1 T he Lord said to Moses on Mount Sinai,

The Lord then spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai, saying,

2 S ay to the Israelites, When you come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath to the Lord.

“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 Lord.

3 F or six years you shall sow your field, and for six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its fruits.

Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its crop,

4 B ut in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a sabbath to the Lord; you shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard.

but during the seventh year the land shall have a sabbath rest, a sabbath to the Lord; you shall not sow your field nor prune your vineyard.

5 W hat grows of itself in your harvest you shall not reap and the grapes on your uncultivated vine you shall not gather, for it is a year of rest to the land.

Your harvest’s aftergrowth you shall not reap, and your grapes of untrimmed vines you shall not gather; the land shall have a sabbatical year.

6 A nd the sabbath rest of the land shall furnish food for you, for your male and female slaves, your hired servant, and the temporary resident who lives with you,

All 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.

7 F or your domestic animals also and for the beasts in your land; all its yield shall be for food.

Even your cattle and the animals that are in your land shall have all its crops to eat.

8 A nd you shall number seven sabbaths or weeks of years for you, seven times seven years, so the total time of the seven weeks of years shall be forty-nine years.

‘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.

9 T hen you shall sound abroad the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement blow the trumpet in all your land.

You shall then sound a ram’s horn abroad on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the day of atonement you shall sound a horn all through your land.

10 A nd you shall hallow the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; and each of you shall return to his ancestral possession, and each of you shall return to his family.

You shall thus consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim a release through the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, and each of you shall return to his own property, and each of you shall return to his family.

11 T hat fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you; in it you shall not sow, or reap and store what grows of itself, or gather the grapes of the uncultivated vines.

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 F or it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you; you shall eat the increase of it out of the field.

For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you. You shall eat its crops out of the field.

13 I n this Year of Jubilee each of you shall return to his ancestral property.

‘ On this year of jubilee each of you shall return to his own property.

14 A nd if you sell anything to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor, you shall not wrong one another.

If you make a sale, moreover, to your friend or buy from your friend’s hand, you shall not wrong one another.

15 A ccording to the number of years after the Jubilee, you shall buy from your neighbor. And he shall sell to you according to the number of years the crops.

Corresponding to the number of years after the jubilee, you shall buy from your friend; he is to sell to you according to the number of years of crops.

16 I f the years are many, you may increase the price, and if the years remaining are few, you shall diminish the price, for the number of the crops is what he is selling to you.

In proportion to the extent 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 Y ou shall not oppress and wrong one another, but you shall fear your God. For I am the Lord your God.

So you shall not wrong one another, but you shall fear your God; for I am the Lord your God.

18 T herefore you shall do and give effect to My statutes and keep My ordinances and perform them, and you will dwell in the land in safety.

‘You shall thus observe My statutes and keep My judgments, so as to carry them out, that you may live securely on the land.

19 T he land shall yield its fruit; you shall eat your fill and dwell there in safety.

Then the land will yield its produce, so that you can eat your fill and live securely on it.

20 A nd if you say, What shall we eat in the seventh year if we are not to sow or gather in our increase?

But if you say, “ What are we going to eat on the seventh year if we do not sow or gather in our crops?”

21 T hen I will command My blessings on you in the sixth year, so that it shall bring forth fruit for three years.

then I will so order My blessing for you in the sixth year that it will bring forth the crop for three years.

22 A nd you shall sow in the eighth year, but eat of the old store of produce; until the crops of the ninth year come in you shall eat of the old supply.

When you are sowing the eighth year, you can still eat old things from the crop, eating the old until the ninth year when its crop comes in. The Law of Redemption

23 T he land shall not be sold into perpetual ownership, for the land is Mine; you are strangers and temporary residents with Me.

‘The land, moreover, shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are but aliens and sojourners with Me.

24 A nd in all the country you possess you shall grant a redemption for the land.

Thus for every piece of your property, you are to provide for the redemption of the land.

25 I f your brother has become poor and has sold some of his property, if any of his kin comes to redeem it, he shall redeem what his brother has sold.

‘ If a fellow 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 relative has sold.

26 A nd if the man has no one to redeem his property, and he himself has become more prosperous and has enough to redeem it,

Or in case a man has no kinsman, but so recovers his means as to find sufficient for its redemption,

27 T hen let him count the years since he sold it and restore the overpayment to the man to whom he sold it, and return to his ancestral possession.

then 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 B ut if he is unable to redeem it, it shall remain in the buyer’s possession until the Year of Jubilee, when it shall be set free and he may return to it.

But if he 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 revert, that he may return to his property.

29 I f a man sells a dwelling house in a fortified city, he may redeem it within a whole year after it is sold; for a full year he may have the right of redemption.

