24 Throughout the land that you hold as a possession, you must provide for the redemption(A) of the land.

25 “‘If one of your fellow Israelites becomes poor and sells some of their property, their nearest relative(B) is to come and redeem(C) what they have sold. 26 If, however, there is no one to redeem it for them but later on they prosper(D) and acquire sufficient means to redeem it themselves, 27 they are to determine the value for the years(E) since they sold it and refund the balance to the one to whom they sold it; they can then go back to their own property.(F) 28 But if they do not acquire the means to repay, what was sold will remain in the possession of the buyer until the Year of Jubilee. It will be returned(G) in the Jubilee, and they can then go back to their property.(H)

29 “‘Anyone who sells a house in a walled city retains the right of redemption a full year after its sale. During that time the seller may redeem it. 30 If it is not redeemed before a full year has passed, the house in the walled city shall belong permanently to the buyer and the buyer’s descendants. It is not to be returned in the Jubilee. 31 But houses in villages without walls around them are to be considered as belonging to the open country. They can be redeemed, and they are to be returned in the Jubilee.

32 “‘The Levites always have the right to redeem their houses in the Levitical towns,(I) which they possess. 33 So the property of the Levites is redeemable—that is, a house sold in any town they hold—and is to be returned in the Jubilee, because the houses in the towns of the Levites are their property among the Israelites. 34 But the pastureland belonging to their towns must not be sold; it is their permanent possession.(J)

35 “‘If any of your fellow Israelites become poor(K) and are unable to support themselves among you, help them(L) as you would a foreigner and stranger, so they can continue to live among you. 36 Do not take interest(M) or any profit from them, but fear your God,(N) so that they may continue to live among you. 37 You must not lend them money at interest(O) or sell them food at a profit. 38 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan(P) and to be your God.(Q)

39 “‘If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and sell themselves to you, do not make them work as slaves.(R) 40 They are to be treated as hired workers(S) or temporary residents among you; they are to work for you until the Year of Jubilee. 41 Then they and their children are to be released, and they will go back to their own clans and to the property(T) of their ancestors.(U) 42 Because the Israelites are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt,(V) they must not be sold as slaves. 43 Do not rule over them ruthlessly,(W) but fear your God.(X)

44 “‘Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves. 45 You may also buy some of the temporary residents living among you and members of their clans born in your country, and they will become your property. 46 You can bequeath them to your children as inherited property and can make them slaves for life, but you must not rule over your fellow Israelites ruthlessly.

47 “‘If a foreigner residing among you becomes rich and any of your fellow Israelites become poor and sell themselves(Y) to the foreigner or to a member of the foreigner’s clan, 48 they retain the right of redemption(Z) after they have sold themselves. One of their relatives(AA) may redeem them: 49 An uncle or a cousin or any blood relative in their clan may redeem them. Or if they prosper,(AB) they may redeem themselves. 50 They and their buyer are to count the time from the year they sold themselves up to the Year of Jubilee.(AC) The price for their release is to be based on the rate paid to a hired worker(AD) for that number of years. 51 If many years remain, they must pay for their redemption a larger share of the price paid for them. 52 If only a few years remain until the Year of Jubilee, they are to compute that and pay for their redemption accordingly.(AE) 53 They are to be treated as workers hired from year to year; you must see to it that those to whom they owe service do not rule over them ruthlessly.(AF)

54 “‘Even if someone is not redeemed in any of these ways, they and their children are to be released in the Year of Jubilee, 55 for the Israelites belong to me as servants. They are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt.(AG) I am the Lord your God.(AH)

Reward for Obedience

26 “‘Do not make idols(AI) or set up an image(AJ) or a sacred stone(AK) for yourselves, and do not place a carved stone(AL) in your land to bow down before it. I am the Lord your God.

“‘Observe my Sabbaths(AM) and have reverence for my sanctuary.(AN) I am the Lord.

“‘If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey(AO) my commands, I will send you rain(AP) in its season,(AQ) and the ground will yield its crops and the trees their fruit.(AR) Your threshing will continue until grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until planting, and you will eat all the food you want(AS) and live in safety in your land.(AT)

“‘I will grant peace in the land,(AU) and you will lie down(AV) and no one will make you afraid.(AW) I will remove wild beasts(AX) from the land, and the sword will not pass through your country. You will pursue your enemies,(AY) and they will fall by the sword before you. Five(AZ) of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you.(BA)

“‘I will look on you with favor and make you fruitful and increase your numbers,(BB) and I will keep my covenant(BC) with you. 10 You will still be eating last year’s harvest when you will have to move it out to make room for the new.(BD) 11 I will put my dwelling place[a](BE) among you, and I will not abhor you.(BF) 12 I will walk(BG) among you and be your God,(BH) and you will be my people.(BI) 13 I am the Lord your God,(BJ) who brought you out of Egypt(BK) so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians; I broke the bars of your yoke(BL) and enabled you to walk with heads held high.

