(KJV) Leviticus 251

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⥃The Seventh Year [ Exodus 23:10–13 † Deuteronomy 15:1–6 ]

[1] And the Lord spake unto Moses in mount Sinai, saying,2 [2] Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye3 come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep4 a sabbath5 unto the Lord. [3] Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof; [4] But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the Lord: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.6 [5] That which groweth7 of its own accord of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed8: [for] it is a year of rest unto the land. [6] And the sabbath of the land shall be meat for you; for thee, and for thy servant, and for thy maid, and for thy hired servant, and for thy stranger that sojourneth with thee,9 [7] And for thy cattle, and for the beast that [are] in thy land, shall all the increase thereof be meat.

⥃The Year of Jubilee

[8] And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years.10 [9] Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubilee11 to sound12 on the tenth [day] of the seventh month, in the day13 of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land. [10] And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim14 liberty throughout [all] the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man15 unto his possession, and ye shall return16 every man unto his family. [11] A jubilee17 shall that fiftieth year be unto you: ye shall18 not sow, neither reap that which groweth of itself in it, nor gather [the grapes] in it of thy vine undressed. [12] For it [is] the jubilee; it shall be holy unto you: ye shall eat the increase thereof out of the field.19

⥃Return of Property

[13] In the year of this jubilee ye shall return every man unto his possession.20 [14] And if thou sell ought unto thy neighbour, or buyest [ought] of thy neighbour’s hand, ye shall not oppress one another:21 [15] According to the number of years after the jubilee thou shalt buy of thy neighbour, [and] according unto the number of years of the fruits he shall sell unto thee:22 [16] According to the multitude of years thou shalt increase the price thereof, and according to the fewness of years thou shalt diminish the price of it: for [according] to the number [of the years] of the fruits doth he sell unto thee. [17] Ye shall not23 therefore oppress one another; but thou shalt fear24 thy God: for I [am] the Lord your God.

⥃The Blessing of Obedience [ Deuteronomy 28:1–14 ]

[18] [¶]Wherefore25 ye shall do my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them; and ye26 shall dwell in the land in safety. [19] And the land shall yield her fruit, and ye shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety.27 [20] And if ye shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase:28 [21] Then I will29 command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years30. [22] And ye shall sow the eighth31 year, and eat [yet] of old fruit32 until the ninth year; until her fruits come in ye shall eat [of] the old [store].

⥃The Law of Redemption

[23] The land33 shall not be sold for ever34: for the land [is] mine; for ye [are35] strangers and sojourners with me. [24] And in all the land of your possession ye shall grant a redemption36 for the land.

[25] [¶]If thy brother be waxen poor, and hath sold away [some] of his possession, and if any of his kin come to redeem it, then shall he redeem that which his brother sold.37 [26] And if the man have none to redeem it, and himself be able to redeem it38; [27] Then let him count the years of the sale thereof, and restore the overplus unto the man to whom he sold it; that he may return unto his possession.39 [28] But if he be not able to restore [it] to him, then that which is sold shall remain in the hand of him that hath bought it until the year of jubilee: and in the40 jubilee it shall go out, and he shall41 return unto his possession. [29] And if a man sell a dwelling house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it is sold; [within] a full year may he redeem it.42 [30] And if it be not redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house that [is] in the walled city shall be established for ever to him that bought it throughout his generations: it shall not go out in the jubilee. [31] But the houses of the villages which have no wall round about them shall be counted as the fields of the country: they may be redeemed43, and they shall go out in the jubilee. [32] Notwithstanding the cities44 of the Levites, [and] the houses of the cities of their possession, may the Levites redeem at any time. [33] And if a man purchase of the Levites45, then the house that was sold, and the city of his possession, shall go46 out in [the year of] jubilee: for the houses47 of 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.48

⥃Redemption of the Poor

[35] [¶]And if thy brother49 be waxen poor, and fallen in decay50 with thee; then51 thou shalt relieve52 him: [yea], [though he be] a stranger53, or a sojourner; that he may live with thee. [36] Take thou no usury54 of him, or increase: but fear55 thy God; that thy brother may live with thee. [37] Thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury, nor lend him thy victuals for increase. [38] I [am] the Lord your God, which56 brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, [and] to be57 your God.

