የሰባተኛው ዓመት ዕረፍት
1እግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ሙሴን በሲና ተራራ ላይ እንዲህ አለው፤ 2“ለእስራኤላውያን እንዲህ ብለህ ተናገር፤ ‘ወደምሰጣችሁ ምድር በምትገቡበት ጊዜ ምድሪቱ ራሷ የእግዚአብሔርን (ያህዌ) ሰንበት ታክብር። 3ስድስት ዓመት በዕርሻህ ላይ ዝራ፤ ስድስት ዓመት ወይንህን ግረዝ፤ ፍሬውንም ሰብስብ። 4በሰባተኛው ዓመት ግን ምድሪቱ የዕረፍት ሰንበት ታድርግ፤ ይህም የእግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ሰንበት ነው። በዕርሻህ ላይ አትዝራ፤ ወይንህንም አትግረዝ። 5ሳይዘራ የበቀለውን አትጨደው፤ ካልተገረዘው የወይን ተክልህ ፍሬ አትሰብስብ። ምድሪቱ የአንድ ዓመት ዕረፍት ታድርግ። 6ምድሪቱም በሰንበት ጊዜዋ የምታስገኘው ማንኛውም ፍሬ ለአንተ፣ ለወንድ ባሪያህ፣ ለሴት ባሪያህ፣ ለቅጥር ሠራተኛህና ከአንተ ጋር ለሚኖር መጻተኛ ምግብ ይሁን፤ 7እንዲሁም ለቤት እንስሶችህና በምድርህ ለሚኖሩ የዱር አራዊት ምድሪቱ የምታበቅለው ሁሉ መኖ ይሁን።
የኢዮቤልዩ ዓመት
25፥8-38 ተጓ ምብ – ዘዳ 15፥1-11
25፥39-55 ተጓ ምብ – ዘፀ 21፥2-11፤ ዘዳ 15፥12-18
8“ ‘ሰባት የሰንበት ዓመታት ማለትም ሰባት ጊዜ ሰባት ዓመታትን ቍጠር፤ ሰባቱ የሰንበት ዓመታትም አርባ ዘጠኝ ዓመታት ይሆናሉ። 9ከዚያም በኋላ በሰባተኛው ወር በዐሥረኛው ቀን፣ መለከት ይነፋ፤ በማስተስረያ ቀንም በምድራችሁ ሁሉ መለከት ንፉ። 10አምሳኛውን ዓመት ቀድሱ፤ በምድሪቱ ሁሉ ላሉ ነዋሪዎች በሙሉ ነጻነት ዐውጁ፤ ይህም ኢዮቤልዩ ይሁንላችሁ፤ ከእናንተ እያንዳንዱ ወደ ቤተ ሰቡ ርስት፣ ወደ ወገኑም ይመለስ። 11የአምሳኛው ዓመት ኢዮቤልዩ ይሁንላችሁ፤ አትዝሩ፤ ሳትዘሩት የበቀለውን አትጨዱ፤ ካልተገረዘውም የወይን ሐረግ ፍሬ አትሰብስቡ። 12ኢዮቤልዩ ስለሆነ ለእናንተ የተቀደሰ ይሁን፤ ሳትዘሩት በሜዳ የበቀለውን ብሉ።
13“ ‘በዚህ በኢዮቤልዩ ዓመት እያንዳንዱ ሰው ወደ ርስቱ ይመለስ።
14“ ‘ከወገንህ ከአንዱ መሬት ብትገዛ ወይም ብትሸጥለት፣ አንዱ ሌላውን አያታልል። 15ከኢዮቤልዩ በኋላ ያሉትን ዓመታት ብዛት መሠረት በማድረግ ከወገንህ ትገዛለህ፤ እርሱም የቀሩትን የመከር ዓመታት ብዛት መሠረት በማድረግ ይሸጥልሃል። 16የዓመቱ ቍጥር ከበዛ ዋጋውን ጨምር፤ የዓመቱ ቍጥር ካነሰም፣ ዋጋውን ቀንስ፤ ምክንያቱም የሚሸጥልህ የዓመቱን የምርት መጠን ነውና። 17አንዱ ሌላውን አያታልል፤ አምላክህን (ኤሎሂም) ፍራ፤ እኔ እግዚአብሔር አምላካችሁ (ያህዌ ኤሎሂም) ነኝ።
18“ ‘ሥርዐቴን ጠብቁ፤ ሕጌን በጥንቃቄ አድርጉ፤ በምድሪቱም በሰላም ትኖራላችሁ። 19ምድሪቱ ፍሬዋን ትሰጣለች፤ እስክትጠግቡ ትበላላችሁ፤ በዚያም በሰላም ትኖራላችሁ። 20እናንተም፣ “ካልዘራን ወይም ሰብላችንን ካልሰበሰብን በሰባተኛው ዓመት ምን እንበላለን?” በማለት ትጠይቁ ይሆናል። 21በስድስተኛው ዓመት በረከቴን እሰድድላችኋለሁ፤ ምድሪቱም ለሦስት ዓመት የሚበቃ ፍሬ ትሰጣለች። 22በስምንተኛው ዓመት በምትዘሩበት ጊዜ፣ የምትበሉት ቀድሞ ከሰበሰባችሁት ሰብል ይሆናል፤ የዘጠነኛውን ዓመት መከር እስክትሰበስቡ ድረስ ከዚሁ እህል ትበላላችሁ።
