Leviticus 25–26

The Sabbath Year

25Then^a Yahweh spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai,^b saying, ²“Speak to the Israelites,^c and say to them, ‘When you^d come into the land that I am about to give to you,^e then^f the land shall observe a Sabbath for Yahweh. ³Six years you^g shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and you shall gather its yield. ⁴But^h in the seventh year it shall be a Sabbath of complete restⁱ for the land—a Sabbath for Yahweh; you^j must not sow your field, and you must not prune your vineyard. ⁵You^k must not reap your harvest’s aftergrowth, and you must not harvest the grapes of your unpruned vines—it shall be a year of complete rest^l for the land. ⁶And a Sabbath of the land shall be for food for you:^m for youⁿ and for your slave and for your slave woman and for your hired worker and for your temporary residents^o who are dwelling as aliens with you; ⁷and all its yield shall be for your^p domestic animal and for the wild animal, which are in your land to eat.

The Year of Jubilee

⁸“ ‘And you^q shall count for yourself seven Sabbaths of years, seven times seven years, and they shall be for you time periods of^r seven Sabbaths of years: forty-nine^s years. ⁹And you^t shall cause a loud horn blast^u to be heard on the seventh month on the tenth of the month; on the Day of Atonement you^v shall cause a ram’s horn to be heard in all your^w land. ¹⁰And you^x shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and you shall proclaim a release in the land for all its inhabitants. It is a Jubilee; it shall be for you, and you shall return. You must return—everyone to his property and everyone to his clan.^{y 11}You^z shall have the fiftieth year as a Jubilee;^a you must not sow and you must not reap its aftergrowth, and you must not harvest its unpruned vines. ¹²Because it is a Jubilee, it shall be holy to you. You must eat its^b produce from the field.

¹³“ ‘In this Year of Jubilee each of you^c shall return^d to his property. ¹⁴And when you^e sell something to your^f fellow citizen or you buy from your^g neighbor’s hand, you^h must not oppress one another.^{i 15}You^j must buy from your fellow citizen according to the number of years after the Jubilee; he must sell to you according to the number of years of yield. ¹⁶You^k must increase its price according to a greater number of years,^l but^m you must decrease its price according to a lesser number of years,ⁿ because he is selling its yields to you. ¹⁷And you^o must not oppress one another,^p but^q you^r shall revere your God, because I am Yahweh, your^s God.

¹⁸“ ‘And you^t shall do my statutes, and you must keep my regulations, and you shall do them, so that^u you shall live securely^v on the land. ¹⁹And the land shall give its fruit, and you^w shall eat your fill,^x and you shall live securely^y on it. ²⁰And if you^z should say, “What shall we eat in the seventh year, if^a we do not sow and we do not gather its yield?” ²¹then^b I will command my blessing for you^c in the sixth year, so that^d it will make^e the yield for three years. ²²And you^f will sow in the eighth year, and you shall eat from the old yield;^g until the ninth year, until the coming of its yield, you shall eat the old yield.

²³“ ‘But^h the land must not be sold inⁱ perpetuity, because the land is mine, because you^j are aliens and temporary residents with me. ²⁴And in all your^k property’s land you^l must provide redemption for the land.

²⁵“ ‘When your^m brother becomes poor and he sells part of his property, thenⁿ his nearest redeemer^o shall come, and he shall redeem the thing sold by his brother. ²⁶But^p if^q a man does not have^r a redeemer, then^s he prospers^t and he finds enough for his redemption, ²⁷then^u he shall calculate the years of its selling, and he shall refund the balance to the man to whom he sold it, and he shall return to his property. ²⁸But^v if his hand does not find enough to refund to him, then^w what he has sold^x shall be in the buyer’s hand until the Year of Jubilee; and it shall go out of the buyer’s hand^y in the Jubilee, and he shall return to his property.

²⁹“ ‘And if a man sells a residential house in a walled city,^z then^a it shall be his redemption until completing a year after his selling;^b its redemption shall last^c a year.^{d 30}But^e if it is not redeemed before a full year has passed,^f then^g the house that is in the walled city^h shall belong to the buyer inⁱ perpetuity throughout his generations; it shall not go out of the buyer’s hand^j in the Jubilee. ³¹However,^k village houses that have no surrounding wall shall be considered open country;^l there is redemption for it, and in the Jubilee it shall go out of the buyer’s hand.^m

³²“ ‘As forⁿ the cities of the Levites, that is, the houses in^o their property’s cities, it shall be a lasting redemption^p for the Levites. ³³And whatever anyone redeems from the Levites then^q must go out of the buyer’s hand^r in the Jubilee, including a house’s selling in his city’s property,^s because the houses in^t the cities of the Levites are their property in the midst of the Israelites.^{u 34}But^v a^w field of their cities’ pastureland must not be sold, because it is their property for all time.^x

³⁵“ ‘And if your^y countryman^z becomes poor and if he becomes dependent on you,^a then^b you shall support him like an alien and like a temporary resident, and he shall live with you. ³⁶You^c must not take interest or^d usury from him, but^e you shall revere your God, and your countryman^f shall live with you. ³⁷You^g must not give your money to him with interest or^h give your food forⁱ profit. ³⁸I am Yahweh your^j God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt to give you^k the land of Canaan, to be as God for you.

