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Leviticus 25
Expanded Bible
Leviticus 25
Expanded Bible
The Time of Rest for the Land
25 The Lord said to Moses at Mount Sinai, 2 “Tell the people of Israel this: ‘When you enter the land I will give you, let it have a ·special time of rest, to honor [L sabbath to/for] the Lord. 3 You may plant seed in your field for six years, and you may trim your vineyards for six years and bring in their fruits. 4 But during the seventh year, you must let the land ·rest [have a sabbath]. This will be a ·special time to honor [L sabbath to/for] the Lord. You must not plant seed in your field or ·trim [prune] your vineyards. 5 You must not cut the crops that grow by themselves after harvest, or gather the grapes from your vines that are not ·trimmed [pruned]. The land will have a ·year of rest [sabbath].
6 “‘You may eat whatever the land produces during that ·year of rest [sabbath]. It will be food for your men and women servants, for your hired workers, and for the ·foreigners living in your country [sojourners; wanderers; resident aliens]. 7 It will also be food for your cattle and the wild animals of your land. Whatever the land produces may be eaten.
The Year of Jubilee
8 “‘Count off seven groups of seven years, [L seven times seven years] or forty-nine years. During that time there will be seven ·years of rest [sabbatical years; 25:1–7] for the land. 9 On the Day of ·Cleansing [Atonement; 16:1–34], you must blow the horn of a ·male sheep [ram]; this will be on the tenth day of the seventh month. You must blow the horn through the whole country. 10 Make the fiftieth year a ·special [consecrated; holy] year, and announce ·freedom [liberty] for all the people living in your country. This time will be called Jubilee [C a word related to the Hebrew for “ram’s horn”]. You will each go back to your own property, each to your own family and family group. 11 The fiftieth year will be a special time for you to celebrate. Don’t plant seeds, or harvest the crops that grow by themselves, or gather grapes from the vines that are not ·trimmed [pruned]. 12 That year is Jubilee; it will be a holy time for you. You may eat only the crops that come from the field. 13 In the year of Jubilee you each must go back to your own property.
14 “‘If you sell your land to your ·neighbor [countryman], or if you buy land from your ·neighbor [countryman], don’t ·cheat [mistreat; exploit] each other. 15 If you want to buy your ·neighbor’s [countryman’s] land, count the number of years since the last Jubilee, and use that number to decide the right price. If your ·neighbor [countryman] sells the land to you, count the number of years left for harvesting crops, and use that number to decide the right price. 16 If there are many years, the price will be high. But if there are only a few years, lower the price, because your neighbor is really selling only a few crops to you. 17 You must not ·cheat [mistreat; exploit] ·each other [L your neighbor/countryman], but you must ·respect [fear] your God. I am the Lord your God.
18 “‘·Remember [L Observe] my ·laws [statutes; ordinances; requirements] and ·rules [regulations], and ·obey [keep; guard] them so that you will live ·safely [securely] in the land. 19 The land will give ·good crops [its fruit] to you, and you will eat as much as you want and live ·safely [securely] in the land.
20 “‘But you might ask, “If we don’t plant seeds or gather crops, what will we eat the seventh year?” 21 I will ·send [L command for] you such a great blessing during the sixth year that the land will produce enough crops for three years. 22 When you plant in the eighth year, you will still be eating from the old crop; you will eat the old crop until the harvest of the ninth year.
Property Laws
23 “‘The land really belongs to me, so you can’t sell it ·for all time [in perpetuity]. You are only ·foreigners [sojourners; wanderers; resident aliens] and ·travelers living for a while on my land [L tenants with me]. 24 ·People might sell their land, but it must always be possible for the family to get its land back [L Throughout all the land of your possession, you must allow for redemption of the land]. 25 If ·a person in your country [your brother/kinsman] becomes very poor and sells some land, then close relatives ·must [or can] come and ·buy it back [redeem what his brother/kinsman has sold]. 26 If there is not a ·close relative to buy the land back [redeemer], but if the person ·makes enough money to be able to buy it back [prospers and he is able to redeem it], 27 the years must be ·counted [calculated] since the land was sold. That number must be used to decide how much the first owner should pay back the one who bought it. Then the land will belong to the first owner again. 28 But if there is not enough money to buy it back, the one who bought it will keep it until the year of Jubilee. During that celebration, the land will go back to the first owner’s family.
