1 Y ahweh said to Moses in Mount Sinai,

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

2 “ Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall keep a Sabbath to Yahweh.

“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 Y ou shall sow your field six years, and you shall prune your vineyard six years, 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 Yahweh. You shall not sow your field or 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 you shall not gather the grapes of your undressed vine. It shall be a year of solemn 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 T he Sabbath of the land shall be for food for you; for yourself, for your servant, for your maid, for your hired servant, and for your stranger, who lives as a foreigner 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 also, and for the animals that are in your land, shall all its increase be for food.

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

8 “ ‘You shall count off seven Sabbaths of years, seven times seven years; and there shall be to you the days of seven Sabbaths of years, even 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 the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month. On the Day of Atonement you shall sound the trumpet 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 Y ou shall make the fiftieth year holy, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee to you; and each of you shall return to his own property, 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 not sow, neither reap that which grows of itself, nor gather from the undressed 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 of its increase 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 “ ‘In this Year of Jubilee each of you shall return to his property.

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

14 “ ‘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. According to the number of years of the 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 length of the years you shall increase its price, and according to the shortness of the years you shall diminish its price; for he is selling the number of the crops 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 wrong one another; but you shall fear your God: for I am Yahweh your God.

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

18 “ ‘Therefore you shall do my statutes, and keep my ordinances and do them; and you shall 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, and you shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety.

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

20 I f you said, “What shall we eat the seventh year? Behold, we shall not sow, nor 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 blessing on you in the sixth year, and it shall bear fruit for the 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 Y ou shall sow the eighth year, and eat of the fruits, the old store; until the ninth year, until its fruits come in, you shall eat the old store.

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 in perpetuity, for the land is mine; for you are strangers and live as foreigners 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 I n all the land of your possession 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 “ ‘If your brother becomes poor, and sells some of his possessions, then his kinsman who is next to him shall come, and redeem that which 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 I f a man has no one to redeem it, and he becomes prosperous and finds sufficient means 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 reckon the years since its sale, and restore the surplus to the man to whom he sold it; and he shall return to his property.

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 isn’t able to get it back for himself, then what he has sold shall remain in the hand of him who has bought it until the Year of Jubilee: and in the Jubilee it shall be released, and he shall return to his property.

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 dwelling house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it has been sold. For a full year he shall 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 I f it isn’t redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house that is in the walled city shall be made sure in perpetuity 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 B ut the houses of the villages which have no wall around them shall be accounted for with 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 “ ‘Nevertheless 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 T he Levites may redeem the house that was sold, and the city of his possession, and it shall be released in the Jubilee; for the houses of 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 suburbs of their cities may not be sold; for 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 “ ‘If your brother has become poor, and his hand can’t support himself among you; then you shall uphold him. He shall live with you like an alien and a temporary resident.

‘ 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 interest from him or profit, but fear your God; that your brother may live among 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 at interest, nor give him your food for profit.

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

38 I am Yahweh your God, who brought you 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 “ ‘If your brother has grown poor among you, and sells himself to you; you shall not make 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 as a temporary resident, he shall be with you; he shall serve with 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 t hen he shall go out from you, he and his children with him, and shall return to his own family, and 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 harshness, but shall fear your God.

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

44 “ ‘As for your male and your female slaves, whom you may have; of 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 of the children of the aliens who live among you, of them you may buy, and of their families who are with you, which they have conceived in your land; and they will be 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 Y ou may make them an inheritance for your children after you, to hold for a possession; of them may you take your slaves forever; but over your brothers the children of Israel you shall not rule, one over another, with harshness.

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 “ ‘If an alien or temporary resident with you becomes rich, and your brother beside him has grown poor, and sells himself to the stranger or foreigner living among 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 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 any who is a close relative to him of his family may redeem him; or if he has grown rich, 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 H e shall reckon with him who bought him from the year that he sold himself to him to the Year of Jubilee. The price of his sale shall be according to the number of years; he shall be with him according to the time 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 are yet many years, according to them he shall give back the price of his redemption out of the money that he was bought for.

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

52 I f there remain but a few years to the year of jubilee, then he shall reckon with him; according to his years of service he shall give back 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 A s a servant hired year by year shall he be with him. He shall not rule with harshness 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 I f he isn’t redeemed by these means, 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 to me the children of Israel are servants; they are my servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh 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.