25
The Sabbatic Year and Year of Jubilee
The Loʀᴅ then spoke to Moses 1Or onat Mount Sinai, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you come into the land which I shall give you, then the land shall have a sabbath to the Loʀᴅ.  ‘AEx 23:10, 11Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its crop, but during ALev 25:20the seventh year the land shall have a sabbath rest, a sabbath to the Loʀᴅ; you shall not sow your field nor prune your vineyard.  ‘Your harvest’s 1Lit growth from spilled kernelsaftergrowth you shall not reap, and your grapes of untrimmed vines you shall not gather; the land shall have a sabbatical year.  ‘ALev 25:20, 21All of you shall have the sabbath products of the land for food; yourself, and your male and female slaves, and your hired man and your foreign resident, those who live as aliens with you.  ‘Even your cattle and the animals that are in your land shall have all its crops to eat.
‘You are also to count off seven sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years, so that you have the time of the seven sabbaths of years, namely, forty-nine years.  ‘You shall then sound a ram’s horn abroad on ALev 23:27the tenth day of the seventh month; on the day of atonement you shall sound a horn all through your land. 10  ‘You shall thus consecrate the fiftieth year and AJer 34:8, 15, 17proclaim 1Or libertya release through the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, 2Or whenand BLev 25:13, 28, 54each of you shall return to his own property, 2Or whenand each of you shall return to his family. 11  ‘You shall have the fiftieth year as a jubilee; you shall not sow, nor reap its aftergrowth, nor gather in from its untrimmed vines. 12  ‘For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you. You shall eat its crops out of the field.
13 ALev 25:10; 27:24On this year of jubilee each of you shall return to his own property. 14  ‘If you make a sale, moreover, to your friend or buy from your friend’s hand, ALev 25:17you shall not wrong one another. 15  ‘Corresponding to the number of years after the jubilee, you shall buy from your 1Lit friend’s handsfriend; he is to sell to you according to the number of years of crops. 16  ‘ALev 25:27, 51, 52In proportion to the 1Lit multitudeextent of the years you shall increase its price, and in proportion to the fewness of the years you shall diminish its price, for it is a number of crops he is selling to you. 17  ‘So ALev 25:14; Prov 14:31; 22:22; Jer 7:5, 6; 1 Thess 4:6you shall not wrong one another, but you shall 1Or reverencefear your God; for I am the Loʀᴅ your God.
18 ‘You shall thus observe My statutes and keep My judgments, so as to carry them out, that ALev 26:5; Deut 12:10; Jer 23:6you may live securely on the land. 19  ‘Then the land will yield its produce, so that you can eat your fill and live securely on it. 20  ‘But if you say, “ALev 25:4What are we going to eat on the seventh year 1Or beholdif we do not sow or gather in our crops?” 21 then ADeut 28:8I will so order My blessing for you in the sixth year that it will bring forth the crop for three years. 22  ‘When you are sowing the eighth year, you can still eat ALev 26:10old things from the crop, eating the old until the ninth year when its crop comes in.
The Law of Redemption
23 ‘The land, moreover, shall not be sold permanently, for AEx 19:5the land is Mine; for BGen 23:4; 1 Chr 29:15; Ps 39:12; Heb 11:13; 1 Pet 2:11you are but aliens and sojourners with Me. 24  ‘Thus for every 1Lit landpiece of your property, you are to provide for the redemption of the land.
25 ARuth 2:20; 4:4, 6If a 1Lit brotherfellow countryman of yours becomes so poor he has to sell part of his property, then his nearest kinsman is to come and buy back what his 1Lit brotherrelative has sold. 26  ‘Or in case a man has no kinsman, but so 1Lit his hand reachesrecovers his means as to find sufficient for its redemption, 27 ALev 25:16then he shall calculate the years since its sale and refund the balance to the man to whom he sold it, and so return to his property. 28  ‘But if 1Lit his hand has not found sufficient tohe has not found sufficient means to get it back for himself, then what he has sold shall remain in the hands of its purchaser until the year of jubilee; but at the jubilee it shall 2Lit go outrevert, that ALev 25:10, 13he may return to his property.
29 ‘Likewise, if a man sells a dwelling house in a walled city, then his redemption right remains valid until a full year from its sale; his right of redemption lasts a full year. 30  ‘But if it is not bought back for him within the space of a full year, then the house that is in the walled city passes permanently to its purchaser throughout his generations; it does not 1Lit go outrevert in the jubilee. 31  ‘The houses of the villages, however, which have no surrounding wall shall be considered 1Lit according toas open fields; they have redemption rights and 2Lit go outrevert in the jubilee. 32  ‘As for ANum 35:1-8; Josh 21:2cities of the Levites, the Levites have a permanent right of redemption for the houses of the cities which are their possession. 33  ‘What, therefore, 1Lit is frombelongs to the Levites may be redeemed and a house sale 2Lit andin the city of this possession 3Lit goes outreverts in the jubilee, for the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the sons of Israel. 34  ‘ANum 35:2-5But pasture fields of their cities shall not be sold, for that is their perpetual possession.
Of Poor Countrymen
35 ADeut 15:7-11; 24:14, 15Now in case a 1Lit brothercountryman of yours becomes poor and his 2Lit handmeans with regard to you falter, then you are to sustain him, like a stranger or a sojourner, that he may live with you. 36  ‘AEx 22:25; Deut 23:19, 20Do not take 1Lit interest and usuryusurious interest from him, but revere your God, that your 2Lit brothercountryman may live with you. 37  ‘You shall not give him your silver at interest, nor your food for gain. 38  ‘ALev 11:45I am the Loʀᴅ your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and BGen 17:7to be your God.
39 AEx 21:2-6; Deut 15:12-18; 1 Kin 9:22If a 1Lit brothercountryman of yours becomes so poor with regard to you that he sells himself to you, you shall not subject him to a slave’s service. 40  ‘He shall be with you as a hired man, as AEx 21:2if he were a sojourner; he shall serve with you until the year of jubilee. 41  ‘He shall then go out from you, he and his sons with him, and shall go back to his family, that he may return to the property of his forefathers. 42  ‘For they are My servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt; they are not to be sold in a slave sale. 43  ‘AEx 1:13, 14; Lev 25:46, 53; Ezek 34:4; Col 4:1You shall not rule over him with severity, but are to revere your God. 44  ‘As for your male and female slaves whom you may have—you may acquire male and female slaves from the pagan nations that are around you. 45  ‘Then, too, it is out of the sons of the sojourners who live as aliens among you that you may gain acquisition, and out of their families who are with you, whom they will have 1Lit begottenproduced in your land; they also may become your possession. 46  ‘You may even bequeath them to your sons after you, to receive as a possession; you can use them as permanent slaves. ALev 25:43But in respect to your 1Lit brotherscountrymen, the sons of Israel, you shall not rule with severity over one another.
Of Redeeming a Poor Man
47 ‘Now if the 1Lit hand...reachesmeans of a stranger or of a sojourner with you becomes sufficient, and a 2Lit brothercountryman of yours becomes so poor with regard to him as to sell himself to a stranger who is sojourning with you, or to the descendants of a stranger’s family, 48 then he shall have redemption right after he has been sold. One of his brothers may redeem him, 49 or his uncle, or his uncle’s son, may redeem him, or one of his blood relatives from his family may redeem him; or 1Lit if his hand has reached andALev 25:26, 27if he prospers, he may redeem himself. 50  ‘He then with his purchaser shall calculate from the year when he sold himself to him up to the year of jubilee; and the price of his sale shall correspond to the number of years. It is like the days of a hired man that he shall be with him. 51  ‘If there are still many years, ALev 25:16he shall refund part of his purchase price in proportion to them for his own redemption; 52 and if few years remain until the year of jubilee, he shall so calculate with him. In proportion to his years he is to refund the amount for his redemption. 53  ‘Like a man hired year by year he shall be with him; ALev 25:43he shall not rule over him with severity in your sight. 54  ‘Even if he is not redeemed by 1Or these yearsthese means, ALev 25:10, 13, 28he shall still go out in the year of jubilee, he and his sons with him. 55  ‘For the sons of Israel are My servants; they are My servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt. I am the Loʀᴅ your God.