Punishment for Disobedience

14 “‘But if you will not listen to me and carry out all these commands,(BM) 15 and if you reject my decrees and abhor my laws(BN) and fail to carry out all my commands and so violate my covenant,(BO) 16 then I will do this to you: I will bring on you sudden terror, wasting diseases and fever(BP) that will destroy your sight and sap your strength.(BQ) You will plant seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it.(BR) 17 I will set my face(BS) against you so that you will be defeated(BT) by your enemies;(BU) those who hate you will rule over you,(BV) and you will flee even when no one is pursuing you.(BW)

18 “‘If after all this you will not listen to me,(BX) I will punish(BY) you for your sins seven times over.(BZ) 19 I will break down your stubborn pride(CA) and make the sky above you like iron and the ground beneath you like bronze.(CB) 20 Your strength will be spent in vain,(CC) because your soil will not yield its crops, nor will the trees of your land yield their fruit.(CD)

21 “‘If you remain hostile(CE) toward me and refuse to listen to me, I will multiply your afflictions seven times over,(CF) as your sins deserve. 22 I will send wild animals(CG) against you, and they will rob you of your children, destroy your cattle and make you so few(CH) in number that your roads will be deserted.(CI)

23 “‘If in spite of these things you do not accept my correction(CJ) but continue to be hostile toward me, 24 I myself will be hostile(CK) toward you and will afflict you for your sins seven times over. 25 And I will bring the sword(CL) on you to avenge(CM) the breaking of the covenant. When you withdraw into your cities, I will send a plague(CN) among you, and you will be given into enemy hands. 26 When I cut off your supply of bread,(CO) ten women will be able to bake your bread in one oven, and they will dole out the bread by weight. You will eat, but you will not be satisfied.

27 “‘If in spite of this you still do not listen to me(CP) but continue to be hostile toward me, 28 then in my anger(CQ) I will be hostile(CR) toward you, and I myself will punish you for your sins seven times over.(CS) 29 You will eat(CT) the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters.(CU) 30 I will destroy your high places,(CV) cut down your incense altars(CW) and pile your dead bodies[b] on the lifeless forms of your idols,(CX) and I will abhor(CY) you. 31 I will turn your cities into ruins(CZ) and lay waste(DA) your sanctuaries,(DB) and I will take no delight in the pleasing aroma of your offerings.(DC) 32 I myself will lay waste the land,(DD) so that your enemies who live there will be appalled.(DE) 33 I will scatter(DF) you among the nations(DG) and will draw out my sword(DH) and pursue you. Your land will be laid waste,(DI) and your cities will lie in ruins.(DJ) 34 Then the land will enjoy its sabbath years all the time that it lies desolate(DK) and you are in the country of your enemies;(DL) then the land will rest and enjoy its sabbaths. 35 All the time that it lies desolate, the land will have the rest(DM) it did not have during the sabbaths you lived in it.

36 “‘As for those of you who are left, I will make their hearts so fearful in the lands of their enemies that the sound of a windblown leaf(DN) will put them to flight.(DO) They will run as though fleeing from the sword, and they will fall, even though no one is pursuing them.(DP) 37 They will stumble over one another(DQ) as though fleeing from the sword, even though no one is pursuing them. So you will not be able to stand before your enemies.(DR) 38 You will perish(DS) among the nations; the land of your enemies will devour you.(DT) 39 Those of you who are left will waste away in the lands of their enemies because of their sins; also because of their ancestors’(DU) sins they will waste away.(DV)

40 “‘But if they will confess(DW) their sins(DX) and the sins of their ancestors(DY)—their unfaithfulness and their hostility toward me, 41 which made me hostile(DZ) toward them so that I sent them into the land of their enemies—then when their uncircumcised hearts(EA) are humbled(EB) and they pay(EC) for their sin, 42 I will remember my covenant with Jacob(ED) and my covenant with Isaac(EE) and my covenant with Abraham,(EF) and I will remember the land. 43 For the land will be deserted(EG) by them and will enjoy its sabbaths while it lies desolate without them. They will pay for their sins because they rejected(EH) my laws and abhorred my decrees.(EI) 44 Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies,(EJ) I will not reject them or abhor(EK) them so as to destroy them completely,(EL) breaking my covenant(EM) with them. I am the Lord their God. 45 But for their sake I will remember(EN) the covenant with their ancestors whom I brought out of Egypt(EO) in the sight of the nations to be their God. I am the Lord.’”

46 These are the decrees, the laws and the regulations that the Lord established at Mount Sinai(EP) between himself and the Israelites through Moses.(EQ)

Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 26:11 Or my tabernacle
  2. Leviticus 26:30 Or your funeral offerings

24 And in all the land of your possession ye shall grant a redemption for the land.

25 If thy brother be waxen poor, and hath sold away some of his possession, and if any of his kin come to redeem it, then shall he redeem that which his brother sold.

26 And if the man have none to redeem it, and himself be able to redeem it;

27 Then let him count the years of the sale thereof, and restore the overplus unto the man to whom he sold it; that he may return unto his possession.

28 But if he be not able to restore it to him, then that which is sold shall remain in the hand of him that hath bought it until the year of jubile: and in the jubile it shall go out, and he shall return unto his possession.

