilke yeer is iubilee; a man schal turne ayen to hys possessioun, and ech man schal go ayen to the firste meynee,

You must set apart the fiftieth year to Yahweh and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It will be a Jubilee for you, in which property and slaves must be returned to their families.

11 for it is iubilee, and the fiftithe yeer. Ye schulen not sowe, nether ye schulen repe thingis, that comen forth freli in the feeld, and ye schulen not gadere the firste fruytis of vyndage, for the halewyng of iubilee;

The fiftieth year will be a Jubilee for you. You must not plant or conduct an organized harvest. Eat whatever grows by itself, and gather the grapes that grow on the unpruned vines.

12 but anoon ye schulen ete thingis takun awey;

For it is a Jubilee, which will be holy for you. You must eat the produce that grows by itself out of the fields.

13 in the yeer of iubilee alle men go ayen to her possessiouns.

You must return everyone to his own property in this year of Jubilee.

14 Whanne thou schalt sille ony thing to thi citeseyn, ether schalt bie of hym, make thou not sory thi brother, but bi the noumbre of `yeeris of iubile thou schalt bie of him,

If you sell any land to your neighbor or buy any land from your neighbor, you must not cheat or wrong each other.

15 and bi the rekenyng of fruytis he schal sille to thee.

If you buy land from your neighbor, consider the number of years and crops that can be harvested until the next Jubilee. Your neighbor selling the land must consider that also.

16 Bi as myche as mo yeeris dwellen after the iubilee, by so myche also the prijs schal encreesse, and bi as myche as thou noumbrist lesse of tyme, bi so myche and the biyng schal cost lesse; for he schal sille to thee the time of fruytis.

A larger number of years until the next Jubilee will increase the value of land, and a smaller number of years until the next Jubilee will decrease the value, because the number of harvests the land will produce for the new owner is related to the number of years before the next Jubilee.

17 Nyle ye turment men of youre lynagis, but ech man drede his God; for Y am youre Lord God.

You must not cheat or wrong one another; instead, you must honor your God, for I am Yahweh your God.

18 Do ye my comaundementis, and kepe ye my domes, and fille ye tho, that ye moun dwelle in his lond without ony drede,

Therefore you must obey my decrees, keep my laws, and carry them out. Then you will live in the land in safety.

19 and that the erthe brynge forth hise fruytis to you, whiche ye schulen ete `til to fulnesse, and drede not the assailyng of ony man.

The land will yield its produce, and you will eat your fill and live there in safety.

20 That if ye seien, what schulen we ete in the seuenthe yeer, if we sowen not, nether gaderen oure fruytis?

You might say, “What will we eat during the seventh year? Look, we cannot plant or gather our produce.”

21 Y schal yyue my blessyng to you in the sixte yeer, and it schal make fruytis of three yeer;

I will command my blessing to come upon you in the sixth year, and it will produce harvest enough for three years.

22 and ye schulen sowe in the eiyte yeer, and ye schulen ete elde fruytis `til to the nynthe yeer; til newe thingis comen forth ye schulen ete the elde thingis.

You will plant in the eighth year and continue to eat from the previous years' produce and the stored food. Until the harvest of the ninth year comes in, you will be able to eat from the provisions stored in the previous years.

23 Also the lond schal not be seeld `in to with outen ende, for it is myn, and ye ben my comelyngis and tenauntis;

The land must not be sold to a new permanent owner, because the land is mine. You are all foreigners and temporary residents on my land.

24 wherfor al the cuntre of youre possessioun schal be seeld vndur the condicioun of ayenbiyng.

You must observe the right of redemption for all the land that you acquire; you must allow the land to be bought back by the family from whom you bought it.

25 If thi brother is maad pore, and sillith his litil possessioun, and his nyy kynesman wole, he may ayenbie that that he seelde;

If your fellow Israelite became poor and for that reason sold some of his property, then his nearest relative may come and buy back the property that he sold to you.

26 sotheli if he hath no nyy kynesman, and he may fynde prijs to ayenbie,

If a man has no relative to redeem his property, but if he has prospered and has the ability to redeem it,

27 the fruytis schulen be rekynyd fro that tyme in which he seelde, and he schal yelde `that that is residue to the biere, and he schal resseyue so his possessioun.

then he may calculate the years since the land was sold and repay the balance to the man to whom he sold it. Then he may return to his own property.

28 That if his hond fynde not, that he yelde the prijs, the biere schal haue that that he bouyte, `til to the yeer of iubilee; for in that yeer ech sillyng schal go ayen to the lord, and to the firste weldere.

But if he is not able to get the land back for himself, then the land he has sold will remain in the ownership of the one who bought it until the year of Jubilee. At the year of Jubilee, the land will be returned to the man who sold it, and the original owner will return to his property.

29 He that sillith his hows, with ynne the wallis of a citee, schal haue licence to ayenbie til o yeer be fillid;

If a man sells a house in a walled city, then he may buy it back within a whole year after it was sold. For a full year he will have the right of redemption.

30 if he ayenbieth not, and the sercle of the yeer is passid, the biere schal welde it, and his eiris `in to with outen ende, and it schal not mow be ayenbouyt, ye, in the iubilee.

If the house is not redeemed within a full year, then the house in the walled city will become the permanent property of the buyer and his descendants. It is not to be returned in the year of Jubilee.

31 Forsothe if the hows is in a town `that hath not wallis, it schal be seeld bi the lawe of feeldis; sotheli if it is not ayenbouyt in the iubilee, it schal turne ayen to `his lord.

But the houses of the villages that have no wall around them will be considered as the field of the land. They may be redeemed, and they must be returned during the year of Jubilee.

