Leviticus 25:1-55

1 The Sabbath of the seuenth yeere.

8 The Iubile in the fiftieth yeere.

14 Of oppression.

18 A blessing of obedience.

23 The redemption of land,

29 Of houses.

35 Compassion of the poore.

39 The vsage of bondmen.

47 The redemption of seruants.

1 And the Lord spake vnto Moses in Mount Sinai, saying,

2 Speake vnto the children of Israel, and say vnto them: when yee come into the land which I giue you, then shall the land [Note: Hebrew: rest.] keepe [Note: Exodus 23:10.] a Sabbath vnto the Lord.

3 Sixe yeeres thou shalt sow thy field, and sixe yeeres thou shalt prune thy Uineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof.

4 But in the seuenth yeere shalbe a Sabbath of rest vnto the land, a Sabbath for the Lord: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy Uineyard.

5 That which groweth of it owne

[The Iubile.]

accord of thy haruest, thou shalt not reape, neither gather the grapes [Note: Hebrew: of thy separations.] of thy Uine vndressed: for it is a yeere of rest vnto the land.

6 And the Sabbath of the land shall be meat for you; for thee, and for thy seruant, and for thy mayd, and for thy hired seruant, and for the stranger that soiourneth with thee,

7 And for thy cattel, and for the beast that are in thy land, shall all the encrease thereof be meat.

8 And thou shalt number seuen Sabbaths of yeeres vnto thee, seuen times seuen yeeres, and the space of the seuen Sabbaths of yeeres, shall be vnto thee fourtie and nine yeeres.

9 Then shalt thou cause the trumpet [Note: Hebrew: lowde of sound.] of the Iubile to sound, on the tenth day of the seuenth moneth; in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land.

10 And ye shall hallow the fiftieth yeere, and proclaime libertie throughout all the land, vnto al the inhabitants thereof: It shalbe a Iubile vnto you, and ye shall returne euery man vnto his possession, and ye shall returne euery man vnto his family.

11 A Iubile shall that fiftieth yeere be vnto you: Ye shall not sow, neither reape that which groweth of it selfe in it, nor gather the grapes in it of thy Uine vndressed.

12 For it is the Iubile, it shall be holy vnto you: ye shall eate the encrease thereof out of the field.

13 In the yeere of this Iubile yee shall returne euery man vnto his possession.

14 And if thou sell ought vnto thy neighbour, or buyest ought of thy neighbours hand, ye shall not oppresse one another.

15 According to the number of yeres after the Iubile, thou shalt buy of thy neighbour, and according vnto the number of yeeres of the fruits, he shall sell vnto thee.

16 According to the multitude of yeeres, thou shalt encrease the price thereof, and according to the fewnesse of yeeres, thou shalt diminish the price of it: for according to the number of the yeeres of the fruites doeth hee sell vnto thee.

17 Yee shall not therefore oppresse one another; but thou shalt feare thy God: For I am the Lord your God.

[Redeeming of lands and houses.]

18 Wherefore ye shall do my Statutes, and keepe my Iudgements, and doe them, and ye shall dwell in the land in safetie.

19 And the land shall yeeld her fruit, and ye shal eat your fill, and dwell therin in safetie.

20 And if ye shall say, What shall we eate the seuenth yeere? Behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase:

21 Then I will command my blessing vpon you in the sixt yeere, and it shall bring forth fruit for three yeeres.

22 And ye shall sow the eight yeere, and eat yet of old fruit, vntill the ninth yeere: vntill her fruits come in, ye shall eate of the old store.

23 The land shall not be sold [Note: Or, to bee quite cut off. Hebrew: for cutting off.] for euer: for the land is mine, for ye were strangers and soiourners with me.

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

25 If thy brother be waxen poore, and hath sold away some of his possession, and if any of his kinne come to redeeme it, then shall hee redeeme that which his brother sold.

26 And if the man haue none to redeeme it, and [Note: Hebrew: his hand hath attained, and found sufficiencie.] himselfe bee able to redeeme it:

27 Then let him count the yeeres of the sale therof, and restore the ouerplus vnto the man, to whom he sold it, that he may returne vnto his possession.

