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The Sabbath Year

¹ Then^[a] Yahweh spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai,^[b] saying, ² "Speak to the Israelites,^[c] and say to them, ‘When you^[d] come into the land that I am about to give to you,^[e] then^[f] the land shall observe a Sabbath for Yahweh. ³ Six years you^[g] shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and you shall gather its yield. ⁴ But^[h] in the seventh year it shall be a Sabbath of complete rest^[i] for the land—a Sabbath for Yahweh; you^[j] must not sow your field, and you must not prune your vineyard. ⁵ You^[k] must not reap your harvest's aftergrowth, and you must not harvest the grapes of your unpruned vines—it shall be a year of complete rest^[l] for the land. ⁶ And a Sabbath of the land shall be for food for you:^[m] for you^[n] and for your slave and for your slave woman and for your hired worker and for your temporary residents^[o] who are dwelling as aliens with you; ⁷ and all its yield shall be for your^[p] domestic animal and for the wild animal, which are in your land to eat.

The Year of Jubilee

⁸ "‘And you^[q] shall count for yourself seven Sabbaths of years, seven times seven years, and they shall be for you time periods of^[r] years: forty-nine^[s] years. ⁹ And you^[t] shall cause a loud horn blast^[u] to be heard on the seventh month on the tenth of the month; on the Day of Atonement you^[v] shall cause a ram's horn to be heard in all your^[w] land. ¹⁰ And you^[x] shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and you shall proclaim a release in the land for all its inhabitants. It is a Jubilee; it shall be for you, and you shall return. You must return—everyone to his property and everyone to his clan.^{[y] 11} You^[z] shall have the fiftieth year as a Jubilee;^[aa] you must not reap its aftergrowth, and you must not harvest its unpruned vines. ¹² Because it is a Jubilee, it shall be holy to you. You must eat its^[ab] produce from the field.

¹³ "‘In this Year of Jubilee each of you^[ac] shall return^[ad] to his property. ¹⁴ And when you^[ae] sell something to your^[af] fellow citizen or you buy from your^[ag] neighbor's hand, you^[ah] must not oppress one another.^{[ai] 15} You^[aj] must buy from your fellow citizen according to the number of years after the Jubilee; he must sell to you according to the number of years of yield. ¹⁶ You^[ak] must increase its price according to a greater number of years,^[al] but^[am] you must decrease its price according to a lesser number of years,^[an] because he is selling its yields to you. ¹⁷ And you^[ao] must not oppress one another,^[ap] but^[aq] you^[ar] shall revere your God, because I am Yahweh, your^[as] God.

¹⁸ "‘And you^[at] shall do my statutes, and you must keep my regulations, and you shall do them, so that^[au] you shall live securely^[av] on the land. ¹⁹ And the land shall give its fruit, and you^[aw] shall eat your fill,^[ax] and you shall live securely^[ay] on it. ²⁰ And if you^[az] should say, "What shall we eat in the seventh year, if^[ba] we do not sow and we do not gather its yield?" ²¹ then^[bb] I will command my blessing for you^[bc] in the sixth year, so that^[bd] it will make^[be] the yield for three years. ²² And you^[bf] will sow in the eighth year, and you shall eat from the old yield;^[bg] until the ninth year, until the coming of its yield, you shall eat the old yield.

²³ "‘But^[bh] the land must not be sold in^[bi] perpetuity, because the land is mine, because you^[bj] are aliens and temporary residents with me. ²⁴ And in all your^[bk] property's land you^[bl] must provide redemption for the land.

²⁵ "‘When your^[bm] brother becomes poor and he sells part of his property, then^[bn] his nearest redeemer^[bo] shall come, and he shall redeem the thing sold by his brother. ²⁶ But^[bp] if^[bq] a man does not have^[br] a redeemer, then^[bs] he prospers^[bt] and he finds enough for his redemption, ²⁷ then^[bu] he shall calculate the years of its selling, and he shall refund the balance to the man to whom he sold it, and he shall return to his property. ²⁸ But^[bv] if his hand does not find enough to refund to him, then^[bw] what he has sold^[bx] shall be in the buyer's hand until the Year of Jubilee; and it shall go out of the buyer's hand^[by] in the Jubilee, and he shall return to his property.