29 And if a man sell a dwelling house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it is sold; within a full year may he redeem it.

30 And if it be not redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house that is in the walled city shall be established for ever to him that bought it throughout his generations: it shall not go out in the jubile.

31 But the houses of the villages which have no wall round about them shall be counted as the fields of the country: they may be redeemed, and they shall go out in the jubile.

32 Notwithstanding the cities of the Levites, and the houses of the cities of their possession, may the Levites redeem at any time.

33 And if a man purchase of the Levites, then the house that was sold, and the city of his possession, shall go out in the year of jubile: for the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Israel.

34 But the field of the suburbs of their cities may not be sold; for it is their perpetual possession.

35 And if thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen in decay with thee; then thou shalt relieve him: yea, though he be a stranger, or a sojourner; that he may live with thee.

36 Take thou no usury of him, or increase: but fear thy God; that thy brother may live with thee.

37 Thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury, nor lend him thy victuals for increase.

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

39 And if thy brother that dwelleth by thee be waxen poor, and be sold unto thee; thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bondservant:

40 But as an hired servant, and as a sojourner, he shall be with thee, and shall serve thee unto the year of jubile.

41 And then shall he depart from thee, both he and his children with him, and shall return unto his own family, and unto the possession of his fathers shall he return.

42 For they are my servants, which I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: they shall not be sold as bondmen.

43 Thou shalt not rule over him with rigour; but shalt fear thy God.

44 Both thy bondmen, and thy bondmaids, which thou shalt have, shall be of the heathen that are round about you; of them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids.

45 Moreover of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy, and of their families that are with you, which they begat in your land: and they shall be your possession.

46 And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them for a possession; they shall be your bondmen for ever: but over your brethren the children of Israel, ye shall not rule one over another with rigour.

47 And if a sojourner or stranger wax rich by thee, and thy brother that dwelleth by him wax poor, and sell himself unto the stranger or sojourner by thee, or to the stock of the stranger's family:

48 After that he is sold he may be redeemed again; one of his brethren may redeem him:

49 Either his uncle, or his uncle's son, may redeem him, or any that is nigh of kin unto him of his family may redeem him; or if he be able, he may redeem himself.

50 And he shall reckon with him that bought him from the year that he was sold to him unto the year of jubile: and the price of his sale shall be according unto the number of years, according to the time of an hired servant shall it be with him.

51 If there be yet many years behind, according unto them he shall give again the price of his redemption out of the money that he was bought for.

52 And if there remain but few years unto the year of jubile, then he shall count with him, and according unto his years shall he give him again the price of his redemption.

53 And as a yearly hired servant shall he be with him: and the other shall not rule with rigour over him in thy sight.

54 And if he be not redeemed in these years, then he shall go out in the year of jubile, both he, and his children with him.

55 For unto me the children of Israel are servants; they are my servants whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

26 Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the Lord your God.

Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord.

If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them;

Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.

And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.

And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land.

And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword.

And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.

For I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish my covenant with you.

10 And ye shall eat old store, and bring forth the old because of the new.

11 And I set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not abhor you.

12 And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people.

13 I am the Lord your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright.

14 But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments;

15 And if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant:

16 I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.

17 And I will set my face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you.

18 And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins.

19 And I will break the pride of your power; and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass:

20 And your strength shall be spent in vain: for your land shall not yield her increase, neither shall the trees of the land yield their fruits.

21 And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me; I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins.

22 I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, and destroy your cattle, and make you few in number; and your high ways shall be desolate.

23 And if ye will not be reformed by me by these things, but will walk contrary unto me;

24 Then will I also walk contrary unto you, and will punish you yet seven times for your sins.

25 And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant: and when ye are gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence among you; and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.

26 And when I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight: and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied.

27 And if ye will not for all this hearken unto me, but walk contrary unto me;

28 Then I will walk contrary unto you also in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins.

29 And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat.

30 And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcases upon the carcases of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you.

31 And I will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation, and I will not smell the savour of your sweet odours.

32 And I will bring the land into desolation: and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at it.

33 And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste.

34 Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemies' land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy her sabbaths.

35 As long as it lieth desolate it shall rest; because it did not rest in your sabbaths, when ye dwelt upon it.

36 And upon them that are left alive of you I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; and the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them; and they shall flee, as fleeing from a sword; and they shall fall when none pursueth.

37 And they shall fall one upon another, as it were before a sword, when none pursueth: and ye shall have no power to stand before your enemies.

38 And ye shall perish among the heathen, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up.

39 And they that are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity in your enemies' lands; and also in the iniquities of their fathers shall they pine away with them.

40 If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me;

41 And that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity:

42 Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land.

43 The land also shall be left of them, and shall enjoy her sabbaths, while she lieth desolate without them: and they shall accept of the punishment of their iniquity: because, even because they despised my judgments, and because their soul abhorred my statutes.

44 And yet for all that, when they be in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them: for I am the Lord their God.

45 But I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the heathen, that I might be their God: I am the Lord.

46 These are the statutes and judgments and laws, which the Lord made between him and the children of Israel in mount Sinai by the hand of Moses.