Leviticus 25

King James Version

Full text for Leviticus Chapter 25

1¶ And the LORD spake unto Moses in mount Sinai, saying,

2Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the LORD.

3Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof;

4But 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.

5That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed: [for] it is a year of rest unto the land.

6And 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,

7And for thy cattle, and for the beast that [are] in thy land, shall all the increase thereof be meat.

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.

9Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubile to sound on the tenth [day] of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land.

10And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout [all] the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.

11A jubile shall that fiftieth year be unto you: ye shall not sow, neither reap that which groweth of itself in it, nor gather [the grapes] in it of thy vine undressed.

12For it [is] the jubile; it shall be holy unto you: ye shall eat the increase thereof out of the field.

13In the year of this jubile ye shall return every man unto his possession.

14And if thou sell ought unto thy neighbour, or buyest [ought] of thy neighbour's hand, ye shall not oppress one another:

15According to the number of years after the jubile thou shalt buy of thy neighbour, [and] according unto the number of years of the fruits he shall sell unto thee:

16According 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.

17Ye shall not therefore oppress one another; but thou shalt fear thy God: for I [am] the LORD your God.

18Wherefore ye shall do my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them; and ye shall dwell in the land in safety.

19And the land shall yield her fruit, and ye shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety.

20And if ye shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase:

21Then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years.

22And ye shall sow the eighth year, and eat [yet] of old fruit until the ninth year; until her fruits come in ye shall eat [of] the old [store].

23¶ The land shall not be sold for ever: for the land [is] mine; for ye [are] strangers and sojourners with me.

24And in all the land of your possession ye shall grant a redemption for the land.

25If 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.

26And if the man have none to redeem it, and himself be able to redeem it;

27Then 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.

28But 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 jubile: and in the jubile it shall go out, and he shall return unto his possession.

29And 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.

30And 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 jubile.

31But the houses of the villages which have no wall round about them shall be counted as the fields of the country: they may be redeemed, and they shall go out in the jubile.

32Notwithstanding the cities of the Levites, [and] the houses of the cities of their possession, may the Levites redeem at any time.

33And if a man purchase of the Levites, then the house that was sold, and the city of his possession, shall go out in [the year of] jubile: for the houses of the cities of the Levites [are] their possession among the children of Israel.

34But the field of the suburbs of their cities may not be sold; for it [is] their perpetual possession.

35And if thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen in decay with thee; then thou shalt relieve him: [yea, though he be] a stranger, or a sojourner; that he may live with thee.

36Take thou no usury of him, or increase: but fear thy God; that thy brother may live with thee.

37Thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury, nor lend him thy victuals for increase.

38I [am] the LORD your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, [and] to be your God.

39¶ And if thy brother [that dwelleth] by thee be waxen poor, and be sold unto thee; thou shalt not compel him to serve as 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 jubile:

41And [then] shall he depart from thee, [both] he and his children with him, and shall return unto his own family, and unto the possession of his fathers shall he return.

42For they [are] my servants, which I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: they shall not be sold as bondmen.

43Thou shalt not rule over him with rigour; but shalt fear thy God.

44Both 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.

45Moreover 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.

46And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit [them for] a possession; they shall be your bondmen for ever: but over your brethren the children of Israel, ye shall not rule one over another with rigour.

47And if a sojourner or stranger wax rich 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:

48After that he is sold he may be redeemed again; one of his brethren may redeem him:

49Either 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 be able, he may redeem himself.

50And he shall reckon with him that bought him from the year that he was sold to him unto the year of jubile: and the price of his sale shall be according unto the number of years, according to the time of an hired servant shall it be with him.

51If [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.

52And if there remain but few years unto the year of jubile, 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.

54And if he be not redeemed in these [years], then he shall go out in the year of jubile, [both] he, and his children with him.

55For unto me the children of Israel [are] servants; they [are] my servants whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: I [am] the LORD your God.

