Leviticus 25 - New Century Version (NCV)

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 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. This will be a special time to honor the Lord. You must not plant seed in your field or trim 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. The land will have a year of rest.

6 “‘You may eat whatever the land produces during that year of rest. It will be food for your men and women servants, for your hired workers, and for the foreigners living in your country. 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, or forty-nine years. During that time there will be seven years of rest for the land. 9 On the Day of Cleansing, you must blow the horn of a male sheep; 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 year, and announce freedom for all the people living in your country. This time will be called Jubilee.[a] 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. 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, or if you buy land from your neighbor, don’t cheat each other. 15 If you want to buy your neighbor’s land, count the number of years since the last Jubilee, and use that number to decide the right price. If your neighbor 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 each other, but you must respect your God. I am the Lord your God.

18 “‘Remember my laws and rules, and obey them so that you will live safely in the land. 19 The land will give good crops to you, and you will eat as much as you want and live safely 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 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. You are only foreigners and travelers living for a while on my land. 24 People might sell their land, but it must always be possible for the family to get its land back. 25 If a person in your country becomes very poor and sells some land, then close relatives must come and buy it back. 26 If there is not a close relative to buy the land back, but if the person makes enough money to be able to buy it back, 27 the years must be counted 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. 30 But if the owner does not buy back the house before a full year is over, it will belong to the one who bought it and to his future sons. The house will not go back to the first owner at Jubilee. 31 But houses in small towns without walls are like open country; they can be bought back, and they must be returned to their first owner at Jubilee.

32 “‘The Levites may always buy back 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. 34 Also the fields and pastures around the Levites’ cities cannot be sold, because those fields belong to the Levites forever.

Rules for Slave Owners

35 “‘If anyone from your country becomes too poor to support himself, help him to live among you as you would a stranger or foreigner. 36 Do not charge him any interest on money you loan to him, but respect your God; let the poor 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 becomes very poor and sells himself as a slave to you, you must not make him work like a slave. 40 He will be like a hired worker and a visitor 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 cruelly, but you must respect 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 foreigners living in your land. These child slaves will belong to you, 46 and you may even pass them on to your children after you die; you can make them slaves forever. But you must not rule cruelly over your own people, the Israelites.

47 “‘Suppose a foreigner or visitor among you becomes rich. If someone in your country becomes so poor that he has to sell himself as a slave to the foreigner living among you or to a member of the foreigner’s family, 48 the poor person has the right to be bought back and become free. One of his relatives may buy him back: 49 His uncle, his uncle’s son, or any one of his close relatives may buy him back. Or, if he gets enough money, he may pay the money to free himself.

50 “‘He and the one who bought him must count 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 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 every year; don’t let the foreigner rule cruelly over him.

54 “‘Even if no one buys him back, at the year of Jubilee, he and his children will become free. 55 This is because the people of Israel are servants to me. They are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.

Footnotes

  1. 25:10 Jubilee This word comes from the Hebrew word for a horn of a male sheep.

You Might Also Like:

Leviticus 25 - Young's Literal Translation (YLT)

25 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, in mount Sinai, saying, 2 `Speak unto the sons of Israel, and thou hast said unto them, When ye come in unto the land which I am giving to you, then hath the land kept a sabbath to Jehovah. 3 `Six years thou dost sow thy field, and six years thou dost prune thy vi...
Read More

Leviticus 25 - Wycliffe Bible (WYC)

25 And the Lord spake to Moses in the hill of Sinai, and said (And the Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, and said,) 2 Speak thou to the sons of Israel, and thou shalt say to them, When ye have entered into the land which I shall give to you, the earth keep the sabbath of the Lord (the land shall k...
Read More

Leviticus 25 - World English Bible (WEB)

25 Yahweh said to Moses on Mount Sinai, 2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall keep a Sabbath to Yahweh. 3 You shall sow your field six years, and you shall prune your vineyard six years, and gather in its fruits; 4 bu...
Read More

Leviticus 25 - The Voice (VOICE)

25 The Eternal One addressed Moses on Mount Sinai. Eternal One: 2 Go, talk with the Israelites and tell them that when you arrive in the land I have promised to give to you, you are to make sure the land observes a Sabbath rest before Me. 3 Plant your fields, take care of your vineyards, and harves...
Read More

Leviticus 25 - Tree of Life Version (TLV)

Parashat BeharShabbat Year and Jubilee25 Then Adonai said to Moses on Mount Sinai, 2 “Speak to Bnei-Yisrael and tell them: When you come into the land which I give you, then the land is to keep a Shabbat to Adonai. 3 For six years you may sow your field and for six years you may prune your vineyar...
Read More

Leviticus 25 - Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)

The Sabbatical Year25 The Lord said to Moses on Mount Sinai, 2 “Say to the people of Israel, When you come into the land which I give you, the land shall keep a sabbath to the Lord. 3 Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather in its fruits; 4 but ...
Read More

Leviticus 25 - Revised Standard Version (RSV)

The Sabbatical Year25 The Lord said to Moses on Mount Sinai, 2 “Say to the people of Israel, When you come into the land which I give you, the land shall keep a sabbath to the Lord. 3 Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather in its fruits; 4 but ...
Read More

Leviticus 25 - New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised (NRSVA)

The Sabbatical Year25 The Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying: 2 Speak to the people of Israel and say to them: When you enter the land that I am giving you, the land shall observe a sabbath for the Lord. 3 For six years you shall sow your field, and for six years you shall prune your viney...
Read More

Leviticus 25 - New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

The Sabbatical Year25 The Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When you enter the land that I am giving you, the land shall observe a Sabbath for the Lord.(A)3 Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard and gathe...
Read More

Leviticus 25 - New Living Translation (NLT)

The Sabbath Year25 While Moses was on Mount Sinai, the Lord said to him, 2 “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. When you have entered the land I am giving you, the land itself must observe a Sabbath rest before the Lord every seventh year. 3 For six years you may plant your fiel...
Read More

Leviticus 25 - New Life Version (NLV)

The Seventh Year—a Year of Rest for the Lord25 The Lord said to Moses at Mount Sinai, 2 “Say to the people of Israel, ‘When you come to the land I will give you, then the land will have a Year of Rest to the Lord. 3 Six years you will plant seeds in your field. Six years you will take care of your...
Read More

Leviticus 25 - New King James Version (NKJV)

The Sabbath of the Seventh Year(A)25 And the Lord spoke to Moses on Mount (B)Sinai, saying, 2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall (C)keep a sabbath to the Lord. 3 Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you...
Read More

Leviticus 25 - New International Version - UK (NIVUK)

The Sabbath Year25 The Lord said to Moses at Mount Sinai, 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....
Read More

Leviticus 25 - New International Version (NIV)

The Sabbath Year25 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...
Read More

Leviticus 25 - New International Reader's Version (NIRV)

The Sabbath Year25 The Lord spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai. He said, 2 “Speak to the Israelites. Tell them, ‘You will enter the land I am going to give you. When you do, you must honor the Lord every seventh year by not farming the land that year. 3 For six years plant your fields. Trim the branche...
Read More

Leviticus 25 - New English Translation (NET)

Regulations for the Sabbatical Year25 The Lord spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai: 2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When you enter the land that I am giving you, the land must observe a Sabbath[a] to the Lord. 3 Six years you may sow your field, and six years you may prune your vineyard and g...
Read More