1. Regulations for the sabbatical year (25:1-7)

After entering the Promised Land the Israelites are to plant and harvest crops for six years and then give the land a sabbath (rest) during the seventh year (vv.3-4). Whatever grows on its own during that year is not to be harvested by the landowner exclusively for himself; the produce is to be available to everyone in his household, for his livestock, and even for the wild animals in the area (vv.6-7). While it is true that the practice of allowing the land to lie fallow every seventh year replenishes the soil, the primary reason for this agricultural sabbatical is recognition that the earth is the Lord’s; it is a sabbath to the Lord (v.4).