AI Analysis

AI Summaries

Short Summary

Leviticus 25 outlines God's laws for the Sabbatical year and the Year of Jubilee for the Israelites in the promised land. Every seventh year, the land was to rest, with no sowing or reaping, and its spontaneous produce was for all. After seven Sabbatical cycles, the fiftieth year was the Jubilee, when liberty was proclaimed, and all land and Israelite servants returned to their original families and possessions. These laws ensured economic equity and reminded the people of God's ultimate ownership and provision.

Medium Summary

Leviticus 25 details the divine ordinances for the Sabbatical year and the Year of Jubilee, given to Israel upon entering Canaan. The Sabbatical year mandated that the land lie fallow every seventh year, with its natural increase serving as food for all inhabitants and livestock. Following seven Sabbatical cycles, the fiftieth year was consecrated as the Jubilee, marked by the sounding of a trumpet on the Day of Atonement. During Jubilee, all land previously sold reverted to its original owners, and Israelite bondservants were set free to return to their families. The chapter also established rules for the redemption of sold property and the prohibition of usury when lending to impoverished brethren. These statutes underscored God's ownership of the land and His people, promoting social justice and preventing perpetual poverty.

Long Summary

Leviticus 25 presents comprehensive laws concerning the Sabbatical year and the Year of Jubilee, commanded by the LORD to Moses on Mount Sinai for the children of Israel in the land of Canaan. Every seventh year was to be a Sabbatical rest for the land, during which no sowing or pruning was permitted, and the spontaneous produce was to be shared by all, including servants, strangers, and cattle. God promised a miraculous blessing in the sixth year to provide sufficient yield for three years, ensuring sustenance during the Sabbatical. After seven Sabbatical cycles, totaling forty-nine years, the fiftieth year was to be observed as the Jubilee, proclaimed by a trumpet on the Day of Atonement. This holy year mandated liberty throughout the land, with every man returning to his ancestral possession and family, and the land also resting from cultivation. The chapter further detailed that land sales were not permanent transfers but rather leases, with the price determined by the number of years remaining until the next Jubilee, preventing oppression in transactions. Provisions were made for the redemption of sold land by a kinsman or the seller himself, ensuring its return to the family line. Houses in walled cities had different rules, being permanently sold if not redeemed within a year, while village houses and Levitical properties reverted in the Jubilee. Furthermore, the LORD commanded Israel to relieve their impoverished brethren, including strangers and sojourners, by lending without usury or increase, emphasizing their shared identity as God's people. Israelites who became poor and sold themselves were to be treated as hired servants, not bondservants, and were to be released with their children in the Jubilee year, as they were ultimately God's servants. Foreign bondmen and bondmaids, however, could be acquired permanently from surrounding nations or sojourners. If an Israelite sold himself to a rich sojourner, he retained the right to be redeemed by a kinsman or himself, with the price adjusted according to the years remaining until Jubilee. These intricate laws collectively aimed to prevent extreme wealth disparity, maintain tribal land inheritance, and remind Israel that the land and its people belonged to the LORD.

Core Concepts

  • Sabbatical YearEvery seventh year, the land was commanded to rest from cultivation, with no sowing or pruning, and its natural yield was to be freely consumed by all inhabitants.
  • Year of JubileeOccurring every fiftieth year after seven Sabbatical cycles, the Jubilee was a time of universal liberty, where all ancestral land returned to its original owners and Israelite bondservants were freed.
  • Land RedemptionThe chapter outlines provisions for the redemption of sold land by a kinsman or the original seller, ensuring that family inheritances were not permanently lost and would revert in the Jubilee.
  • Prohibition of UsuryIsraelites were forbidden from charging interest (usury) on money or food lent to their impoverished brethren, including strangers and sojourners, emphasizing mutual support and fear of God.
  • Indentured ServitudeIsraelites who became poor and sold themselves were to be treated as hired servants, not bondservants, and were to be released in the Jubilee, while permanent bondservants could be acquired from foreign nations.
  • God's Ownership of the LandA foundational principle of the chapter is that the land ultimately belongs to the LORD, and the Israelites are merely "strangers and sojourners" with Him, preventing permanent sale and promoting stewardship.
  • Divine ProvisionGod promised to bless the sixth year's harvest to yield enough produce for three years, assuring the Israelites that obedience to the Sabbatical and Jubilee laws would not lead to want.