Leviticus 25:35–55

Redemption Rights for Poor Brothers

³⁵‘^aNow if a brother of yours becomes poor and his ¹means with regard to you falter, then you are to sustain him, like a sojourner or a foreign resident, that he may live with you.

³⁶‘^aDo not take ¹usurious interest from him, but fear your God, that your brother may live with you.

³⁷‘You shall not give him your silver at interest nor your food for gain.

³⁸‘^aI am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and ^bto be your God.

³⁹‘^aIf a brother 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 ^aif he were a foreign resident; 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 return to his family, that he may return to the possession of the land of his fathers.

⁴²‘For they are My slaves whom I brought out from the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold in a slave sale.

⁴³‘^aYou shall not have dominion over him with brutality, but you shall fear your God.

⁴⁴‘As for your male and female slaves whom you may have—you may acquire male and female slaves from the nations that are around you.

⁴⁵‘And also you may acquire from the sons of the foreign residents who sojourn among you, from them and their families who are with you; as for those whom they have begotten in your land, they also may become your possession.

⁴⁶‘You may even give them as an inheritance to your sons after you, to receive as a possession; you can use them as permanent slaves. ^aBut in respect to your brothers, the sons of Israel, you shall not have dominion over one another with brutality.

Redemption from a Sojourner

⁴⁷‘Now if the ¹means of a sojourner or of a foreign resident with you becomes sufficient, and a brother of yours becomes so poor with regard to him as to sell himself to a sojourner who resides with you or to the descendants of a sojourner’s family,

⁴⁸then he shall have redemption right after he has been sold. One of his brothers may redeem him,

⁴⁹or his uncle or his uncle’s son may redeem him, or one of his blood relatives from his family may redeem him; or ^1aif 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, ^ahe shall return part of his purchase price in proportion to them for his own redemption;

⁵²and if few years remain until the year of jubilee, he shall so calculate with him. In proportion to his years he shall return the amount for his redemption.

⁵³‘Like a man hired year by year he shall be with him; ^ahe shall not have dominion over him with brutality in your sight.

⁵⁴‘Even if he is not redeemed by ¹these means, ^ahe shall still go out in the year of jubilee, he and his sons with him.

⁵⁵‘For the sons of Israel are My slaves; they are My slaves whom I brought out from the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God.