Leviticus 25:11-53

¹¹for it is the jubilee, and the fiftieth year. Ye shall not sow, neither ye shall reap those things, that come forth freely in the field, and ye shall not gather the first fruits of the vintage,

¹²for the hallowing of the jubilee; but anon ye shall eat things taken away;

¹³in the year of jubilee, all men go again to their possessions.

¹⁴When thou shalt sell anything to thy fellow citizen, either shalt buy of him, make thou not sorry thy brother,

¹⁵but by the number of the years of the jubilee thou shalt buy of him, and by the reckoning of fruits, he shall sell to thee.

¹⁶By as much as more years dwell after the jubilee, by so much also the price shall increase, and by as much as thou numberest less of time, by so much and the buying shall cost less; for he shall sell to thee the time of fruits.

¹⁷Do not ye torment men of your lineages, but each man dread his God; for I am your Lord God.

¹⁸Do ye my behests, and keep ye my dooms, and fulfill ye those, that ye may dwell in this land without any dread,

¹⁹and that the earth bring forth his fruits to you, which ye shall eat till to fullness, and dread not the assailing of any man.

²⁰That if ye say, What shall we eat in the seventh year, if we sow not, neither gather our fruits?

²¹I shall give my blessing to you in the sixth year, and it shall make the fruits of three years;

²²and ye shall sow in the eighth year, and ye shall eat eld or old fruits till to the ninth year; till new things come forth, ye shall eat the eld or old things.

²³Also the land shall not be sold into without end, for it is mine, and ye be my comelings, and my tenants;

²⁴wherefore all the country of your possession shall be sold under the condition of again-buying.

²⁵If thy brother is made poor, and selleth his little possession, and his nigh kinsmen will, he may again-buy that that he sold;

²⁶soothly if he hath no nigh kinsman, and he may find the price to again-buy,

²⁷the fruits shall be reckoned from that time in which he sold it, and he shall yield that that is left to the buyer, and he shall receive so his possession again.

²⁸That if his hand findeth not, that he yield the price, the buyer shall have that that he bought, till to the year of jubilee; for in that year each selling shall go again to the lord, and to the first wielder.

²⁹He that selleth his house, within the walls of a city, shall have license to again-buy, till one year be full-filled;

³⁰if he again-buyeth not, and the circle of the year is passed, the buyer shall wield it, and his heirs into without end, and it shall not be able to be again-bought, yea, in the jubilee.

³¹Forsooth if the house is in a town that hath not walls, it shall be sold by the law of the fields; soothly if it is not again-bought in the jubilee, it shall turn again to the lord thereof.

³²The houses of the deacons or Levites, that be in the cities, may evermore be again-bought;

³³if those or they be not again-bought, those or they shall turn again in the jubilee to the lords; for the houses of the cities of deacons or Levites be for possessions among the sons of Israel;

³⁴forsooth the suburbs of them shall not be sold, for it is everlasting possession.

³⁵If thy brother is made poor, and feeble in power, and thou receivest him as a comeling, and a pilgrim, and he liveth with thee,

³⁶take thou not usuries of him, neither more than thou hast given; dread thou thy God, that thy brother may live with thee.

³⁷Thou shalt not give to him thy money to usury, and thou shalt not ask over that that thou lendest, increases of fruits;

³⁸I am your Lord God, that led you out of the land of Egypt, that I should give to you the land of Canaan, and that I should be your God.

³⁹If thy brother compelled by poverty selleth himself to thee, thou shalt not oppress him by servage of servants,

⁴⁰but he shall be as an hired man and a tenant; till to the year of jubilee he shall work with thee,

⁴¹and afterward he shall go out with his free children, and he shall turn again to his kindred, and to the possession of his fathers.

⁴²For they be my servants, and I led them out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold by the condition of servants;

⁴³torment thou not them by thy power, but dread thou thy Lord.

⁴⁴A servant and handmaid be to you of the nations that be in your compass, and of the comelings the which be pilgrims with you,

⁴⁵either they that be born of comelings in your land; ye shall have these servants, and by right of heritage ye shall leave them to your after-comers, and ye shall wield them without end;

⁴⁶soothly oppress ye not by power your brethren, the sons of Israel.

⁴⁷If the hand of a comeling or of a pilgrim waxeth strong at you, and thy brother is made poor, and selleth himself to that comeling, either to any of his kin,

⁴⁸he may be again-bought after the selling; he that will of his brethren, again-buy him;

⁴⁹both his father’s brother, and the son of his father’s brother, and his kins-man, and his ally. Else if also he shall be able, he shall again-buy himself,

⁵⁰while the years be reckoned only from the time of his selling till into the year of jubilee; and while the money, for which he was sold, is reckoned by the number of years, and while the hire of an hired man is reckoned.

⁵¹If more years be that dwell till to the jubilee, by these years he shall yield also the price;

⁵²if few years be, he shall set reckoning with him by the number of these years; and he shall yield to the buyer that that is left of the years,

⁵³while those years, in which he served before, be reckoned for hires; a stranger shall not torment an home-born man violently in thy sight.