⥃Redemption of Bondmen

[39] And if thy brother [that dwelleth] by thee be waxen poor, and be sold58 unto thee; thou shalt not compel him to serve as59 a bondservant: [40] [But] as an hired servant, [and] as a sojourner, he shall be with thee, [and] shall serve thee unto the year of jubilee:60 [41] And [then] shall61 he depart from thee, [both] he and his children with him, and shall return62 unto his own family, and unto the possession of his fathers shall he return. [42] For they [are] my servants63, which I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: they shall not be sold as bondmen64. [43] Thou shalt not rule65 over him with rigour; but shalt66 fear thy God. [44] Both thy bondmen, and thy bondmaids, which thou shalt have, [shall be] of the heathen that are round about you; of them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids.67 [45] Moreover of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy, and of their families that [are] with you, which they begat in your land: and they shall be your possession.68 [46] And ye shall69 take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit [them for] a possession; they shall be your bondmen for ever70: but over your brethren the children of Israel, ye shall not rule71 one over another with rigour.

⥃Redemption of Servants

[47] [¶]And if a sojourner or stranger wax rich72 by thee, and thy brother [that dwelleth] by him wax poor, and sell himself unto the stranger [or] sojourner by thee, or to the stock of the stranger’s family: [48] After that he is sold he may be redeemed again; one of his brethren may redeem him:73 [49] Either his uncle, or his uncle’s son, may redeem him, or [any] that is nigh of kin unto him of his family may redeem him; or if he be74 able, he may redeem himself. [50] And he shall reckon75 with him that bought him from the year that he was sold to him unto the year of jubilee: and the price of his sale76 shall be according unto the number of years, according to the time77 of an hired servant shall it be with him. [51] If [there be] yet many years [behind], according unto them he shall give again the price of his redemption out of the money that he was bought for. [52] And if there remain but few years unto the year of jubilee78, then he shall count with him, [and] according unto his years shall he give him again the price of his redemption. [53] [And] as a yearly hired servant shall he be with him: [and the other] shall not rule with rigour over him in thy sight.79 [54] And if he be not redeemed in these [years80], then81 he shall go out in the year of jubilee, [both] he, and his children with him. [55] For unto me the children of Israel [are] servants; they [are] my servants82 whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: I [am] the Lord your God.

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  1. Lev 25:1, The sabbath of the seventh year; Lev 25:8, The jubilee in the fiftieth year; Lev 25:14, Of oppression; Lev 25:18, A blessing of obedience; Lev 25:23, The redemption of land; Lev 25:29, Of houses; Lev 25:35, Compassion to the poor; Lev 25:39, The usage of bondmen; Lev 25:47, The redemption of servants. ↩

