The Third Book of Moses: Leviticus

⭑ Douay-Rheims :: World English Bible Catholic ⭑

- Chapter 25 -

(Exodus 23:10–13; Deuteronomy 15:1–6)

And the Lord spoke to Moses in mount Sinai, saying:

Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them: When you shall have entered into the land which I will give you, observe the rest of the sabbath to the Lord.

Six years thou shalt sow thy field and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and shalt gather the fruits thereof:

But in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath to the land, of the resting of the Lord: thou shalt not sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.

What the ground shall bring forth of itself, thou shalt not reap: neither shalt thou gather the grapes of the firstfruits as a vintage: for it is a year of rest to the land:

But they shall be unto you for meat, to thee and to thy manservant, to thy maidservant and thy hireling, and to the strangers that sojourn with thee:

All things that grow shall be meat to thy beasts and to thy cattle.

The Year of Jubilee

Thou shalt also number to thee seven weeks of years, that is to say, seven times seven, which together make forty-nine years:

And thou shalt sound the trumpet in the seventh month, the tenth day of the month, in the time of the expiation in all your land.

And thou shalt sanctify the fiftieth year, and shalt proclaim remission to all the inhabitants of thy land: for it is the year of jubilee. Every man shall return to his possession, and every one shall go back to his former family:

Because it is the jubilee and the fiftieth year. You shall not sow, nor reap the things that grow in the field of their own accord, neither shall you gather the firstfruits of the vines,

Because of the sanctification of the jubilee: but as they grow you shall presently eat them.

Return of Property

In the year of the jubilee all shall return to their possessions.

When thou shalt sell any thing to thy neighbour, or shalt buy of him; grieve not thy brother: but thou shalt buy of him according to the number of years from the jubilee.

And he shall sell to thee according to the computation of the fruits.

The more years remain after the jubilee, the more shall the price increase: and the less time is counted, so much the less shall the purchase cost. For he shall sell to thee the time of the fruits.

Do not afflict your countrymen, but let every one fear his God: because I am the Lord your God.

The Blessing of Obedience

(Deuteronomy 28:1–14)

Do my precepts, and keep my judgments, and fulfill them: that you may dwell in the land without any fear,

And the ground may yield you its fruits, of which you may eat your fill, fearing no mall’s invasion.

But if you say: What shall we eat the seventh year, if we sow not, nor gather our fruits?

I will give you my blessing the sixth year, and it shall yield the fruits of three years:

And the eighth year you shall sow, and shall eat of the old fruits, until the ninth year: till new grow up, you shall eat the old store.

The Law of Redemption

The land also shall not be sold for ever: because it is mine, and you are strangers and sojourners with me.

For which cause all the country of your possession shall be under the condition of redemption.

If thy brother being impoverished sell his little possession, and his kinsman will, he may redeem what he had sold.

But if he have no kinsman, and he himself can find the price to redeem it:

The value of the fruits shall be counted from that time when he sold it: and the overplus he shall restore to the buyer, and so shall receive his possession again.

But if his hands find not the means to repay the price, the buyer shall have what he bought, until the year of the jubilee. For in that year all that is sold shall return to the owner, and to the ancient possessor.

He that selleth a house within the walls of a city, shall have the liberty to redeem it, until one year be expired:

If he redeem it not, and the whole year be fully out, the buyer shall possess it, and his posterity for ever, and it cannot be redeemed, not even in the jubilee.

But if the house be in a village, that hath no walls, it shall be sold according to the same law as the fields: if it be not redeemed before, in the jubilee it shall return to the owner.

The houses of Levites, which are in cities, may always be redeemed:

If they be not redeemed, in the jubilee they shall all return to the owners, because the houses of the cities of the Levites are for their possessions among the children of Israel.

But let not their suburbs be sold, because it is a perpetual possession.

Redemption of the Poor

If thy brother be impoverished, and weak of hand, and thou receive him as a stranger and sojourner, and he live with thee,

Take not usury of him nor more than thou gavest: fear thy God, that thy brother may live with thee.

Thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury, nor exact of him any increase of fruits.

I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that I might give you the land of Chanaan, and might be your God.

Redemption of Bondmen

If thy brother constrained by poverty, sell himself to thee, thou shalt not oppress him with the service of bondservants:

But he shall be as a hireling, and a sojourner: he shall work with thee until the year of the jubilee,

And afterwards he shall go out with his children, and shall return to his kindred and to the possession of his fathers,

For they are my servants, and I brought them out of the land of Egypt: let them not be sold as bondmen:

Afflict him not by might, but fear thy God.

Let your bondmen, and your bondwomen, be of the nations that are round about you.

And of the strangers that sojourn among you, or that were born of them in your land, these you shall have for servants:

And by right of inheritance shall leave them to your posterity, and shall possess them for ever. But oppress not your brethren the children of Israel by might.

