CHAPTER 25
1 And the Lord spake to Moses in the hill [or mount] of Sinai, and said,
2 Speak thou to the sons of Israel, and thou shalt say to them, When ye have entered into the land which I shall give to you, the earth keep the sabbath of the Lord;
3 six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt cut thy vine-yard, and thou shalt gather the fruits thereof;
4 forsooth in the seventh year shall be the sabbath of the earth, of [the] resting of the Lord; thou shalt not sow the field, and thou shalt not cut the vineyard,
5 thou shalt not reap those things which the earth bringeth forth freely, and thou shalt not gather the grapes of thy first fruits, as vintage; for it is the year of resting of the land;
6 but those fruits shall be to you into meat, to thee, and to thy servant, and to thine handmaid, and to thine hired man, and to the comeling that is a pilgrim with thee;
7 all things that come forth, shall give meat to thy work beasts, and [thy] small beasts.
8 Also thou shalt number to thee seven weeks of years, that is, seven times seven, which altogether make nine and forty years;
9 and thou shalt sound with a clarion in the seventh month, in the tenth day of the month, in the time of propitiation, that is, mercy, in all your land.
10 And thou shalt hallow the fiftieth year, and thou shalt call it remission, or forgiveness, to all the dwellers of thy land; for that year is [the] jubilee, that is, the joyful year; a man shall turn again to his possession, and each man shall go again to his first meine,
11 for it is the jubilee, and the fiftieth year. Ye shall not sow, neither ye shall reap those things, that come forth freely in the field, and ye shall not gather the first fruits of [the] vintage,
12 for the hallowing of [the] jubilee; but anon ye shall eat things taken away;
13 in the year of jubilee, all men go again to their possessions.
14 When thou shalt sell anything to thy fellow citizen, either shalt buy of him, make thou not sorry thy brother,
15 but by the number of the years of [the] jubilee thou shalt buy of him, and by the reckoning of fruits, he shall sell to thee.
16 By as much as more years dwell after the jubilee, by so much also the price shall increase, and by as much as thou numberest less of time, by so much and the buying shall cost less; for he shall sell to thee the time of fruits.
17 Do not ye torment men of your lineages, but each man dread his God; for I am your Lord God.
18 Do ye my behests, and keep ye my dooms, and fulfill ye those, that ye may dwell in this land without any dread,
19 and that the earth bring forth his fruits to you, which ye shall eat till to fullness, and dread not the assailing of any man.
20 That if ye say, What shall we eat in the seventh year, if we sow not, neither gather our fruits?
21 I shall give my blessing to you in the sixth year, and it shall make [the] fruits of three years;
22 and ye shall sow in the eighth year, and ye shall eat eld [or old] fruits till to the ninth year; till new things come forth, ye shall eat the eld [or old] things.
23 Also the land shall not be sold into without end, for it is mine, and ye be my comelings, and [my] tenants;
24 wherefore all the country of your possession shall be sold under the condition of again-buying.
25 If thy brother is made poor, and selleth his little possession, and his nigh kinsmen will, he may again-buy that that he sold;
26 soothly if he hath no nigh kinsman, and he may find [the] price to again-buy,
27 the fruits shall be reckoned from that time in which he sold it, and he shall yield that that is left to the buyer, and he shall receive so his possession again.
28 That if his hand findeth not, that he yield the price, the buyer shall have that that he bought, till to the year of jubilee; for in that year each selling shall go again to the lord, and to the first wielder.
29 He that selleth his house, within the walls of a city, shall have license to again-buy, till one year be [full-]filled;
30 if he again-buyeth not, and the circle of the year is passed, the buyer shall wield it, and his heirs into without end, and it shall not be able to be again-bought, yea, in the jubilee.
31 Forsooth if the house is in a town that hath not walls, it shall be sold by the law of [the] fields; soothly if it is not again-bought in the jubilee, it shall turn again to the lord thereof.
32 The houses of [the] deacons [or Levites], that be in [the] cities, may ever[more] be again-bought;
33 if those [or they] be not again-bought, those [or they] shall turn again in the jubilee to the lords; for the houses of the cities of deacons [or Levites] be for possessions among the sons of Israel;
34 forsooth the suburbs of them shall not be sold, for it is everlasting possession.
35 If thy brother is made poor, and feeble in power, and thou receivest him as a comeling, and a pilgrim, and he liveth with thee,
36 take thou not usuries of him, neither more than thou hast given; dread thou thy God, that thy brother may live with thee.
37 Thou shalt not give to him thy money to usury, and thou shalt not ask over that that thou lendest, increases of fruits;
38 I am your Lord God, that led you out of the land of Egypt, that I should give to you the land of Canaan, and that I should be your God.
39 If thy brother compelled by poverty selleth himself to thee, thou shalt not oppress him by servage of servants,
40 but he shall be as an hired man and a tenant; till to the year of jubilee he shall work with thee,
41 and afterward he shall go out with his free children, and he shall turn again to his kindred, and to the possession of his fathers.
42 For they be my servants, and I led them out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold by the condition of servants;
43 torment thou not them by thy power, but dread thou thy Lord.
44 A servant and handmaid be to you of [the] nations that be in your compass, and of [the] comelings the which be pilgrims with you,
45 either they that be born of comelings in your land; ye shall have these servants, and by right of heritage ye shall leave them to your after-comers, and ye shall wield them without end;
46 soothly oppress ye not by power your brethren, the sons of Israel.
47 If the hand of a comeling or of a pilgrim waxeth strong at you, and thy brother is made poor, and selleth himself to that comeling, either to any of his kin,
48 he may be again-bought after the selling; he that will of his brethren, again-buy him;
49 both his father’s brother, and the son of his father’s brother, and his kins-man, and his ally. Else if also he shall be able, he shall again-buy himself,
50 while the years be reckoned only from the time of his selling till into the year of jubilee; and while the money, for which he was sold, is reckoned by the number of years, and while the hire of an hired man is reckoned.
51 If more years be that dwell till to the jubilee, by these years he shall yield also the price;
52 if few years be, he shall set reckoning with him by the number of these years; and he shall yield to the buyer that that is left of [the] years,
53 while those years, in which he served before, be reckoned for hires; a stranger shall not torment an home-born man violently in thy sight.
54 That if he may not be again-bought by this manner, he shall go out with his free children in the year of jubilee;
55 for the sons of Israel be my servants, which I led out of the land of Egypt. I am your Lord God;