  2. Exod 19:1; Num 1:1, Num 10:11-12; Gal 4:24-25 ↩

  3. Lev 14:34; Deut 32:8, Deut 32:49, Deut 34:4; Ps 24:1-2, Ps 115:16; Isa 8:8; Jer 27:5 ↩

  4. Heb. rest, Lev 23:32 *marg. ↩

  5. Lev 26:34-35; Exod 23:10; 2Chr 36:21 ↩

  6. Lev 25:20-23, Lev 26:34-35, Lev 26:43; Exod 23:10-11; 2Chr 36:21 ↩

  7. 2Kgs 19:29; Isa 37:30 ↩

  8. Heb. the separation ↩

  9. Exod 23:11; Acts 2:44, Acts 4:32, Acts 4:34-35 ↩

  10. Lev 23:15; Gen 2:2 ↩

  11. Lev 25:10-12, Lev 27:17, Lev 27:24; Num 36:4 ↩

  12. Heb. loud of sound, Num 10:10; Ps 89:15; Acts 13:38-39; Rom 10:18, Rom 15:19; 2Cor 5:19-21; 1Thess 1:8 ↩

  13. Lev 16:20, Lev 16:30, Lev 23:24, Lev 23:27 ↩

  14. Exod 20:2; Ezra 1:3; Ps 146:7; Isa 49:9, Isa 49:24-25, Isa 61:1-3, Isa 63:4; Jer 34:8, Jer 34:13-17; Zech 9:11-12; Luke 1:74, Luke 4:16-21; John 8:32-36; Rom 6:17-18; 2Cor 3:17; Gal 4:25-31, Gal 5:1, Gal 5:13; 1Pet 2:16; 2Pet 2:19-20 ↩

  15. Lev 25:13, Lev 25:26-28, Lev 25:33-34, Lev 27:17-24 ↩

  16. Num 36:2-9 ↩

  17. Respecting the literal meaning of the word ιεαμ, yobel, or yovel, critics are not agreed. The most natural derivation of the word seems to be from δεαιμ, hovil, the Hiphil form of ιαμ, yaval, to recall, restore, or bring back, because this year restored all slaves to their liberty, and brought back all alienated estates to their primitive owners. Accordingly the LXX render it here αφεσις, a "remission"; and Josephus says it signifies ελευθεριαν, liberty. Lev 27:17 ↩

  18. Lev 25:5-7 ↩

  19. Lev 25:6-7 ↩

  20. Lev 25:10, Lev 27:17-24; Num 36:4 ↩

  21. Lev 25:17, Lev 19:13; Deut 16:19-20; Judg 4:3; 1Sam 12:3-4; 2Chr 16:10; Neh 9:36-37; Job 20:19-20; Ps 10:18; Prov 14:31, Prov 21:13, Prov 22:16, Prov 28:3, Prov 28:8, Prov 28:16; Eccl 5:8; Isa 1:17, Isa 3:12-15, Isa 5:7, Isa 33:15, Isa 58:6; Jer 22:17; Ezek 22:7, Ezek 22:12-13; Amos 5:11-12, Amos 8:4-7; Mic 2:2-3, Mic 6:10-12, Mic 7:3; Luke 3:14; 1Cor 6:8; Jas 5:1-5 ↩

  22. Lev 27:18-23; Phil 4:5 ↩

  23. Lev 25:14 ↩

  24. Lev 25:43, Lev 19:14, Lev 19:32; Gen 20:11, Gen 22:12, Gen 39:9, Gen 42:18; Exod 20:20; Deut 25:18; 1Sam 12:24; 2Chr 19:7; Neh 5:9, Neh 5:15; Ps 19:9; Prov 1:7; Jer 22:16; Mal 3:5; Luke 12:5; Acts 9:31, Acts 10:2, Acts 10:35; Rom 3:18, Rom 11:20 ↩

  25. Lev 19:37; Ps 103:18 ↩

  26. Lev 26:3-12; Deut 12:10, Deut 28:1-14, Deut 33:12, Deut 33:28; Ps 4:8; Prov 1:33; Jer 7:3-7; Jer 23:6, Jer 25:5, Jer 33:16; Ezek 33:24-26, Ezek 33:29, Ezek 34:25-28, Ezek 36:24-28 ↩

  27. Lev 26:5; Ps 67:6, Ps 85:12; Isa 30:23, Isa 65:21-22; Ezek 34:25-28, Ezek 36:30; Joel 2:24, Joel 2:26 ↩

  28. Num 11:4, Num 11:13; 2Kgs 6:15-17, 2Kgs 7:2; 2Chr 25:9; Ps 78:19-20; Isa 1:2; Matt 6:25-34, Matt 8:26; Luke 12:29; Phil 4:6; Heb 13:5-6 ↩