Redemption of Servants

If the hand of a stranger or a sojourner grow strong among you, and thy brother being impoverished sell himself to him, or to any of his race:

After the sale he may be redeemed. He that will of his brethren shall redeem him:

Either his uncle, or his uncle’s son, or his kinsman, by blood, or by affinity. But if he himself be able also, he shall redeem himself,

Counting only the years from the time of his selling unto the year of the jubilee: and counting the money that he was sold for, according to the number of the years and the reckoning of a hired servant,

If there be many years that remain until the jubilee, according to them shall he also repay the price.

If few, he shall make the reckoning with him according to the number of the years, and shall repay to the buyer of what remaineth of the years,

His wages being allowed for which he served before: he shall not afflict him violently in thy sight.

And if by these means he cannot be redeemed, in the year of the jubilee he shall go out with his children.

For the children of Israel are my servants, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt.

(Exodus 23:10–13; Deuteronomy 15:1–6)

The LORD said to Moses on Mount Sinai,

“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 the LORD.

You shall sow your field six years, and you shall prune your vineyard six years, and gather in its fruits;

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.

What grows of itself in your harvest you shall not reap, and you shall not gather the grapes of your undressed vine. It shall be a year of solemn rest for the land.

The Sabbath of the land shall 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.

For your livestock also, and for the animals that are in your land, shall all its increase be for food.

The Year of Jubilee

“‘You shall count off seven Sabbaths of years, seven times seven years; and there shall be to you the days of seven Sabbaths of years, even forty-nine years.

Then you shall sound the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month. On the Day of Atonement you shall sound the trumpet throughout all your land.

You shall make the fiftieth year holy, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee to you; and each of you shall return to his own property, and each of you shall return to his family.

That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee to you. In it you shall not sow, neither reap that which grows of itself, nor gather from the undressed vines.

For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you. You shall eat of its increase out of the field.

Return of Property

“‘In this Year of Jubilee each of you shall return to his property.

“‘If you sell anything to your neighbor, or buy from your neighbor, you shall not wrong one another.

According to the number of years after the Jubilee you shall buy from your neighbor. According to the number of years of the crops he shall sell to you.

According to the length of the years you shall increase its price, and according to the shortness of the years you shall diminish its price; for he is selling the number of the crops to you.

You shall not wrong one another, but you shall fear your God; for I am the LORD your God.

The Blessing of Obedience

(Deuteronomy 28:1–14)

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

The land shall yield its fruit, and you shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety.

If you said, “What shall we eat the seventh year? Behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase;”

then I will command my blessing on you in the sixth year, and it shall bear fruit for the three years.

You shall sow the eighth year, and eat of the fruits from the old store until the ninth year. Until its fruits come in, you shall eat the old store.

The Law of Redemption

“‘The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine; for you are strangers and live as foreigners with me.

In all the land of your possession you shall grant a redemption for the land.

“‘If your brother becomes poor, and sells some of his possessions, then his kinsman who is next to him shall come, and redeem that which his brother has sold.

If a man has no one to redeem it, and he becomes prosperous and finds sufficient means to redeem it,

then let him reckon the years since its sale, and restore the surplus to the man to whom he sold it; and he shall return to his property.

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 shall be released, and he shall return to his property.

“‘If a man sells a dwelling house in 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.

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.

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 shall be released in the Jubilee.

“‘Nevertheless, in the cities of the Levites, the Levites may redeem the houses in the cities of their possession at any time.

The Levites may redeem the house that was sold, and the city of his possession, and it shall be released in the Jubilee; for the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Israel.

But the field of the pasture lands of their cities may not be sold, for it is their perpetual possession.

Redemption of the Poor

“‘If your brother has become poor, and his hand can’t support himself among you, then you shall uphold him. He shall live with you like an alien and a temporary resident.

Take no interest from him or profit; but fear your God, that your brother may live among you.

You shall not lend him your money at interest, nor give him your food for profit.

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.

Redemption of Bondmen

“‘If your brother has grown poor among you, and sells himself to you, you shall not make him to serve as a slave.

As a hired servant, and as a temporary resident, he shall be with you; he shall serve with you until the Year of Jubilee.

Then he shall go out from you, he and his children with him, and shall return to his own family, and to the possession of his fathers.

For they are my servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt. They shall not be sold as slaves.

You shall not rule over him with harshness, but shall fear your God.

“‘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.

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.

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 Israel you shall not rule, one over another, with harshness.

Redemption of Servants

“‘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,

after he is sold he may be redeemed. One of his brothers may redeem him;

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, he may redeem himself.

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 according to the number of years; he shall be with him according to the time of a hired servant.

If there are yet many years, according to them he shall give back the price of his redemption out of the money that he was bought for.

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 shall give back the price of his redemption.

As a servant hired year by year shall he be with him. He shall not rule with harshness over him in your sight.

If he isn’t redeemed by these means, then he shall be released in the Year of Jubilee: he and his children with him.

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.