28 But if he be not able to restore it to him, then that which is sold, shall remaine in the hand of him that hath bought it, vntill the yeere of Iubile: and in the Iubile it shall goe out, and he shall returne vnto his possession.

29 And if a man sell a dwelling house in a walled citie, then he may redeeme it within a whole yeere after it is solde: within a full yeere may he redeeme it.

30 And if it be not redeemed within the space of a full yeere, then the house that is in the walled citie, shall be stablished for euer to him that bought it, throughout his generations: it shall not goe out in the Iubile.

31 But the houses of the villages which haue no walles round about them, shall bee counted as the fields of the countrey: [Note: Hebrew: redemption belongeth vnto it.] they may ee redeemed, and they shall goe out in the Iubile.

32 Notwithstanding, the cities of the Leuites, and the houses of the cities

[Redeeming of lands and houses.]

of their possession, may the Leuites redeeme at any time.

33 And if [Note: Or, one of the Leuites redeeme them.] a man purchase of the Leuites, then the house that was sold, and the citie of his possession shall goe out in the yeere of Iubile: for the houses of the cities of the Leuites 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 perpetuall possession.

35 And if thy brother bee waxen poore, and [Note: Hebrew: his hand faileth.] fallen in decay with thee, then thou shalt [Note: Hebrew: strengthen.] relieue him, yea though he be a stranger, or a soiourner, that hee may liue with thee.

36 [Note: Exodus 22:25; Deuteronomy 23:19; Proverbs 28:8 Ezekiel 18:8; Ezekiel 22:12.] Take thou no vsurie of him, or increase: but feare thy God, that thy brother may liue with thee.

37 Thou shalt not giue him thy money vpon vsurie, nor lend him thy victuals for increase.

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

39 And [Note: Exodus 21:2; Deuteronomy 15:12; Jeremiah 34:14.] if thy brother that dwelleth by thee be waxen poore, and be sold vnto thee, thou shalt not [Note: Hebrew: serue thy selfe with him with the seruice, etc.] compell him to serue as a bond seruant.

40 But as an hired seruant, and as a soiourner he shall be with thee, and shall serue thee vnto the yere of Iubile.

41 And then shall hee depart from thee, both he and his children with him, and shall returne vnto his owne familie, and vnto the possession of his fathers shall he returne.

42 For they are my seruants, which I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: they shall not be sold [Note: Hebrew: with the sale of a bondman.] as bond men.

43 [Note: Ephesians 6:9; Colossians 4:1.] Thou shalt not rule ouer him with rigour, but shalt feare thy God.

44 Both thy bondmen, and thy bondmaids, which thou shalt haue, shall be of the Heathen, that are round about you: of them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids.

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

46 And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherite them for a possession, [Note: Hebrew: ye shall serue your selues with them.] they shal

[Of redemption.]

bee your bondmen for euer: but ouer your brethren the children of Israel, ye shall not rule one ouer another with rigour.

47 And if a soiourner or stranger [Note: Hebrew: his hand obteine, etc.] waxe rich by thee, and thy brother that dwelleth by him waxe poore, and sell himselfe vnto the stranger or soiourner by thee, or to the stocke of the strangers family:

48 After that he is sold, hee may be redeemed againe: one of his brethren may redeeme him.

49 Either his vncle, or his vncles sonne may redeeme him, or any that is nigh of kinne vnto him, of his family, may redeeme him: or if he be able, hee may redeeme himselfe.

50 And he shall reckon with him that bought him, from the yeere that he was sold to him, vnto the yeere of Iubile, and the price of his sale shalbe according vnto the number of yeeres, according to the time of an hired seruant shall it be with him.

51 If there be yet many yeeres behinde, according vnto them hee shall giue againe the price of his redemption, out of the money that hee was bought for.

52 And if there remaine but few yeeres vnto the yeere of Iubile, then he shall count with him, and according vnto his yeeres shall he giue him againe the price of his redemption.

53 And as a yeerely hired seruant shall he be with him: and the other shall not rule with rigour ouer him in thy sight.

54 And if hee be not redeemed [Note: Or, by these meanes.] in these yeeres, then he shall goe out in the yeere of Iubile, both he, and his children with him.

55 For vnto me the children of Israel are seruants, they are my seruants whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.