‘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 A nd if it is not redeemed within a full year, then the house that is in the fortified city shall be made sure, permanently and without limitations, for him who bought it, throughout his generations. It shall not go free in the Year of Jubilee.

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 revert in the jubilee.

31 B ut the houses of the unwalled villages shall be counted with the fields of the country. They may be redeemed, and they shall go free in the Year of Jubilee.

The houses of the villages, however, which have no surrounding wall shall be considered as open fields; they have redemption rights and revert in the jubilee.

32 N evertheless, the cities of the Levites, the houses in the cities of their possession, the Levites may redeem at any time.

As for cities of the Levites, the Levites have a permanent right of redemption for the houses of the cities which are their possession.

33 B ut if a house is not redeemed by a Levite, the sold house in the city they possess shall go free in the Year of Jubilee, for the houses in the Levite cities are their ancestral possession among the Israelites.

What, therefore, belongs to the Levites may be redeemed and a house sale in the city of this possession reverts in the jubilee, for the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the sons of Israel.

34 B ut the field of unenclosed or pasture lands of their cities may not be sold; it is their perpetual possession.

But pasture fields of their cities shall not be sold, for that is their perpetual possession. Of Poor Countrymen

35 A nd if your brother has become poor and his hand wavers, then you shall uphold (strengthen, relieve) him, a stranger or a temporary resident with you, so that he may live with you.

‘ Now in case a countryman of yours becomes poor and his means with regard to you falter, then you are to sustain him, like a stranger or a sojourner, that he may live with you.

36 C harge him no interest or increase, but fear your God, so your brother may live along with you.

Do not take usurious interest from him, but revere your God, that your countryman may live with you.

37 Y ou shall not give him your money at interest nor lend him food at a profit.

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

38 I am the Lord your God, Who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God.

I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God.

39 A nd if your brother becomes poor beside you and sells himself to you, you shall not compel him to serve as a bondman (a slave not eligible for redemption),

‘ If a countryman 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 B ut as a hired servant and as a temporary resident he shall be with you; he shall serve you till the Year of Jubilee,

He shall be with you as a hired man, as if he were a sojourner; he shall serve with you until the year of jubilee.

41 A nd then he shall depart from you, he and his children with him, and shall go back to his own family and return to the possession of his fathers.

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 F or the Israelites are My servants; I brought them out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as bondmen.

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 Y ou shall not rule over him with harshness (severity, oppression), but you shall fear your God.

You shall not rule over him with severity, but are to revere your God.

44 A s for your bondmen and your bondmaids whom you may have, they shall be from the nations round about you, of whom you may buy bondmen and bondmaids.

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 M oreover, of the children of the strangers who sojourn among you, of them you may buy and of their families that are with you which they have begotten in your land, and they shall be your possession.

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 produced in your land; they also may become your possession.

46 A nd you shall make them an inheritance for your children after you, to hold for a possession; of them shall you take your bondmen always, but over your brethren the Israelites you shall not rule one over another with harshness (severity, oppression).

You may even bequeath them to your sons after you, to receive as a possession; you can use them as permanent slaves. But in respect to your countrymen, the sons of Israel, you shall not rule with severity over one another. Of Redeeming a Poor Man

47 A nd if a sojourner or stranger with you becomes rich and your brother becomes poor beside him and sells himself to the stranger or sojourner with you or to a member of the stranger’s family,

‘Now if the means of a stranger or of a sojourner with you becomes sufficient, and a countryman 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 A fter he is sold he may be redeemed. One of his brethren may redeem him:

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

49 E ither his uncle or his uncle’s son may redeem him, or a near kinsman may redeem him; or if he has enough and is able, he may redeem himself.

or his uncle, or his uncle’s son, may redeem him, or one of his blood relatives from his family may redeem him; or if he prospers, he may redeem himself.

50 A nd shall reckon with the purchaser of the servant from the year when he sold himself to the purchaser to the Year of Jubilee, and the price of his release shall be adjusted according to the number of years. The time he was with his owner shall be counted as that of a hired servant.

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 I f there remain many years, in proportion to them he must refund for his release for his acquisition.

If there are still many years, he shall refund part of his purchase price in proportion to them for his own redemption;

52 A nd if little time remains until the Year of Jubilee, he shall count it over with him and he shall refund the proportionate amount for his release.

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 A nd as a servant hired year by year shall he deal with him; he shall not rule over him with harshness (severity, oppression) in your sight.

Like a man hired year by year he shall be with him; he shall not rule over him with severity in your sight.

54 A nd if he is not redeemed during these years and by these means, then he shall go free in the Year of Jubilee, he and his children with him.

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

55 F or to Me the Israelites are servants, My servants, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.

For the sons of Israel are My servants; they are My servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.