²⁹ "‘And if a man sells a residential house in a walled city,^[bz] then^[ca] it shall be his redemption until completing a year after his selling;^[cb] its redemption shall last^[cc] a year.^{[cd] 30} But^[ce] if it is not redeemed before a full year has passed,^[cf] then^[cg] the house that is in the walled city^[ch] shall belong to the buyer in^[ci] perpetuity throughout his generations; it shall not go out of the buyer's hand^[cj] in the Jubilee. ³¹ However,^[ck] village houses that have no surrounding wall shall be considered open country;^[cl] there is redemption for it, and in the Jubilee it shall go out of the buyer's hand.^[cm]

³² "‘As for^[cn] the cities of the Levites, that is, the houses in^[co] their property's cities, it shall be a lasting redemption^[cp] for the Levites. ³³ And whatever anyone redeems from the Levites then^[cq] must go out of the buyer's hand^[cr] in the Jubilee, including a house's selling in his city's property,^[cs] because the houses in^[ct] the cities of the Levites are their property in the midst of the Israelites.^{[cu] 34} But^[cv] a^[cw] field of their cities' pastureland must not be sold, because it is their property for all time.^[cx]

³⁵ "‘And if your^[cy] countryman^[cz] becomes poor and if he becomes dependent on you,^[da] then^[db] you shall support him like an alien and like a temporary resident, and he shall live with you. ³⁶ You^[dc] must not take interest or^[dd] usury from him, but^[de] you shall revere your God, and your countryman^[df] shall live with you. ³⁷ You^[dg] must not give your money to him with interest or^[dh] give your food for^[di] profit. ³⁸ I am Yahweh your^[dj] God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt to give you^[dk] the land of Canaan, to be as God for you.

³⁹ "‘And if your^[dl] countryman^[dm] who is with you becomes poor, and he is sold to you, you shall not treat him as a slave.^{[dn] 40} He shall be with you like a hired worker, like a temporary resident; he shall work with you until the Year of Jubilee. ⁴¹ And he and his sons with him shall go out from you, and he shall return to his clan, and to the property of his ancestors^[do] he shall return. ⁴² Because they are my servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt, they shall not be sold as a slave.^{[dp] 43} You^[dq] shall not rule over him with ruthlessness, but^[dr] you shall revere your God.

⁴⁴ "‘As for^[ds] your^[dt] slave and your^[du] slave woman who are^[dv] yours,^[dw] from the nations that are all around you,^[dx] from them you^[dy] may buy a slave or^[dz] a slave woman. ⁴⁵ And you^[ea] may buy also from the children^[eb] of the temporary residents who are dwelling with you as aliens and from their clan who are with you, who have children in your land; indeed,^[ec] they may be as property for you. ⁴⁶ And you^[ed] may pass them on as an inheritance to your^[ee] sons^[ef] after you^[eg] to take possession of as property for all time^[eh]—you^[ei] may let them work. But^[ej] as for your^[ek] countrymen,^[el] the Israelites,^[em] you^[en] shall not rule with ruthlessness over one another.^[eo]

⁴⁷ "‘And if the alien or^[ep] the temporary resident who are with you^[eq] prosper,^[er] but^[es] your countryman^[et] who is with him becomes poor and he is sold to an alien, a temporary resident who is with you, or to a descendant of an alien's clan, ⁴⁸ after he is sold redemption shall be for him; one of his brothers may redeem him, ⁴⁹ or his uncle or his uncle's son may redeem him, or one of^[eu] his close relatives^[ev] from his clan may redeem him; or if he prospers,^[ew] he may redeem himself. ⁵⁰ And he shall calculate with his buyer from the year of his selling himself^[ex] until the Jubilee; and the value of his selling shall be according to the number of years—it shall be with him like^[ey] a hired worker's days. ⁵¹ If there are still many years, in keeping with them^[ez] he shall restore his redemption in proportion to his purchase price.^{[fa] 52} And if there are a few years left until the Year of Jubilee, then^[fb] he shall calculate for himself; he shall restore his redemption according to the number of his years.^{[fc] 53} He shall be with him as a yearly hired worker;^[fd] he shall not rule over him with ruthlessness in your^[fe] sight.^{[ff] 54} And if he is not redeemed by^[fg] any of these ways,^[fh] then^[fi] he and his sons with him shall go out in the Year of Jubilee. ⁵⁵ Indeed,^[fj] the Israelites^[fk] are servants for me; they are my servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh your^[fl] God.'"