The Seventh Year (Exodus 23:10–13; Deuteronomy 15:1–6)
1 DBY And Jehovah spoke to Moses in mount Sinai, saying, BSB BSB: Then the LORD said to Moses on Mount Sinai,
2 DBY Speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them, When ye come into the land that I will give you, the land shall celebrate a sabbath to Jehovah. BSB BSB: “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When you enter the land that I am giving you, the land itself must observe a Sabbath to the LORD.
3 DBY Six years shalt thou sow thy field, and six years shalt thou prune thy vineyard, and gather in the produce thereof, BSB BSB: For six years you may sow your field and prune your vineyard and gather its crops.
4 DBY but in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest for the land, a sabbath to Jehovah. Thy field shalt thou not sow, and thy vineyard shalt thou not prune. BSB BSB: But in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of complete rest for the land—a Sabbath to the LORD. You are not to sow your field or prune your vineyard.
5 DBY That which springeth up from the scattered seed of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, and the grapes of thine undressed vines thou shalt not gather: a year of rest shall it be for the land. BSB BSB: You are not to reap the aftergrowth of your harvest or gather the grapes of your untended vines. The land must have a year of complete rest.
6 DBY And the sabbath of the land shall be for food for you, for thee, and for thy bondman, and for thy handmaid, and for thy hired servant, and for him that dwelleth as a sojourner with thee, and for thy cattle, BSB BSB: Whatever the land yields during the Sabbath year shall be food for you—for yourself, your manservant and maidservant, the hired hand or foreigner who stays with you,
7 DBY and for the beasts that are in thy land: all the produce thereof shall be for food. BSB BSB: and for your livestock and the wild animals in your land. All its growth may serve as food.
The Year of Jubilee 8 DBY And thou shalt count seven sabbaths of years, seven times seven years; so that the days of the seven sabbaths of years be unto thee forty-nine years. BSB BSB: And you shall count off seven Sabbaths of years—seven times seven years—so that the seven Sabbaths of years amount to forty-nine years.
9 DBY Then shalt thou cause the loud sound of the trumpet to go forth in the seventh month, on the tenth of the month; on the day of atonement shall ye cause the trumpet to go forth throughout your land. BSB BSB: Then you are to sound the horn far and wide on the tenth day of the seventh month, the Day of Atonement. You shall sound it throughout your land.
10 DBY And ye shall hallow the year of the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty in the land unto all the inhabitants thereof; a year of jubilee shall it be unto you, and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family; BSB BSB: So you are to consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty in the land for all its inhabitants. It shall be your Jubilee, when each of you is to return to his property and to his clan.
11 DBY a year of jubilee shall that fiftieth year be unto you: ye shall not sow, neither reap its aftergrowth, nor gather the fruit of its undressed vines. BSB BSB: The fiftieth year will be a Jubilee for you; you are not to sow the land or reap its aftergrowth or harvest the untended vines.
12 DBY For it is the jubilee; it shall be holy unto you; out of the field shall ye eat its produce. BSB BSB: For it is a Jubilee; it shall be holy to you. You may eat only the crops taken directly from the field.
Return of Property 13 DBY In this year of the jubilee ye shall return every man unto his possession. BSB BSB: In this Year of Jubilee, each of you shall return to his own property.
14 DBY And if ye sell ought unto your neighbour, or buy of your neighbour's hand, ye shall not overreach one another. BSB BSB: If you make a sale to your neighbor or a purchase from him, you must not take advantage of each other.
15 DBY According to the number of years since the jubilee, thou shalt buy of thy neighbour; according to the number of years of the produce, he shall sell unto thee. BSB BSB: You are to buy from your neighbor according to the number of years since the last Jubilee; he is to sell to you according to the number of harvest years remaining.
16 DBY According to the greater number of the years, thou shalt increase the price thereof; and according to the fewness of years, thou shalt diminish the price of it; for it is the number of crops that he selleth unto thee. BSB BSB: You shall increase the price in proportion to a greater number of years, or decrease it in proportion to a lesser number of years; for he is selling you a given number of harvests.
17 DBY And ye shall not oppress one another; but thou shalt fear thy God; for I am Jehovah your God. BSB BSB: Do not take advantage of each other, but fear your God; for I am the LORD your God.