29 “‘If someone sells a home in a walled city, for a full year after it is sold, the person has the right to ·buy it back [redeem it]. 30 But if the owner does not ·buy back the house [redeem it] before a full year is over, it will belong to the one who bought it ·and to his future sons [L in perpetuity, throughout his generations]. The house will not go back to the first owner at Jubilee. 31 But houses in ·small towns [villages] without walls are like open ·country [fields]; they can be ·bought back [redeemed], and they must be returned to their first owner at Jubilee.
32 “‘The Levites may always ·buy back [redeem] their houses in the cities that belong to them. 33 If someone buys a house from a Levite, that house in the Levites’ city will again belong to the Levites in the Jubilee. This is because houses in Levite cities belong to the people of Levi; ·the Israelites gave these cities to them [L for the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession in the midst of the sons/T children of Israel; Num. 35:1–8; Josh. 21:1–45]. 34 Also the ·fields and pastures [L open land] around the Levites’ cities cannot be sold, because ·those fields belong to the Levites [L that is their possession] forever.
Rules for Slave Owners
35 “‘If ·anyone from your country [your brother/kinsman] becomes too poor ·to support himself [or and dependent on you], ·help [support] him to live among you as you would a ·stranger [sojourner/wanderer/resident alien] or ·foreigner [or tenant]. 36 Do not charge him any interest on money ·you loan to him [L or try to make a profit; Ex. 22:25; Deut. 23:19–20], but ·respect [fear] your God; let ·the poor [L your brother/kinsman] live among you. 37 Don’t lend him money for interest, and don’t try to make a profit from the food he buys. 38 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to give the land of Canaan to you and to become your God.
39 “‘If ·anyone from your country [your brother/kinsman] becomes very poor and sells himself as a slave to you, you must not make him work like a slave [Ex. 21:2–6; Deut. 15:12–18]. 40 He will be like a hired worker and a ·visitor [or tenant] with you until the year of Jubilee. 41 Then he may leave you, take his children, and go back to his family and the land of his ancestors. 42 This is because the Israelites are my servants, and I brought them out of slavery in Egypt. They must not become slaves again. 43 You must not ·rule this person [exercise dominion; Gen. 1:26] cruelly, but you must ·respect [fear] your God.
44 “‘Your men and women slaves must come from other nations around you; from them you may buy slaves. 45 Also you may buy as slaves children from the families of ·strangers [sojourners/wanderers/resident aliens] or ·foreigners [or tenants] living in your land. ·These child slaves will belong to you [L Those born in your land will be your property], 46 and you may even ·pass them on to your children after you die [will them to your children]; you can make them slaves forever. But you must not ·rule [exercise dominion] cruelly over your own ·people [brothers; kinsmen], the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel].
47 “‘Suppose a ·stranger [sojourner/wanderer/resident alien] or ·foreigner [or tenant] among you becomes rich. If ·someone in your country [a brother/kinsman] becomes so poor that he has to sell himself as a slave to the ·foreigner [sojourner; wanderer; resident alien] living among you or to a member of the ·foreigner’s [sojourner’s; wanderer’s; resident alien’s] family, 48 ·the poor person has the right to be bought back and become free [L after he is sold he has the right of redemption]. One of his relatives may ·buy him back [redeem him]: 49 His uncle, his uncle’s son, or any one of his close relatives may ·buy him back [redeem him]. Or, if he gets enough money, he may pay the money to ·free [redeem] himself.
50 “‘He and the one who bought him must ·count [calculate] the time from when he sold himself up to the next year of Jubilee. Use that number to decide the price, because the person really only hired himself out for a certain number of years. 51 If there are still many years before the year of Jubilee, the person must ·pay back [redeem] a large part of the price. 52 If there are only a few years left until Jubilee, the person must pay a small part of the first price. 53 But he will live like a hired person with ·the foreigner [L him] every year; don’t let the ·foreigner [L him] ·rule [exercise dominion] cruelly over him.
54 “‘Even if no one ·buys him back [redeems him], at the year of Jubilee, he and his children will ·become free [L go out]. 55 This is because the ·people [L sons; children] of Israel are servants to me. They are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.
