Leviticus, Chapter 25

Leviticus Chapter 25

Verses 1-55: The Sabbatical Year and the Year of Jubilee

1. The LORD spoke to Moses on Mount 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 keep a Sabbath to the LORD.
3. For six years you shall sow your field, and for six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its fruit,
4. but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the LORD. You shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard.
5. You shall not reap what grows of itself in your harvest, or gather the grapes of your untended vine. It shall be a year of complete rest for the land.
6. But the Sabbath produce of the land shall be food for you; for you, for your male and female servants, for your hired worker, and for the stranger who dwells with you,
7. for your livestock, and for the animals that are in your land—all its produce shall be for food.
8. “And you shall count seven Sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years; and the time of the seven Sabbaths of years shall be to you forty-nine years.
9. Then you shall cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement you shall make the trumpet sound throughout all your land.
10. And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you; and each of you shall return to his possession, and each of you shall return to his family.
11. That fiftieth year shall be a Jubilee to you; in it you shall neither sow nor reap what grows of itself, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine.
12. For it is the Jubilee; it shall be holy to you; you shall eat its produce from the field.
13. “In this Year of Jubilee, each of you shall return to his possession.
14. And if you sell anything to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor’s hand, you shall not oppress one another.
15. According to the number of years after the Jubilee you shall buy from your neighbor, and according to the number of years of the crops he shall sell to you.
16. According to the multitude of years you shall increase its price, and according to the fewer number of years you shall diminish its price; for he sells to you according to the number of the years of the crops.
17. Therefore you shall not oppress one another, but you shall fear your God; for I am the LORD your God.
18. “So you shall observe My statutes and keep My judgments, and perform them; and you will dwell in the land in safety.
19. Then the land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill, and dwell there in safety.
20. And if you say, ‘What shall we eat in the seventh year, since we shall not sow nor gather in our produce?’
21. Then I will command My blessing on you in the sixth year, and it will bring forth produce enough for three years.
22. And you shall sow in the eighth year, and eat of the old produce until the ninth year; until its produce comes in, you shall eat of the old harvest.
23. “The land shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are strangers and sojourners with Me.
24. And in all the land of your possession you shall grant redemption of the land.
25. “If your brother becomes poor, and has sold some of his possession, and if his redeeming relative comes to redeem it, then he may redeem what his brother sold.
26. Or if the man has no one to redeem it, but he himself becomes able to redeem it,
27. then let him count the years since its sale, and restore the remainder to the man to whom he sold it, that he may return to his possession.
28. But if he is not able to have it restored to himself, then what was sold shall remain in the hand of him who bought it until the Year of Jubilee; and in the Jubilee it shall be released, and he shall return to his possession.
29. “If a man sells a dwelling house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it is sold; within a full year he may redeem it.
30. But if it is not redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house in the walled city shall be established forever to him who bought it, throughout his generations. It shall not be released in the Jubilee.
31. However, the houses of villages which have no wall around them shall be counted as the fields of the country. They may be redeemed, and they shall be released in the Jubilee.
32. As for the cities of the Levites, the Levites may redeem at any time the houses in the cities of their possession.
33. And if a man purchases from the Levites, then the house that was sold in the city of his possession shall be released in the Jubilee; for the houses in the cities of the Levites 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 perpetual possession.
35. “Now if your brother becomes poor, and falls into poverty among you, then you shall help him, like a stranger or a sojourner, that he may live with you.
36. Take no usury or interest from him; but fear your God, that your brother may live with you.
37. You shall not lend him your money for usury, nor lend him your food at a profit.
38. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God.
39. “If your brother who dwells by you becomes poor, and sells himself to you, you shall not compel him to serve as a bond servant.
40. As a hired servant and a sojourner he shall be with you, and shall serve you until the Year of Jubilee.
41. And then he shall depart from you—he and his children with him—and shall return to his own family. He shall return to the possession of his fathers.
42. For they are My servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as slaves.
43. You shall not rule over him with rigor, but you shall fear your God.
44. As for your male and female slaves whom you may have—from the nations that are around you, from them you may buy male and female slaves.
45. Moreover, from the children of the strangers who sojourn among you, from them you may buy, and from their families who are with you, which they begat in your land: and they shall be your property.
46. You may take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them as a possession; they shall be your permanent slaves. But regarding your brethren, the children of Israel, you shall not rule over one another with rigor.
47. “If a stranger or sojourner with you becomes rich, and your brother beside him becomes poor and sells himself to the stranger or sojourner with you, or to a member of the stranger’s family,
48. after he is sold he may be redeemed again. One of his brothers may redeem him,
49. or his uncle or his uncle’s son may redeem him, or anyone who is near of kin to him in his family may redeem him; or if he is able, he may redeem himself.
50. He shall calculate with his buyer from the year that he sold himself to him until the Year of Jubilee; and the price of his sale shall be according to the number of years, based on the time of a hired servant it shall be with him.
51. If there are still many years remaining, according to them he shall repay the proportion of his purchase price for his redemption,
52. and if there remain but few years until the Year of Jubilee, then he shall calculate with him, and according to his years he shall repay him the proportion of his purchase price.
53. He shall be with him as a yearly hired servant, and the other shall not rule with rigor over him in your sight.
54. And if he is not redeemed in these years, then he shall be released in the Year of Jubilee, he and his children with him.
55. For to Me the children of Israel are servants, they are My servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.

Interpretation: Leviticus 25 introduces the concepts of the Sabbatical Year and the Year of Jubilee, establishing a rhythm of work and rest for both the land and the people of Israel, as well as a mechanism for economic justice and the reduction of poverty. The Sabbatical Year, occurring every seventh year, requires the land to be left fallow, emphasizing trust in God’s provision. The Jubilee Year, celebrated every fiftieth year, further extends this principle by commanding the return of all land to its original owners and the release of all Israelite slaves. These laws aim to prevent the perpetual accumulation of wealth and land in the hands of a few, ensuring that the economic disparities among the people do not become insurmountable. The Jubilee Year also serves as a powerful symbol of freedom and redemption, reminding the Israelites of their own deliverance from slavery in Egypt and underscoring the concept that true ownership belongs to God. Through these instructions, God seeks to foster a community characterized by equality, compassion, and the recognition of every individual’s dignity and rights.