The Blessing of Obedience (Deuteronomy 28:1–14)
18 DBY And ye shall do my statutes, and observe mine ordinances and do them: thus shall ye dwell in your land securely. BSB BSB: You are to keep My statutes and carefully observe My judgments, so that you may dwell securely in the land.
19 DBY And the land shall yield its fruit, and ye shall eat and be satisfied, and dwell therein securely. BSB BSB: Then the land will yield its fruit, so that you can eat your fill and dwell in safety in the land.
20 DBY And if ye say, What shall we eat in the seventh year? behold, we may not sow, nor gather in our produce; BSB BSB: Now you may wonder, ‘What will we eat in the seventh year if we do not sow or gather our produce?’
21 DBY then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, that it may bring forth produce for three years; BSB BSB: But I will send My blessing upon you in the sixth year, so that the land will yield a crop sufficient for three years.
22 DBY and ye shall sow in the eighth year, and ye shall eat of the old fruit until the ninth year; until her produce come in, ye shall eat the old. BSB BSB: While you are sowing in the eighth year, you will be eating from the previous harvest, until the ninth year’s harvest comes in.
The Law of Redemption 23 DBY And the land shall not be sold for ever; for the land is mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with me. BSB BSB: The land must not be sold permanently, because it is Mine, and you are but foreigners and residents with Me.
24 DBY And in all the land of your possession ye shall grant a redemption for the land. BSB BSB: Thus for every piece of property you possess, you must provide for the redemption of the land.
25 DBY If thy brother grow poor, and sell of his possession, then shall his redeemer, his nearest relation, come and redeem that which his brother sold. BSB BSB: If your brother becomes impoverished and sells some of his property, his nearest of kin may come and redeem what his brother has sold.
26 DBY And if the man have no one having right of redemption, and his hand have acquired and found what sufficeth for its redemption, BSB BSB: Or if a man has no one to redeem it for him, but he prospers and acquires enough to redeem his land,
27 DBY then shall he reckon the years since the sale thereof, and restore the overplus unto the man to whom he sold it; and so return unto his possession. BSB BSB: he shall calculate the years since its sale, repay the balance to the man to whom he sold it, and return to his property.
28 DBY And if his hand have not found what sufficeth for him to restore it to him, then that which is sold shall remain in the hand of the purchaser, until the year of jubilee; and in the jubilee it shall go out, and he shall return unto his possession. BSB BSB: But if he cannot obtain enough to repay him, what he sold will remain in possession of the buyer until the Year of Jubilee. In the Jubilee, however, it is to be released, so that he may return to his property.
29 DBY And if any one sell a dwelling-house in a walled city, then he shall have the right of redemption up to the end of the year of the sale thereof; for a full year shall he have the right of redemption. BSB BSB: If a man sells a house in a walled city, he retains his right of redemption until a full year after its sale; during that year it may be redeemed.
30 DBY But if it be not redeemed until a whole year is complete, 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 jubilee. BSB BSB: If it is not redeemed by the end of a full year, then the house in the walled city is permanently transferred to its buyer and his descendants. It is not to be released in the Jubilee.
31 DBY But the houses in villages that have no wall round about them shall be reckoned as the fields of the country: they may be redeemed, and they shall go out in the jubilee. BSB BSB: But houses in villages with no walls around them are to be considered as open fields. They may be redeemed, and they shall be released in the Jubilee.
32 DBY But as to the cities of the Levites, the houses in the cities of their possession, the Levites shall have a perpetual right of redemption. BSB BSB: As for the cities of the Levites, the Levites always have the right to redeem their houses in the cities they possess.
33 DBY And if any one redeem from one of the Levites, then the house that was sold, in the city of his possession, shall go out in the jubilee; for the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Israel. BSB BSB: So whatever belongs to the Levites may be redeemed—a house sold in a city they possess—and must be released in the Jubilee, because the houses in the cities of the Levites are their possession among the Israelites.
34 DBY And the field of the suburbs of their cities shall not be sold; for it is their perpetual possession. BSB BSB: But the open pastureland around their cities may not be sold, for this is their permanent possession.
Redemption of the Poor 35 DBY And if thy brother grow poor, and he be fallen into decay beside thee, then thou shalt relieve him, be he stranger or sojourner, that he may live beside thee. BSB BSB: Now if your countryman becomes destitute and cannot support himself among you, then you are to help him as you would a foreigner or stranger, so that he can continue to live among you.
