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.
安息年的條例
1耶和華在西奈山上對摩西說： 2「你要告訴以色列人：你們到了我將要賜給你們的土地後，要讓土地在耶和華面前守安息。 3六年之內，你們可以耕種田地，修整葡萄園，收穫出產。 4但第七年是要向耶和華守的安息年，土地要完全休息。你們不可耕種，不可修整葡萄園。 5不可收割自生自長的莊稼，也不可摘未經修剪而結的葡萄。這一年土地要完全休耕。 6但安息年間土地裡自生自長的，你們和你們的僕婢、雇工與住在你們中間的外族人都可以吃， 7你們的牲畜和境內的野獸也可以吃。
禧年的條例
8「你們要計算七個安息年，即七個七年，共四十九年。 9第五十年的七月十日贖罪日那天，你們要在境內各地吹號。 10你們要以這一年為聖年，向境內所有居民宣告自由。這一年將成為你們的禧年。你們要各歸祖業，各回本家。 11第五十年是你們的禧年。這一年你們不可耕種，不可收割自生自長的莊稼，也不可摘未經修剪而結的葡萄。 12這是禧年，是你們的聖年，你們可以吃土地裡自生自長的。 13在禧年，各人要回到祖業。 14因此，你們和同胞買賣田地時，不可彼此虧負。 15買賣雙方要按照距下個禧年的年數和收成的年數定價。 16距下個禧年的年數多，價錢就高；年數少，價錢就低。因為賣的是田地收成的次數。 17要敬畏你們的上帝，不可彼此虧負。我是你們的上帝耶和華。 18你們要遵行我的律例，持守我的典章，就可以在那片土地上安居。 19土地會出產豐富，使你們豐衣足食、安然居住。 20你們可能會問，『第七年不種不收，我們吃什麼？』 21我要在第六年賜福給你們，使田地的出產夠你們吃三年。 22第八年開始耕種時，你們仍會吃陳糧，一直吃到第九年的收割季節。
贖回土地的條例
23「你們不可永遠賣掉土地，因為土地是我的，你們只不過是寄居在那片土地上的過客。 24你們購買每一塊土地時，都必須讓原主保留贖回的權利。 25如果有人因貧窮而賣掉土地，他的近親要把賣掉的土地贖回來。 26如果無人為他贖回，而他自己漸漸富裕起來，有能力贖回， 27他要計算賣掉土地的年數，退還距下個禧年所剩年數的地價，便可以贖回自己的土地。 28如果他沒有能力贖回，所賣的土地在禧年之前要屬於買主。到了禧年，買主必須把土地歸還原主。
贖回房屋的條例
29「如果有人賣掉自己城裡的房子，要保留一年贖回權。賣掉房子的一年之內，他可以贖回。 30如果一年之內他沒有贖回，房子便永遠歸買主所有，就是到了禧年也不用歸還。 31如果房子在四圍無牆的鄉村，要視房子為鄉下的土地，原主可以贖回；到了禧年，買主必須將房子歸還。 32在利未人的城邑裡，利未人永遠有權贖回所賣的房子。 33如果他們沒有贖回，到了禧年要把房子歸還他們，因為在利未人的城裡，利未人的房屋是他們在以色列人中所擁有的產業。 34但不可出賣利未人城郊的草場，那是他們永遠擁有的產業。
照顧同胞的條例
35「如果你們的同胞生活日益貧窮，難以維生，你們要像照顧外族人和寄居者一樣照顧他的生活，讓他住在你們當中。 36不可向他放債取利，要敬畏你們的上帝，讓他住在你們當中。 37你們借錢給他，不可收取利息；借糧給他，不可謀利。 38我是你們的上帝耶和華。我曾經帶領你們離開埃及，為要把迦南賜給你們，並做你們的上帝。
買賣奴隸的條例
39「如果你們的同胞窮得把自己賣給你們，不可把他當作奴隸， 40要待他像雇工和寄居者一樣。他要為你工作到禧年。 41到了禧年，他和孩子們便可以離開你們，回到自己的宗族和祖業。 42因為以色列人是我的僕人，是我從埃及帶出來的，所以他們不可賣身為奴。 43你們也不可苛待他們，要敬畏你們的上帝。 44你們可以從鄰國購買奴隸， 45也可以買居住或出生在你們境內的外族人。這些人可以作你們的產業。 46你們可以將他們作為產業傳給你們的子孫，使他們終身做奴隸。但你們不可苛待自己的同胞。
47「如果你們中間的外族人漸漸富裕，你們同胞中卻有人日益貧窮，把自己賣給外族人或他們的族人， 48他可以保留贖身的權利。他的兄弟、 49叔伯、堂兄弟或其他近親都可以贖回他。如果他富裕起來，也可以贖回自己。 50他要和買主計算從自己賣身為奴到下個禧年之間的年數，然後按雇工的工價，照年數計算贖價。 51如果離禧年還有很多年，他就要按年數和當初賣價的比例償還贖價。 52如果離禧年只有不多的幾年，他就要按年數償還贖身費。 53買主要待他如按年雇用的工人。你們要確保買主不會苛待他。 54如果禧年來臨前他沒有被贖回，到了禧年他和孩子們都要獲得自由。 55因為以色列人是我的僕人，是我從埃及領出來的僕人。我是你們的上帝耶和華。
