Leviticus [25]

Leviticus 25

The Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, instructing him to convey the following laws to the Israelites:

The Sabbath Year

- The land itself must observe a Sabbath to the Lord.

- For six years, the Israelites could sow their fields, prune their vineyards, and gather crops.

- In the seventh year, the land was to have a year of Sabbath rest, a Sabbath to the Lord.

- No sowing, pruning, or reaping was allowed.

- The land's yield during the Sabbath year was to be food for the Israelites, their servants, hired workers, and temporary residents, as well as for their livestock and wild animals.

The Year of Jubilee

- Every seven times seven years (49 years), a Jubilee year was to be observed.

- On the tenth day of the seventh month, the Day of Atonement, a trumpet was to be sounded throughout the land.

- The fiftieth year was to be consecrated and proclaimed a year of liberty for all inhabitants.

- Each person was to return to their family property and clan.

- No sowing or reaping was allowed during the Jubilee year.

- Everyone was to return to their own property.

Redemption of Property

- If an Israelite sold land to another Israelite, the price was to be based on the number of years remaining until the Jubilee.

- The land could not be sold permanently, as it belonged to the Lord.

- If an Israelite became poor and sold some of their property, their nearest relative had the right to redeem it.

- If the Israelite later prospered, they could redeem their property by paying the original price plus interest.

- If they could not afford to redeem it, the property would remain in the buyer's possession until the Jubilee year, when it would be returned to the original owner.

- Houses in walled cities could be redeemed within a year of their sale.

- Houses in villages without walls could be redeemed and returned in the Jubilee year.

- Levites could redeem their houses in Levitical towns at any time.

- Pastureland belonging to Levitical towns could not be sold.

Kindness for Poor Brothers

- If an Israelite became poor and could not support themselves, their fellow Israelites were to help them as they would a foreigner or stranger.

- No interest or profit was to be taken from them.

- Israelites were not to lend money to their poor brothers at interest or sell them food at a profit.

Servitude and Redemption

- If an Israelite became poor and sold themselves into servitude, they were not to be treated as slaves but as hired workers or temporary residents.

- They were to work for their buyer until the Jubilee year, when they would be released.

- Israelites could not be sold into slavery.

- Slaves could be bought from the nations around Israel, but Israelites could not be enslaved by their fellow Israelites.

- If a foreigner residing in Israel became rich and an Israelite became poor and sold themselves to the foreigner, the Israelite retained the right of redemption.

- A relative could redeem them, or they could redeem themselves if they prospered.

- The price of redemption was to be based on the number of years remaining until the Jubilee.

- Slaves were to be treated as workers hired from year to year, and their owners were not to rule over them ruthlessly.

- In the Jubilee year, all Israelites who had been sold into servitude were to be released, along with their children.

- The Israelites were servants of the Lord, and they were not to be sold as slaves.