Leviticus 25

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1. 1The LORD spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai and said,
2. 2"Tell the people of Israel: When you enter the land I'm giving you, the land itself must observe a Sabbath to the LORD.
3. 3For 6 years you may plant your fields, prune your vineyards, and harvest your crops.
4. 4But the 7th year must be a Sabbath of complete rest for the land — a Sabbath to the LORD. You must not plant your fields or prune your vineyards.
5. 5Don't harvest whatever grows on its own from the previous crop, and don't pick grapes from your untended vines. It's a year of rest for the land.
6. 6Whatever the land produces during its Sabbath year will serve as food for all of you — for you, your male and female servants, your hired workers, and any foreigners living among you.
7. 7Your livestock and the wild animals in your land may also eat whatever the land produces.
8. 8"Count off 7 sets of 7 years — 7 times 7 — for a total of 49 years.
9. 9Then on the 10th day of the 7th month, blow the trumpet loud across the land. On the Day of Atonement, sound the trumpet throughout your entire country.
10. 10Set apart the 50th year as holy and announce freedom throughout the land for everyone living in it. This will be your Jubilee — every person will return to their own property, and every person will return to their own family.
11. 11The 50th year is your Jubilee. During that year, don't plant crops, don't harvest what grows on its own, and don't pick grapes from untended vines.
12. 12It is the Jubilee, and it is holy to you. You may eat only what the field produces on its own.
13. 13"In this Year of Jubilee, everyone must return to their own property.
14. 14"When you sell something to your neighbor or buy something from your neighbor, don't take advantage of each other.
15. 15When you buy from your neighbor, base the price on the number of years since the last Jubilee. When your neighbor sells to you, the price should reflect the number of harvests remaining.
16. 16If many years remain, the price goes up. If only a few years remain, the price goes down. What's really being sold is the number of harvests until the next Jubilee.
17. 17Don't cheat each other. Instead, fear your God, because I am the LORD your God.
18. 18"Follow my laws and obey my rules — put them into practice — and you will live safely in the land.
19. 19The land will produce its crops, you'll have plenty to eat, and you'll live there in safety.
20. 20You might ask, 'What will we eat during the 7th year if we can't plant or harvest?'
21. 21Then I will command my blessing upon you in the 6th year, and it will produce fruit for 3 years.
22. 22When you plant in the 8th year, you'll still be eating from the stored harvest of the 6th year. You'll keep eating from that supply until the 9th year's crops come in.
23. 23"Land must never be sold permanently, because the land belongs to me. You are just foreigners and temporary residents on my land.
24. 24Throughout the land you possess, you must always allow land to be bought back.
25. 25"If one of your people becomes poor and has to sell some of their property, their closest relative should come and buy it back for them.
26. 26If someone has no relative to buy it back but later becomes prosperous enough to do it themselves,
27. 27they should calculate the years since the sale, refund the difference to the buyer, and take back their property.
28. 28But if they can't afford to buy it back, the property stays with the buyer until the Year of Jubilee. At the Jubilee, it will be released, and the original owner will get their property back.
29. 29"If someone sells a house in a walled city, they have the right to buy it back for a full year after the sale.
30. 30If it isn't bought back within that full year, the house in the walled city permanently belongs to the buyer and their descendants. It will not be returned in the Jubilee.
31. 31But houses in unwalled villages are treated like open farmland — they can be bought back, and they must be returned in the Jubilee.
32. 32"There's an exception for the Levites: they may buy back their houses in the Levitical cities at any time.
33. 33If a man purchases from the Levites, then the house that was sold in the city of his possession shall go out in the Year of Jubilee, for the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Israel.
34. 34But the field of the open lands around their cities may not be sold, for it is their perpetual possession.
35. 35If your brother becomes poor and falls into poverty among you, then you shall relieve him — yes, even if he is a stranger or a sojourner — so that he may live with you.
36. 36Don't charge them interest or make a profit off them. Fear your God, and let your fellow Israelite survive among you.
37. 37Don't lend them money at interest, and don't sell them food at a markup.
38. 38I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God.
39. 39"If one of your people becomes so poor that they sell themselves to you, don't make them work as a slave.
40. 40Treat them like a hired worker or a temporary resident. They will serve you until the Year of Jubilee.
41. 41Then they will leave your service — they and their children — and return to their own family and to the property of their ancestors.
42. 42The Israelites are my servants — I brought them out of Egypt. They must not be sold as slaves.
43. 43Don't rule over them harshly. Fear your God.
44. 44"As for male and female slaves, you may purchase them from the surrounding nations.
45. 45You may also buy the children of foreigners living among you, and from their families who are with you, those born in your land. They may become your property.
46. 46You may pass them down as an inheritance to your children, and they may serve as slaves permanently. But you must never rule harshly over your fellow Israelites.
47. 47If a sojourner or stranger living among you becomes wealthy, and your brother who lives nearby becomes poor and sells himself to that stranger or sojourner, or to a member of the stranger's family:
48. 48After the sale, the Israelite still has the right to be bought back. Any of their relatives may buy their freedom.
49. 49An uncle, a cousin, or any close relative from their family may buy them back. Or if they become prosperous enough, they may buy their own freedom.
50. 50They must calculate the price with the buyer based on the number of years from the date of the sale to the next Year of Jubilee. The cost should be figured like the wages of a hired worker for that number of years.
51. 51If many years remain until the Jubilee, they must pay back a larger portion of the original purchase price.
52. 52If only a few years remain until the Jubilee, they should calculate accordingly and pay a smaller amount based on the years of service left.
53. 53The buyer must treat them like a worker hired year by year. They must not rule over them harshly while you look on.
54. 54If they aren't bought back by any of these means, they and their children must still be set free in the Year of Jubilee.
55. 55The people of Israel belong to me as servants. They are my servants — I brought them out of Egypt. I am the LORD your God."