  29. As it is here graciously promised, that the sixth year was to bring forth fruits for three years, not merely for two, it is evident that both the sabbatical year and the year of jubilee were distinctly provided for. They were not to sow from the sixth to the eighth year, omitting two seed times; nor reap from the sixth to the ninth, omitting two harvests. No legislator, unless conscious of being divinely commissioned, would have committed himself by enacting such a law as this; nor would any people have submitted to receive it, except in consequence of the fullest conviction that a divine authority had dictated it. It therefore stands as a proof that Moses acted by the express direction of the Almighty, and that the people were fully persuaded of the reality of his divine mission by the miracles he wrought. Gen 26:12, Gen 41:47; Exod 16:29; Deut 28:3, Deut 28:8; Ps 133:3; Prov 10:22; 2Cor 9:10 ↩

  30. Lev 25:4, Lev 25:8-11 ↩

  31. 2Kgs 19:29; Isa 37:30 ↩

  32. Josh 5:11-12 ↩

  33. Lev 25:10; 1Kgs 21:3; Ezek 48:14 ↩

  34. or, to be quite cut off, Heb. for cutting off, for the land. Deut 32:43; 2Chr 7:20; Ps 24:1, Ps 85:1; Isa 8:8; Hos 9:3; Joel 2:18, Joel 3:2 ↩

  35. Gen 47:9; 1Chr 29:15; Ps 39:12, Ps 119:19; Heb 11:9-13; 1Pet 2:11 ↩

  36. Lev 25:27, Lev 25:31, Lev 25:51-53; Rom 8:23; 1Cor 1:30; Eph 1:7, Eph 1:14, Eph 4:30 ↩

  37. Ruth 2:20, Ruth 3:2, Ruth 3:9, Ruth 3:12, Ruth 4:4-6; Jer 32:7-8; 2Cor 8:9; Heb 2:13-14; Rev 5:9 ↩

  38. Heb. his hand hath attained, and found sufficiency, Lev 5:7 *marg. ↩

  39. Lev 25:50-53 ↩

  40. Lev 25:13 ↩

  41. Isa 35:9-10; Jer 32:15; 1Cor 15:52-54; 1Thess 4:13-18; 1Pet 1:4-5 ↩

  42. A very proper difference is here made between houses in a city and houses in the country. The former might be redeemed any time in the course of a year; but after that time could not be redeemed, or go out with the Jubilee. The latter might be redeemed at any time; and if not redeemed must go out with the jubilee. The reason in both cases is sufficiently evident; the house in the city might be built merely for the purposes of trade or traffic - the house in the country was builded on, or attached to, the inheritance which God had divided to the respective families. It was therefore necessary that the same law should apply to the house as to the inheritance; which necessity did not exist with regard to the house in the city. And, as the house in the city might be purchased for the purpose of trade, it would be very inconvenient for the purchaser, when his business was established, to be obliged to remove. ↩

  43. Heb. redemption belongeth unto it, Ps 49:7-8 ↩

  44. As the Levites had no inheritance in Israel, but only cities to dwell in; and consequently the houses in these cities were all they could call their own, therefore they could not be ultimately alienated. Num 35:2-8; Josh 21:1-45 ↩

  45. or, one of the Levites redeem them ↩

  46. Lev 25:28 ↩

  47. Num 18:20-24; Deut 18:1-2 ↩

  48. Lev 25:23; Acts 4:36-37 ↩

  49. Lev 25:25; Deut 15:7-8; Prov 14:20-21, Prov 17:5, Prov 19:17; Mark 14:7; John 12:8; 2Cor 8:9; Jas 2:5-6 ↩

  50. Heb. his hand faileth ↩

  51. Ps 37:26, Ps 41:1, Ps 112:5, Ps 112:9; Prov 14:31; Luke 6:35; Acts 11:29; Rom 12:13, Rom 12:18, Rom 12:20; 2Cor 9:1, 2Cor 9:12-15; Gal 2:10; 1John 3:17 ↩

