~ 25 ~

d. The Sabbatical Year and the Year of Jubilee (25:1–55)

1 ADONAI said to Moshe on Mount Sinai, 2 “Speak to the children of Isra'el, and tell them, ‘When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall keep a Shabbat to ADONAI. 3 You may sow your field for six years, and you may prune your vineyard for six years, and gather in its fruits; 4 but in the seventh year there is to be a Shabbat of solemn rest for the land, a Shabbat to ADONAI. You must not sow your field or prune your vineyard. 5 What grows of itself in your harvest you must not reap, and you must not gather the grapes of your undressed vine. It must be a year of solemn rest for the land. 6 The Shabbat of the land will be for food for you; for yourself, for your servant, for your maid, for your hired servant, and for your stranger, who lives as a foreigner with you. 7 For your livestock also, and for the animals that are in your land, all of its increase may be for food.

8 “‘You are to count off seven shabbats [literally, “sevens”] of years, seven times seven years; and there will be to you the days of seven shabbats [literally, “sevens”] of years, even forty-nine years. 9 Then you are to sound the loud shofar on the tenth day of the seventh month. On Yom Kippur [the Day of Atonement] you are to sound the shofar throughout all your land. 10 You are to make the fiftieth year holy, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It is to be a Jubilee to you; and each of you must return to his own property, and each of you must return to his family. 11 That fiftieth year will be a Jubilee to you. In it you must neither sow nor reap that which grows of itself, nor gather from the undressed vines. 12 For it is a Jubilee; it is to be holy to you. You will eat of its increase out of the field.

13 “‘In this Year of Jubilee each of you must return to his own property.

[TO LY READING SCHEDULE]
 

(LY: ii) 14 “‘If you sell anything to your neighbor, or buy from your neighbor, you must not wrong one another. 15 According to the number of years after the Jubilee you may buy from your neighbor. According to the number of years of the crops he may sell to you. 16 According to the length of the years you may increase its price, and according to the shortness of the years you must diminish its price; for he is selling the number of the crops to you. 17 You must not wrong one another, but you must fear your God; for I am ADONAI your God.

18 “‘Therefore you must do my statutes, and keep my ordinances and do them; and you will dwell in the land in safety.

[TO LY READING SCHEDULE]   [TO RY READING SCHEDULE]
 

(RY: ii, LY: iii) 19 The land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety. 20 If you said, “What shall we eat the seventh year? Hinneh,[GN] we may neither sow, nor gather in our increase,” 21 then I will command my blessing on you in the sixth year, and it will bear fruit for the three years. 22 You may sow the eighth year, and eat of the fruits from the old store until the ninth year. Until its fruits come in, you will eat the old store.

23 “‘The land must not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is Mine; you are strangers and live as foreigners with Me. 24 In all the land of your possession you must grant a redemption for the land.

25 “‘If your brother becomes poor and sells some of his possessions, then his kinsman who is next to him must come, and redeem that which his brother has sold. 26 If a man has no one to redeem it, and he becomes prosperous and finds sufficient means to redeem it, 27 then let him reckon the years since its sale, and restore the surplus to the man to whom he sold it; and he must return to his property. 28 But if he isn’t able to get it back for himself, then what he has sold shall remain in the hand of him who has bought it until the Year of Jubilee. In the Jubilee it must be released, and he will return to his property.

[TO LY READING SCHEDULE]   [TO RY READING SCHEDULE]
 

(RY: iii, LY: v) 29 “‘If a man sells a dwelling house within a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it has been sold. For a full year he shall have the right of redemption. 30 If it isn’t redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house that is in the walled city shall be made sure in perpetuity to him who bought it, throughout his generations. It shall not be released in the Jubilee. 31 But the houses of the villages which have no wall around them shall be accounted for with the fields of the country: they may be redeemed, and they must be released in the Jubilee.

32 “‘Nevertheless, in the cities of the Levites, the Levites may redeem the houses in the cities of their possession at any time. 33 The Levites may redeem the house that was sold, and the city of his possession, and it must be released in the Jubilee; for the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Isra'el. 34 But the field of the pasture lands of their cities may not be sold, for it is their perpetual possession.

35 “‘If your brother has become poor and he can’t support himself, then you must susstain him. He will live with you like an alien and a temporary resident. 36 Take no interest from him or profit; but fear your God, that your brother may live among you. 37 You must not lend him your money at interest, nor give him your food for profit. 38 I am ADONAI your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your God.

[TO LY READING SCHEDULE]   [TO RY READING SCHEDULE]
 

(RY: iv, LY: vi) 39 “‘If your brother has grown poor among you, and sells himself to you, you must not make him to serve as a slave. 40 He must treated be like a hired servant, and like a temporary resident with you; he must serve with you until the Year of Jubilee. 41 Then he may leave you, he and his children with him, and will return to his own family, and to the possession of his fathers. 42 For they are My servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt. They may not be sold as slaves. 43 You must not rule over him with harshness, but must fear your God.

44 “‘As for your male and your female slaves whom you may have from the nations that are around you, from them you may buy male and female slaves.[44] 45 Moreover, of the children of the aliens who live among you, of them you may buy, and of their families who are with you, which they have conceived in your land; and they will be your property. 46 You may make them an inheritance for your children after you, to hold for a possession. Of them you may take your slaves forever, but over your brothers the children of Isra'el you must not rule, one over another, with harshness.

[TO LY READING SCHEDULE]
 

(LY: vii) 47 “‘If an alien or temporary resident with you becomes rich, and your brother beside him has grown poor, and sells himself to the stranger or foreigner living among you, or to a member of the stranger’s family, 48 after he is sold he may be redeemed. One of his brothers may redeem him; 49 or his uncle, or his uncle’s son, may redeem him, or any who is a close relative to him of his family may redeem him; or if he has grown rich,[49] he may redeem himself. 50 He shall reckon with him who bought him from the year that he sold himself to him to the Year of Jubilee. The price of his sale shall be adjusted according to the number of years; he shall be with him according to the time of a hired servant. 51 If there are yet many years, according to them he is to give back the price of his redemption out of the money that he was bought for. 52 If there remain but a few years to the Year of Jubilee, then he shall reckon with him; according to his years of service he is to give back the price of his redemption. 53 He is to be with him like a servant hired year by year. He must not rule with harshness over him in your sight. 54 If he isn’t redeemed by these means, then he and his children must be released in the Year of Jubilee.

[TO LY READING SCHEDULE]
 

(LY: Maftir) 55 For to me the children of Isra'el are servants; they are My servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt. I am ADONAI your God.’”