125:1 Or on

A25:3 Ex 23:10, 11

A25:4 Lev 25:20

125:5 Lit growth from spilled kernels

A25:6 Lev 25:20, 21

A25:9 Lev 23:27

A25:10 Jer 34:8, 15, 17

125:10 Or liberty

225:10 Or when

B25:10 Lev 25:13, 28, 54

225:10 Or when

A25:13 Lev 25:10; 27:24

A25:14 Lev 25:17

125:15 Lit friend’s hands

A25:16 Lev 25:27, 51, 52

125:16 Lit multitude

A25:17 Lev 25:14; Prov 14:31; 22:22; Jer 7:5, 6; 1 Thess 4:6

125:17 Or reverence

A25:18 Lev 26:5; Deut 12:10; Jer 23:6

A25:20 Lev 25:4

125:20 Or behold

A25:21 Deut 28:8

A25:22 Lev 26:10

A25:23 Ex 19:5

B25:23 Gen 23:4; 1 Chr 29:15; Ps 39:12; Heb 11:13; 1 Pet 2:11

125:24 Lit land

A25:25 Ruth 2:20; 4:4, 6

125:25 Lit brother

125:25 Lit brother

125:26 Lit his hand reaches

A25:27 Lev 25:16

125:28 Lit his hand has not found sufficient to

225:28 Lit go out

A25:28 Lev 25:10, 13

125:30 Lit go out

125:31 Lit according to

225:31 Lit go out

A25:32 Num 35:1-8; Josh 21:2

125:33 Lit is from

225:33 Lit and

325:33 Lit goes out

A25:34 Num 35:2-5

A25:35 Deut 15:7-11; 24:14, 15

125:35 Lit brother

225:35 Lit hand

A25:36 Ex 22:25; Deut 23:19, 20

125:36 Lit interest and usury

225:36 Lit brother

A25:38 Lev 11:45

B25:38 Gen 17:7

A25:39 Ex 21:2-6; Deut 15:12-18; 1 Kin 9:22

125:39 Lit brother

A25:40 Ex 21:2

A25:43 Ex 1:13, 14; Lev 25:46, 53; Ezek 34:4; Col 4:1

125:45 Lit begotten

A25:46 Lev 25:43

125:46 Lit brothers

125:47 Lit hand...reaches

225:47 Lit brother

125:49 Lit if his hand has reached and

A25:49 Lev 25:26, 27

A25:51 Lev 25:16

A25:53 Lev 25:43

125:54 Or these years

A25:54 Lev 25:10, 13, 28