Leviticus 25
New International Version
Leviticus 25
New International Version
The Sabbath Year
25 The Lord said to Moses at Mount Sinai,(A) 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you, the land itself must observe a sabbath to the Lord. 3 For six years sow your fields, and for six years prune your vineyards and gather their crops.(B) 4 But in the seventh year the land is to have a year of sabbath rest,(C) a sabbath to the Lord. Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards.(D) 5 Do not reap what grows of itself(E) or harvest the grapes(F) of your untended vines.(G) The land is to have a year of rest. 6 Whatever the land yields during the sabbath year(H) will be food for you—for yourself, your male and female servants, and the hired worker and temporary resident who live among you, 7 as well as for your livestock and the wild animals(I) in your land. Whatever the land produces may be eaten.
The Year of Jubilee(J)(K)
8 “‘Count off seven sabbath years—seven times seven years—so that the seven sabbath years amount to a period of forty-nine years. 9 Then have the trumpet(L) sounded everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month;(M) on the Day of Atonement(N) sound the trumpet throughout your land. 10 Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty(O) throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee(P) for you; each of you is to return to your family property(Q) and to your own clan. 11 The fiftieth year shall be a jubilee(R) for you; do not sow and do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the untended vines.(S) 12 For it is a jubilee and is to be holy for you; eat only what is taken directly from the fields.
13 “‘In this Year of Jubilee(T) everyone is to return to their own property.
14 “‘If you sell land to any of your own people or buy land from them, do not take advantage of each other.(U) 15 You are to buy from your own people on the basis of the number of years(V) since the Jubilee. And they are to sell to you on the basis of the number of years left for harvesting crops. 16 When the years are many, you are to increase the price, and when the years are few, you are to decrease the price,(W) because what is really being sold to you is the number of crops. 17 Do not take advantage of each other,(X) but fear your God.(Y) I am the Lord your God.(Z)
18 “‘Follow my decrees and be careful to obey my laws,(AA) and you will live safely in the land.(AB) 19 Then the land will yield its fruit,(AC) and you will eat your fill and live there in safety.(AD) 20 You may ask, “What will we eat in the seventh year(AE) if we do not plant or harvest our crops?” 21 I will send you such a blessing(AF) in the sixth year that the land will yield enough for three years.(AG) 22 While you plant during the eighth year, you will eat from the old crop and will continue to eat from it until the harvest of the ninth year comes in.(AH)
23 “‘The land(AI) must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine(AJ) and you reside in my land as foreigners(AK) and strangers. 24 Throughout the land that you hold as a possession, you must provide for the redemption(AL) of the land.
25 “‘If one of your fellow Israelites becomes poor and sells some of their property, their nearest relative(AM) is to come and redeem(AN) what they have sold. 26 If, however, there is no one to redeem it for them but later on they prosper(AO) and acquire sufficient means to redeem it themselves, 27 they are to determine the value for the years(AP) 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.(AQ) 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(AR) in the Jubilee, and they can then go back to their property.(AS)
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,(AT) 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.(AU)
35 “‘If any of your fellow Israelites become poor(AV) and are unable to support themselves among you, help them(AW) as you would a foreigner and stranger, so they can continue to live among you. 36 Do not take interest(AX) or any profit from them, but fear your God,(AY) so that they may continue to live among you. 37 You must not lend them money at interest(AZ) 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(BA) and to be your God.(BB)
39 “‘If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and sell themselves to you, do not make them work as slaves.(BC) 40 They are to be treated as hired workers(BD) 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(BE) of their ancestors.(BF) 42 Because the Israelites are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt,(BG) they must not be sold as slaves. 43 Do not rule over them ruthlessly,(BH) but fear your God.(BI)
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(BJ) to the foreigner or to a member of the foreigner’s clan, 48 they retain the right of redemption(BK) after they have sold themselves. One of their relatives(BL) may redeem them: 49 An uncle or a cousin or any blood relative in their clan may redeem them. Or if they prosper,(BM) 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.(BN) The price for their release is to be based on the rate paid to a hired worker(BO) 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.(BP) 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.(BQ)
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.(BR) I am the Lord your God.(BS)
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