23“ ‘መሬት ለዘለቄታ አይሸጥ፤ ምክንያቱም ምድሪቱ የእኔ ናት፤ እናንተም መጻተኞችና እንግዶች ናችሁ። 24ርስት አድርጋችሁ በምትይዙት ምድር ሁሉ መሬት የሚዋጅበት ሁኔታ እንዲኖር አድርጉ።
25“ ‘ከወገንህ አንዱ ደኽይቶ ርስቱን ቢሸጥ፣ የቅርብ ዘመዱ መጥቶ ወገኑ የሸጠውን ይዋጅለት። 26ነገር ግን ሰውየው ርስቱን የሚዋጅለት ምንም ዘመድ ባይኖረውና እርሱ ራሱ መዋጀት የሚችልበትን ሀብት ቢያገኝ፣ 27ርስቱን ከሸጠበት ጊዜ ጀምሮ ያለውን የሽያጭ ዘመን በመቍጠር የዋጋውን ልዩነት ለገዛው ሰው ይመልስ፤ እርሱም ወደ ገዛ ርስቱ ይመለስ። 28ነገር ግን ዋጋውን መመለስ ካልቻለ፣ የሸጠው ርስት እስከ ኢዮቤልዩ ዓመት ድረስ የገዥው ንብረት ሆኖ ይቈያል፤ በኢዮቤልዩ ዓመት ለባለቤቱ ይመለሳል፤ ሰውየውም ወደ ርስቱ ይመለሳል።
29“ ‘ማንኛውም ሰው ቅጥር በተሠራለት ከተማ ውስጥ የሚገኝ መኖሪያ ቤቱን ቢሸጥ ከሸጠበት ጊዜ ጀምሮ እስከ አንድ ዓመት ሊዋጀው ይችላል፤ የመዋጀት መብቱ እስከ አንድ ዓመት ድረስ ነው። 30አንዱ ዓመት ከማለቁ በፊት መዋጀት ካልቻለ ግን፣ ቅጥር በተሠራለት ከተማ ውስጥ ያለው ቤት የገዢውና የልጅ ልጆቹ ንብረት ሆኖ ይቀራል፤ በኢዮቤልዩ አይመለስለትም። 31ቅጥር በዙሪያው ባልተሠራለት መንደር ውስጥ የሚገኙ ቤቶች ግን እንደ ዕርሻ መሬት ተቈጥረው ሊዋጁ ይችላሉ፤ በኢዮቤልዩም ይመለሳሉ።
32“ ‘ነገር ግን ሌዋውያን የራሳቸው በሆኑት ከተሞች ውስጥ የሚገኙትን ቤቶቻቸውን ምንጊዜም የመዋጀት መብት አላቸው። 33ሌዋውያን በከተማቸው ያለውን ቤታቸውን ቢሸጡና መዋጀት ባይችሉ፣ በኢዮቤልዩ ይመለሳል፤ በሌዋውያን ከተሞች የሚገኙ ቤቶች በእስራኤላውያን መካከል የሌዋውያን ንብረት ናቸውና። 34በከተሞቻቸው ዙሪያ ያለው የግጦሽ መሬት ግን አይሸጥ፤ ለዘላለም ቋሚ ንብረታቸው ነውና።
35“ ‘በመካከልህ ከወገንህ አንዱ ቢደኸይ፣ ራሱንም መርዳት ባይችል፣ በመካከልህ ይኖር ዘንድ መጻተኛውን ወይም እንግዳውን እንደምትረዳ እርዳው። 36ወገንህ በመካከልህ ይኖር ዘንድ ምንም ዐይነት ወለድ25፥36 ወይም እጅግ ብዙ ወለድ፤ እንዲሁም 37 ይመ አትቀበለው፤ አምላክህን (ኤሎሂም) ፍራው። 37ገንዘብህን በዐራጣ አታበድረው፤ ምግብህንም በትርፍ አትሽጥለት። 38የከነዓንን ምድር ልሰጥህና አምላክህ (ኤሎሂም) ልሆን፣ ከግብፅ ያወጣሁህ እኔ እግዚአብሔር አምላክህ (ያህዌ ኤሎሂም) ነኝ።
39“ ‘ከወገንህ አንዱ ከመካከልህ ቢደኸይ፣ ራሱንም ለአንተም ቢሸጥ፣ እንደ ባሪያ አድርገህ አታሠራው። 40በመካከልህ እንዳለ ቅጥር ሠራተኛ ወይም እንደ እንግዳ አድርገህ ቍጠረው፤ እስከ ኢዮቤልዩ ዓመትም ይሥራልህ፤ 41ከዚያም በኋላ እርሱና ልጆቹ በነጻ ይለቀቁ፤ ወደ ቤተ ሰቡና ወደ አባቶቹ ንብረት ይመለስ። 42እስራኤላውያን ከግብፅ ያወጣኋቸው አገልጋዮቼ ስለ ሆኑ እንደ ባሪያ አይሸጡ። 43በጭካኔ አትግዛቸው፤ ነገር ግን አምላክህን (ኤሎሂም) ፍራ።