  52. Heb. strengthen ↩

  53. Lev 19:34; Exod 23:9; Deut 10:18-19; Matt 25:35; Heb 13:2 ↩

  54. Exod 22:25; Deut 23:19-20; Neh 5:7-10; Ps 15:5; Prov 28:8; Ezek 18:8, Ezek 18:13, Ezek 18:17; Ezek 22:12 ↩

  55. Lev 25:17; Neh 5:9, Neh 5:15 ↩

  56. Exod 20:2 ↩

  57. Lev 11:45, Lev 22:32-33; Num 15:41; Jer 31:1, Jer 31:33, Jer 32:38; Heb 11:16 ↩

  58. Exod 21:2, Exod 22:3; Deut 15:12; 1Kgs 9:22; 2Kgs 4:1; Neh 5:5; Jer 34:14 ↩

  59. Heb. serve thyself with him with the service of, etc. Lev 25:46 *marg. Exod 1:14; Jer 25:14, Jer 27:7, Jer 30:8 ↩

  60. Exod 21:2-3 ↩

  61. Exod 21:3; John 8:32; Rom 6:14; Titus 2:14 ↩

  62. Lev 25:10, Lev 25:28 ↩

  63. Lev 25:55; Rom 6:22; 1Cor 7:21-23 ↩

  64. Heb. with the sale of a bondman ↩

  65. Lev 25:46, Lev 25:53; Exod 1:13-14, Exod 2:23, Exod 3:7, Exod 3:9, Exod 5:14; Isa 47:6, Isa 58:3; Eph 6:9; Col 4:1 ↩

  66. Lev 25:17; Exod 1:17, Exod 1:21; Deut 25:18; Mal 3:5 ↩

  67. Exod 12:44; Ps 2:8-9; Isa 14:1-2; Rev 2:26-27 ↩

  68. Isa 56:3-6 ↩

  69. Isa 14:2 ↩

  70. Heb. ye shall serve yourselves with them, Lev 25:39 ↩

  71. Lev 25:43 ↩

  72. Heb. the hand of a stranger, etc. obtain, etc. Lev 25:26; 1Sam 2:7-8; Jas 2:5 ↩

  73. Lev 25:25, Lev 25:35; Neh 5:5, Neh 5:8; Gal 4:4-5; Heb 2:11-13 ↩

  74. Lev 25:26 ↩

  75. Lev 25:27 ↩

  76. This was a very equitable law, both to the sojourner to whom the man was sold, and to the Israelite who had been sold. The Israelite might redeem himself, or one of his kindred might redeem him; but this must not be done to the prejudice of his master. They were therefore to reckon the years he must have served, from that time till the jubilee; and then taking the current wages of a servant, per year, at that time, multiply the remaining years by that sum, and the aggregate was to be given to his master for his redemption. The Jews hold that the kindred of such a person were bound, if in their power, to redeem him, lest he should be swallowed up among the heathen; and we find (Neh 5:8) that this was done by the Jews on their return from the Babylonish captivity. ↩

  77. Lev 25:40, Lev 25:53; Deut 15:18; Job 7:1-2, Job 14:6; Isa 16:14, Isa 21:16 ↩

  78. The jubilee was a wonderful institution, and of great service to the religion, freedom, and independence of the Hebrews. It was calculated to prevent the rich from oppressing the poor, and reducing them to perpetual slavery; and to hinder their obtaining possession of all the lands by purchase, mortgage, or usurpation. It was further intended, that debts should not be multiplied too much, lest the poor should be entirely ruined; that slaves should not always continue in servitude; that personal liberty, equality of property, and the regular order of families might, as much as possible, be preserved; and that the people might thus be strongly attached to their country, lands, and inheritances. ↩

  79. Lev 25:43 ↩

  80. or, by these means ↩

  81. Lev 25:40-41; Exod 21:2-3; Isa 49:9, Isa 49:25, Isa 52:3 ↩

  82. Lev 25:42; Exod 13:3, Exod 20:2; Ps 116:16; Isa 43:3; Luke 1:74-75; Rom 6:14, Rom 6:17-18; Rom 6:22; 1Cor 7:22-23, 1Cor 9:19, 1Cor 9:21; Gal 5:13 ↩