32 The howsis of dekenes, that ben in citees, moun euer be ayenbouyt; if tho ben not ayenbouyt,

However, the houses owned by the Levites in their cities may be redeemed at any time.

33 tho schulen turne ayen in the iubilee `to the lordis; for the `howsis of the citees of dekenes ben for possessiouns among the sones of Israel;

If one of the Levites does not redeem a house he sold, then the house that was sold in the city where it is located must be returned in the year of Jubilee, for the houses of the cities of the Levites are their property among the people of Israel.

34 forsothe the suburbabis of hem schulen not be seeld, for it is euerlastynge possessioun.

But the fields around their cities may not be sold because they are the permanent property of the Levites.

35 If thi brother is maad pore, and feble in power, and thou resseyuest hym as a comelyng and pilgrym, and he lyueth with thee,

If your fellow countryman becomes poor, so that he can no longer provide for himself, then you must help him as you would help a foreigner or anyone else living as an outsider among you.

36 take thou not vsuris of hym, nether more than thou hast youe; drede thou thi God, that thi brothir mai lyue anentis thee.

Do not charge him interest or try to profit from him in any way, but honor your God so that your brother may keep living with you.

37 Thou schalt not yyue to hym thi money to vsure, and thou schalt not axe ouer `aboundaunce, ether encrees ouer of fruytis;

You must not give him a loan of money and charge interest, nor sell him your food to earn a profit.

38 Y am youre Lord God, that ladde you out of the lond of Egipt, that Y schulde yyue to you the lond of Canaan, and that Y schulde be youre God.

I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, in order that I might give you the land of Canaan, and that I might be your God.

39 If thi brother compellid bi pouert sillith hym silf to thee, thou schalt not oppresse hym bi seruage of seruauntis,

If your fellow countryman has become poor and sells himself to you, you must not make him work like a slave.

40 but he schal be as an hirid man and tenaunt; `til to the yeer of iubilee he schal worche at thee,

Treat him as a hired servant. He must be like someone living temporarily with you. He will serve with you until the year of Jubilee.

41 and aftirward he schal go out with his fre children, and he schal turne ayen to the kynrede, and to `the possessioun of his fadris.

Then he will go away from you, he and his children with him, and he will return to his own family and to his fathers' property.

42 For thei ben my seruauntis, and Y ledde hem out of the lond of Egipt; thei schulen not be seeld bi the condicioun of seruauntis;

For they are my servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt. They will not be sold as slaves.

43 turmente thou not hem bi thi power, but drede thou thi Lord.

You must not rule over them harshly, but you must honor your God.

44 A seruaunt and handmaide be to you of naciouns that ben in youre cumpas,

As for your male and female slaves, whom you can obtain from the nations who live around you, you may buy slaves from them.

45 and of comelyngis that ben pilgrimys at you, ether thei that ben borun of hem in youre lond; ye schulen haue these seruauntis,

You may also buy slaves from the foreigners who are living among you, that is, from their families who are with you, children who have been born in your land. They may become your property.

46 and bi riyt of eritage ye schulen `sende ouer to aftir comeris, and ye schulen welde with outen ende; sothely oppresse ye not bi power youre britheren, the sones of Israel.

You may provide such slaves as an inheritance for your children after you, to hold as property, and make them slaves for life, but you must not rule over your brothers among the people of Israel with harshness.

47 If the hond of a comelyng and of a pilgrim wexith strong at you, and thi brother is maad pore, and sillith hym silf to hym,

If a foreigner or someone living temporarily with you has become wealthy, and if one of your fellow Israelites has become poor and sells himself to that foreigner, or to someone in a foreigner's family,

48 ether to ony of his kyn, he may be ayenbouyt aftir the sillyng; he that wole of hise britheren, ayenbie hym; bothe `the brother of fadir,

after your fellow Israelite has been bought, he may be bought back. Someone in his family may redeem him.

49 and the sone of `the fadris brother, and kynesman, and alye. Ellis if also he schal mow, he schal ayenbie hym silf,

It might be the person's uncle, or his uncle's son, who redeems him, or anyone who is his close relative from his family. Or, if he has become prosperous, he may redeem himself.

50 while the yeeris ben rykenid oneli fro the tyme of his sillyng `til in to the yeer of iubylee; and while the money, for which he was seeld, is rikenyd bi the noumbre of yeeris, and while the hire of an hirid man is rikenyd.

He must bargain with the man who bought him; they must count the years from the year he sold himself to his purchaser until the year of Jubilee. The price of his redemption must be figured in keeping with the rate paid to a hired servant, for the number of years he might continue to work for the one who bought him.

51 If mo yeeris ben that dwellen `til to the iubilee, bi these yeeris he schal yelde also the prijs; if fewe yeeris ben,

If there are still many years until the year of Jubilee, he must pay back as the price for his redemption an amount of money that is in proportion to the number of those years.

52 he schal sette rikenyng with hym bi the noumbre of yeeris;

If there are only a few years to the year of Jubilee, then he must bargain with his purchaser to reflect the number of years left before the year of Jubilee, and he must pay for his redemption in keeping with the number of years.

53 and he schal yeelde to the biere that that is residue of yeeris, while tho yeeris, bi whiche he seruyde bifore, ben rikenyd for hiris; he schal not turmente `that Ebreu violentli in thi siyt.

He is to be treated like a man hired year by year. You must make sure he is not treated with harshness.

54 That if he may not be ayenbouyt bi this, he schal go out with his free children in the `yeer of iubilee; for the sones of Israel ben myn seruauntis,

If he is not redeemed by these means, then he must serve until the year of Jubilee, he and his children with him.

55 whiche Y ledde out of the lond of Egipt.

To me the people of Israel are servants. They are my servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God.'”