44“ ‘የሚኖሩህ ወንዶችና ሴቶች ባሪያዎችህ፣ በዙሪያህ ካሉት አሕዛብ መካከል የገዛሃቸው ባሪያዎች ይሁኑ። 45እንደዚሁም በመካከላችሁ ከሚኖሩት መጻተኞችና ከተወለዱት ወገናቸው ባሪያዎችን ግዙ፤ ንብረታችሁም ይሁኑ። 46እነርሱንም እንደ ንብረት ለልጆቻችሁ አውርሷቸው፤ በሕይወታቸው ዘመን ሁሉ ባሪያዎች ይሁኗችሁ፤ እስራኤላውያን ወገኖቻችሁን ግን በጭካኔ አትግዟቸው።
47“ ‘በመካከላችሁ የሚኖር መጻተኛ ወይም እንግዳ ሀብታም ቢሆንና ከወገናችሁ አንዱ ደኽይቶ በመካከላችሁ ለሚኖር መጻተኛ ወይም ከመጻተኛው ወገን ለአንዱ ራሱን ቢሸጥ፣ 48ከተሸጠ በኋላ ሊዋጅ ይችላል። ከዘመዶቹም አንዱ፣ 49አጎቱ ወይም የአጎቱ ልጅ ወይም ከወገኖቹ ማንኛውም የሥጋ ዘመዱ ይዋጀው፤ ሀብት ካገኘም ራሱን መዋጀት ይችላል። 50እርሱም ራሱን ከሸጠበት ዓመት አንሥቶ እስከ ኢዮቤልዩ ዓመት ድረስ ያለውን ጊዜ ከገዛው ሰው ጋር በመሆን ይቍጠር፤ ነጻ የሚለቀቅበትም ዋጋ በእነዚያ ዓመታት ለአንድ ቅጥር ሠራተኛ በሚከፈለው መሠረት ይተመናል። 51ብዙ ዓመት የሚቀረው ከሆነም፣ እርሱን ለመግዛት ከተከፈለው ዋጋ ላይ በቀረው ዓመት መጠን ለሚዋጅበት መልስ ይክፈል። 52እስከ ኢዮቤልዩ ድረስ የሚቀረው ጥቂት ዓመት ከሆነም፣ በቀረው ዓመት መጠን የሚዋጅበትን መልስ ይክፈል። 53ከዓመት እስከ ዓመት እንደ ቅጥር ሠራተኛ ይኑር፤ አሳዳሪውም በፊትህ በጭካኔ አይግዛው።
54“ ‘ከእነዚህ መንገዶች በአንዱ እንኳ መዋጀት ባይችል፣ እርሱና ልጆቹ በኢዮቤልዩ ዓመት በነጻ ይለቀቁ፤ 55እስራኤላውያን ለእኔ አገልጋዮቼ ናቸውና። እነርሱ ከግብፅ ምድር ያወጣኋቸው አገልጋዮቼ ናቸው፤ እኔ እግዚአብሔር አምላካችሁ (ያህዌ ኤሎሂም) ነኝ።
The Sabbath Year
1The Lord said to Moses at Mount Sinai, 2“Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you, the land itself must observe a sabbath to the Lord. 3For six years sow your fields, and for six years prune your vineyards and gather their crops. 4But in the seventh year the land is to have a year of sabbath rest, a sabbath to the Lord. Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards. 5Do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the grapes of your untended vines. The land is to have a year of rest. 6Whatever the land yields during the sabbath year will be food for you—for yourself, your male and female servants, and the hired worker and temporary resident who live among you, 7as well as for your livestock and the wild animals in your land. Whatever the land produces may be eaten.