36 DBY Thou shalt take no usury nor increase of him; and thou shalt fear thy God; that thy brother may live beside thee. BSB BSB: Do not take any interest or profit from him, but fear your God, that your countryman may live among you.
37 DBY Thy money shalt thou not give him upon usury, nor lend him thy victuals for increase. BSB BSB: You must not lend him your silver at interest or sell him your food for profit.
38 DBY I am Jehovah your God, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, to be your God. BSB BSB: I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God.
Redemption of Bondmen 39 DBY And if thy brother grow poor beside thee, and be sold unto thee, thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bondservant: BSB BSB: If a countryman among you becomes destitute and sells himself to you, then you must not force him into slave labor.
40 DBY as a hired servant, as a sojourner, shall he be with thee; until the year of jubilee shall he serve thee. BSB BSB: Let him stay with you as a hired worker or temporary resident; he is to work for you until the Year of Jubilee.
41 DBY Then shall he depart from thee, he and his children with him, and shall return unto his own family, and unto the possession of his fathers shall he return. BSB BSB: Then he and his children are to be released, and he may return to his clan and to the property of his fathers.
42 DBY For they are my bondmen, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: they shall not be sold as men sell bondmen. BSB BSB: Because the Israelites are My servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt, they are not to be sold as slaves.
43 DBY Thou shalt not rule over him with rigour; and thou shalt fear thy God. BSB BSB: You are not to rule over them harshly, but you shall fear your God.
45 DBY Moreover of the children of them that dwell as sojourners with you, of them may ye buy, and of their family that is with you, which they beget in your land, and they shall be your possession. BSB BSB: You may also purchase them from the foreigners residing among you or their clans living among you who are born in your land. These may become your property.
46 DBY And ye shall leave them as an inheritance to your children after you, to inherit them as a possession: these may ye make your bondmen for ever; but as for your brethren, the children of Israel, ye shall not rule over one another with rigour. BSB BSB: You may leave them to your sons after you to inherit as property; you can make them slaves for life. But as for your brothers, the Israelites, no man may rule harshly over his brother.
Redemption of Servants 47 DBY And if a stranger or sojourner become wealthy beside thee, and thy brother beside him grow poor, and sell himself unto the stranger, who is settled by thee, or to a scion of the stranger's family, BSB BSB: If a foreigner residing among you prospers, but your countryman dwelling near him becomes destitute and sells himself to the foreigner or to a member of his clan,
48 DBY after that he is sold there shall be right of redemption for him; one of his brethren may redeem him. BSB BSB: he retains the right of redemption after he has sold himself. One of his brothers may redeem him:
49 DBY Either his uncle or his uncle's son may redeem him, or one of his next relations of his family may redeem him; or if his means be sufficient, he may redeem himself. BSB BSB: either his uncle or cousin or any close relative from his clan may redeem him. Or if he prospers, he may redeem himself.
50 DBY And he shall reckon with him that bought him from the year that he was sold to him unto the year of jubilee; and the price of his sale shall be according to the number of the years, according to the days of a hired servant shall he be with him. BSB BSB: He and his purchaser will then count the time from the year he sold himself up to the Year of Jubilee. The price of his sale will be determined by the number of years, based on the daily wages of a hired hand.
51 DBY If there are yet many years, according unto them shall he return his redemption money out of the money that he was bought for; BSB BSB: If many years remain, he must pay for his redemption in proportion to his purchase price.
52 DBY and if there remain but few years unto the year of jubilee, then he shall reckon with him; according unto his remaining years of service shall he give him back his redemption money . BSB BSB: If only a few years remain until the Year of Jubilee, he is to calculate and pay his redemption according to his remaining years.
53 DBY As a hired servant shall he be with him year by year; his master shall not rule with rigour over him before thine eyes. BSB BSB: He shall be treated like a man hired from year to year, but a foreign owner must not rule over him harshly in your sight.
54 DBY And if he be not redeemed in this manner, then he shall go out in the year of jubilee, he and his children with him. BSB BSB: Even if he is not redeemed in any of these ways, he and his children shall be released in the Year of Jubilee.
55 DBY For the children of Israel are servants unto me; they are my servants whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: I am Jehovah your God. BSB BSB: For the Israelites are My servants. They are My servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.