The Sabbath Year

25 Thena Yahweh spoke to Moses on ⌊Mount Sinai⌋,b saying, 2 “Speak to the ⌊Israelites⌋,c and say to them, ‘When youd come into the land that I am about to give to you,e thenf the land shall observe a Sabbath for Yahweh. 3 Six years youg shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and you shall gather its yield. 4 Buth in the seventh year it shall be ⌊a Sabbath of complete rest⌋i for the land—a Sabbath for Yahweh; youj must not sow your field, and you must not prune your vineyard. 5 Youk 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. 6 And 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 residentso who are dwelling as aliens with you; 7 and all its yield shall be for yourp domestic animal and for the wild animal, which are in your land to eat.

The Year of Jubilee

8 “ ‘And youq 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. 9 And yout 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 youv shall cause a ram’s horn to be heard in all yourw land. 10 And youx 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 ⌊Youz 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. 12 Because it is a Jubilee, it shall be holy to you. You must eat itsb produce from the field.

13 “ ‘In this Year of Jubilee ⌊each of youc shall return⌋d to his property. 14 And when youe sell something to yourf fellow citizen or you buy from yourg neighbor’s hand, youh must not oppress ⌊one another⌋.i 15 Youj 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. 16 Youk must increase its price ⌊according to a greater number of years⌋,l butm you must decrease its price ⌊according to a lesser number of years⌋,n because he is selling its yields to you. 17 And youo must not oppress ⌊one another⌋,p butq your shall revere your God, because I am Yahweh, yours God.

18 “ ‘And yout shall do my statutes, and you must keep my regulations, and you shall do them, so thatu you shall live ⌊securely⌋v on the land. 19 And the land shall give its fruit, and youw shall eat ⌊your fill⌋,x and you shall live ⌊securely⌋y on it. 20 And if youz should say, “What shall we eat in the seventh year, ⌊if⌋a we do not sow and we do not gather its yield?” 21 thenb I will command my blessing for youc in the sixth year, so thatd it will makee the yield for three years. 22 And youf 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 “ ‘Buth the land must not be sold ini perpetuity, because the land is mine, because youj are aliens and temporary residents with me. 24 And in all yourk property’s land youl must provide redemption for the land.

25 “ ‘When yourm 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. 26 Butp ifq a man ⌊does not have⌋r a redeemer, thens ⌊he prospers⌋t and he finds enough for his redemption, 27 thenu 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. 28 Butv if his hand does not find enough to refund to him, thenw ⌊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 handy in the Jubilee, and he shall return to his property.

29 “ ‘And if a man sells ⌊a residential house in a walled city⌋,z thena it shall be his redemption until completing ⌊a year after his selling⌋;b its redemption ⌊shall last⌋c ⌊a year⌋.d 30 Bute if it is not redeemed ⌊before a full year has passed⌋,f theng 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 handj in the Jubilee. 31 However,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 ino their property’s cities, it shall be ⌊a lasting redemption⌋p for the Levites. 33 And whatever anyone redeems from the Levites thenq must go out of the buyer’s handr in the Jubilee, including a house’s selling ⌊in his city’s property⌋,s because the houses int the cities of the Levites are their property in the midst of the ⌊Israelites⌋.u 34 Butv aw field of their cities’ pastureland must not be sold, because ⌊it is their property for all time⌋.x

35 “ ‘And if youry countrymanz becomes poor and ⌊if he becomes dependent on you⌋,a thenb you shall support him like an alien and like a temporary resident, and he shall live with you. 36 Youc must not take interest ord usury from him, bute you shall revere your God, and your countrymanf shall live with you. 37 Youg must not give your money to him with interest orh give your food fori profit. 38 I am Yahweh yourj 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 yourl countrymanm 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. 41 And he and his sons with him shall go out from you, and he shall return to his clan, and to the property of his ancestorso he shall return. 42 Because they are my servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt, they shall not be sold ⌊as a slave⌋.p 43 Youq shall not rule over him with ruthlessness, butr you shall revere your God.

44 “ ‘As fors yourt slave and youru slave woman who arev yours,w from the nations that are all around you,x from them youy may buy a slave orz a slave woman. 45 And youa may buy also from the childrenb 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. 46 And youd may pass them on as an inheritance to youre sonsf after youg to take possession of as property ⌊for all time⌋h—youi may let them work. Butj as for yourk countrymen,l the ⌊Israelites⌋,m youn shall not rule with ruthlessness over ⌊one another⌋.o

47 “ ‘And if the alien orp the temporary resident who are with youq ⌊prosper⌋,r buts your countrymant 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, 48 after he is sold redemption shall be for him; one of his brothers may redeem him, 49 or 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. 50 And 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 likey a hired worker’s days. 51 If 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, thenb 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 youre sight⌋.f 54 And if he is not redeemed byg any of these ways,h theni he and his sons with him shall go out in the Year of Jubilee. 55 Indeed,j the ⌊Israelites⌋k are servants for me; they are my servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh yourl God.’ ”