The Year of Jubilee
8“ ‘Count off seven sabbath years—seven times seven years—so that the seven sabbath years amount to a period of forty-nine years. 9Then have the trumpet sounded everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement sound the trumpet throughout your land. 10Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; each of you is to return to your family property and to your own clan. 11The fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you; do not sow and do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the untended vines. 12For it is a jubilee and is to be holy for you; eat only what is taken directly from the fields.
13“ ‘In this Year of Jubilee everyone is to return to their own property.
14“ ‘If you sell land to any of your own people or buy land from them, do not take advantage of each other. 15You are to buy from your own people on the basis of the number of years since the Jubilee. And they are to sell to you on the basis of the number of years left for harvesting crops. 16When the years are many, you are to increase the price, and when the years are few, you are to decrease the price, because what is really being sold to you is the number of crops. 17Do not take advantage of each other, but fear your God. I am the Lord your God.
18“ ‘Follow my decrees and be careful to obey my laws, and you will live safely in the land. 19Then the land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill and live there in safety. 20You may ask, “What will we eat in the seventh year if we do not plant or harvest our crops?” 21I will send you such a blessing in the sixth year that the land will yield enough for three years. 22While you plant during the eighth year, you will eat from the old crop and will continue to eat from it until the harvest of the ninth year comes in.
23“ ‘The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you reside in my land as foreigners and strangers. 24Throughout the land that you hold as a possession, you must provide for the redemption of the land.
25“ ‘If one of your fellow Israelites becomes poor and sells some of their property, their nearest relative is to come and redeem what they have sold. 26If, however, there is no one to redeem it for them but later on they prosper and acquire sufficient means to redeem it themselves, 27they are to determine the value for the years since they sold it and refund the balance to the one to whom they sold it; they can then go back to their own property. 28But if they do not acquire the means to repay, what was sold will remain in the possession of the buyer until the Year of Jubilee. It will be returned in the Jubilee, and they can then go back to their property.
29“ ‘Anyone who sells a house in a walled city retains the right of redemption a full year after its sale. During that time the seller may redeem it. 30If it is not redeemed before a full year has passed, the house in the walled city shall belong permanently to the buyer and the buyer’s descendants. It is not to be returned in the Jubilee. 31But houses in villages without walls around them are to be considered as belonging to the open country. They can be redeemed, and they are to be returned in the Jubilee.
32“ ‘The Levites always have the right to redeem their houses in the Levitical towns, which they possess. 33So the property of the Levites is redeemable—that is, a house sold in any town they hold—and is to be returned in the Jubilee, because the houses in the towns of the Levites are their property among the Israelites. 34But the pastureland belonging to their towns must not be sold; it is their permanent possession.
35“ ‘If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and are unable to support themselves among you, help them as you would a foreigner and stranger, so they can continue to live among you. 36Do not take interest or any profit from them, but fear your God, so that they may continue to live among you. 37You must not lend them money at interest or sell them food at a profit. 38I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God.
39“ ‘If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and sell themselves to you, do not make them work as slaves. 40They are to be treated as hired workers or temporary residents among you; they are to work for you until the Year of Jubilee. 41Then they and their children are to be released, and they will go back to their own clans and to the property of their ancestors. 42Because the Israelites are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt, they must not be sold as slaves. 43Do not rule over them ruthlessly, but fear your God.
44“ ‘Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves. 45You may also buy some of the temporary residents living among you and members of their clans born in your country, and they will become your property. 46You can bequeath them to your children as inherited property and can make them slaves for life, but you must not rule over your fellow Israelites ruthlessly.
47“ ‘If a foreigner residing among you becomes rich and any of your fellow Israelites become poor and sell themselves to the foreigner or to a member of the foreigner’s clan, 48they retain the right of redemption after they have sold themselves. One of their relatives may redeem them: 49An uncle or a cousin or any blood relative in their clan may redeem them. Or if they prosper, they may redeem themselves. 50They and their buyer are to count the time from the year they sold themselves up to the Year of Jubilee. The price for their release is to be based on the rate paid to a hired worker for that number of years. 51If many years remain, they must pay for their redemption a larger share of the price paid for them. 52If only a few years remain until the Year of Jubilee, they are to compute that and pay for their redemption accordingly. 53They are to be treated as workers hired from year to year; you must see to it that those to whom they owe service do not rule over them ruthlessly.
54“ ‘Even if someone is not redeemed in any of these ways, they and their children are to be released in the Year of Jubilee, 55for the Israelites belong to me as servants. They are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.