³⁹“ ‘And if your^l countryman^m who is with you becomes poor, and he is sold to you, you shall not treat him as a slave.^{n 40}He shall be with you like a hired worker, like a temporary resident; he shall work with you until the Year of Jubilee. ⁴¹And he and his sons with him shall go out from you, and he shall return to his clan, and to the property of his ancestors^o he shall return. ⁴²Because they are my servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt, they shall not be sold as a slave.^{p 43}You^q shall not rule over him with ruthlessness, but^r you shall revere your God.

⁴⁴“ ‘As for^s your^t slave and your^u slave woman who are^v yours,^w from the nations that are all around you,^x from them you^y may buy a slave or^z a slave woman. ⁴⁵And you^a may buy also from the children^b of the temporary residents who are dwelling with you as aliens and from their clan who are with you, who have children in your land; indeed,^c they may be as property for you. ⁴⁶And you^d may pass them on as an inheritance to your^e sons^f after you^g to take possession of as property for all time^h—youⁱ may let them work. But^j as for your^k countrymen,^l the Israelites,^m youⁿ shall not rule with ruthlessness over one another.^o

⁴⁷“ ‘And if the alien or^p the temporary resident who are with you^q prosper,^r but^s your countryman^t who is with him becomes poor and he is sold to an alien, a temporary resident who is with you, or to a descendant of an alien’s clan, ⁴⁸after he is sold redemption shall be for him; one of his brothers may redeem him, ⁴⁹or his uncle or his uncle’s son may redeem him, or one of^u his close relatives^v from his clan may redeem him; or if he prospers,^w he may redeem himself. ⁵⁰And he shall calculate with his buyer from the year of his selling himself^x until the Jubilee; and the value of his selling shall be according to the number of years—it shall be with him like^y a hired worker’s days. ⁵¹If there are still many years, in keeping with them^z he shall restore his redemption in proportion to his purchase price.^{a 52}And if there are a few years left until the Year of Jubilee, then^b he shall calculate for himself; he shall restore his redemption according to the number of his years.^{c 53}He shall be with him as a yearly hired worker;^d he shall not rule over him with ruthlessness in your^e sight.^{f 54}And if he is not redeemed by^g any of these ways,^h thenⁱ he and his sons with him shall go out in the Year of Jubilee. ⁵⁵Indeed,^j the Israelites^k are servants for me; they are my servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh your^l God.’ ”

Blessings for Obedience

26“ ‘You^a shall not make for yourselves idols and divine images, and you shall not raise up stone pillars for yourselves, and you shall not put a sculptured stone in your land in order to^b worship before it, because I am Yahweh your God.

²“ ‘You shall keep my Sabbaths, and you shall revere my sanctuary; I am Yahweh.

³“ ‘If you walk in my statutes and you keep my commands and you do them, ⁴then^c I will give you rains in their time, and the land shall give its produce, and the trees of the field shall give their fruit. ⁵And for you the threshing season shall overtake the grape harvest, and the grape harvest shall overtake the sowing, and you shall eat your food to your fill^d and you shall live securely^e in your land. ⁶And I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and there shall not be anybody who makes you afraid,^f and I will remove harmful animals from the land, and no sword shall pass through your land.^{g 7}And you shall pursue your enemies, and they shall fall by the sword before you.^{h 8}And five ofⁱ you shall pursue a hundred, and a hundred of^j you shall pursue a myriad;^k and your enemies shall fall by the sword before you.^{l 9}And I will turn to you, and I will make you fruitful, and I will make you numerous; and I will keep my covenant with you. ¹⁰And you shall eat old grain,^m and you shall clear away the old before the new.^{n 11}And I will put my dwelling place in your midst, and my inner self^o shall not abhor you. ¹²And I will walk about in your midst, and I shall be your God,^p and you shall be my people.^{q 13}I am Yahweh, your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, from being their slaves; and I broke the bars of your yoke, and I caused you to walk erectly.

Punishment for Disobedience

¹⁴“ ‘But^r…