1 A nd the Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying,

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

2 “ Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall 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 S ix years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather its fruit;

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 its own accord of your harvest you shall not reap, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine, for it is a year of rest for 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 produce of the land shall be food for you: for you, your male and female servants, your hired man, and the stranger who dwells 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 livestock and the beasts that are in your land—all its produce shall be for food. The Year of Jubilee

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

8 ‘ And you shall count seven sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years; and the time of the seven sabbaths of years shall be to you 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 cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement you shall make the trumpet to sound throughout 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 consecrate 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 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 to you; in it you shall neither sow nor reap what grows of its own accord, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine.

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 the Jubilee; it shall be holy to you; you shall eat its produce from the field.

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

13 ‘ In this Year of Jubilee, each of you shall return to his possession.

‘ 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’s hand, you shall not oppress 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 according to the number of years of crops he shall sell to you.

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 A ccording to the multitude of years you shall increase its price, and according to the fewer number of years you shall diminish its price; for he sells to you according to the number of the years of the crops.

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 T herefore you shall not oppress one another, but you shall fear your God; for I am the Lord your God. Provisions for the Seventh Year

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

18 ‘ So you shall observe My statutes and keep My judgments, 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 hen the land will yield its fruit, and you will 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 ‘ And if you say, “What shall we eat in the seventh year, since we shall not sow nor gather in our produce?”

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 blessing on you in the sixth year, and it will bring forth produce enough 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, and eat old produce until the ninth year; until its produce comes in, you shall eat of the old harvest. Redemption of Property

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 ‘ The land shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are strangers and sojourners 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 land of your possession you shall grant redemption of the land.

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

25 ‘ If one of your brethren becomes poor, and has sold some of his possession, and if his redeeming relative comes to redeem it, then he may redeem what his brother 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 O r if the man has no one to redeem it, but he himself becomes able 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 its sale, and restore the remainder to the man to whom he sold it, that he may return to his 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 not able to have it restored to himself, then what was sold shall remain in the hand of him who bought it until the Year of Jubilee; and in the Jubilee it shall be released, and he shall return to his possession.

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 ‘ If a man sells a house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it is sold; within a full year he may redeem it.

‘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 B ut if it is not redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house in the walled city shall belong permanently to him who bought it, throughout his generations. It shall not be released in the 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 H owever the houses of villages which have no wall around them shall be counted as the fields of the country. They may be redeemed, and they shall be released in the 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, and 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 A nd if a man purchases a house from the Levites, then the house that was sold in the city of his possession shall be released in the Jubilee; for the houses in the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Israel.

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 the common-land of their cities may not be sold, for it is their perpetual possession. Lending to the Poor

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

35 ‘ If one of your brethren becomes poor, and falls into poverty among you, then you shall help him, like a stranger or a sojourner, 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 T ake no usury or interest from him; but fear your God, that your brother may live 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 lend him your money for usury, nor lend him your 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 out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God. The Law Concerning Slavery

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 ‘ And if one of your brethren who dwells by you becomes poor, and sells himself to you, you shall not compel him to serve as a slave.

‘ 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 A s a hired servant and a sojourner he shall be with you, and shall serve you until 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 return to his own family. He shall 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 they are My servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as slaves.

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 rigor, but you shall fear your God.

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

44 A nd as for your male and female slaves whom you may have—from the nations that are around you, from them you may buy male and female slaves.

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 you may buy the children of the strangers who dwell among you, and their families who are with you, which they beget in your land; and they shall become your property.

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 may take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them as a possession; they shall be your permanent slaves. But regarding your brethren, the children of Israel, you shall not rule over one another with rigor.

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 ‘ Now if a sojourner or stranger close to you becomes rich, and one of your brethren who dwells by him becomes poor, and sells himself to the stranger or sojourner close to 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 again. One of his brothers may redeem him;

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

49 o r his uncle or his uncle’s son may redeem him; or anyone who is near of kin to him in his family may redeem him; or if he 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 T hus he shall reckon with him who bought him: The price of his release shall be according to the number of years, from the year that he was sold to him until the Year of Jubilee; it shall be according to the time of a hired servant for him.

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 are still many years remaining, according to them he shall repay the price of his redemption from the money with which he was bought.

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 there remain but a few years until the Year of Jubilee, then he shall reckon with him, and according to his years he shall repay him the price of his redemption.

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 H e shall be with him as a yearly hired servant, and he shall not rule with rigor over him 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 in these years, then he shall be released 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 the children of Israel are servants to Me; they are My servants whom I brought 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.