Leviticus 25
Harvest 6 years, Sabbath on the 7th year
On Mount Sinai the Existing One told Moses:
“Tell the Israelites that when you get to the land I give you, that land should observe a Sabbath for me. You should plant and harvest your crops for 6 years, but then the 7th year you should rest somberly for the Existing One. You shouldn’t harvest anything that grows by itself in your fields or vineyards. The land should rest that year. The land’s Sabbath will provide the food for you, your slaves, your employees, your visitors, and your cattle. Anything that grows there should be for food.
Every 50 years there should be a Trumpet Year
“After 7 of these Sabbath years (49 years), you should blast a trumpet on the 10th day of the 7th month (the Day for Making Amends). The trumpet should sound throughout the entire country. You should dedicate the 50th year and proclaim freedom to everyone living in your country. It will be known as the Year of the Trumpet [Jubilee] where each one of you will go back to his own property with his own clan. That 50th year you shouldn’t plant anything, harvest anything that grows by itself, or gather grapes, because that year is marked by trumpets and you should set it apart. You may eat the produce of the field.
Property ownership resets every 50 years
“In this Year of the Trumpet each one of you should go back to his own property. If you buy or sell anything to your neighbor, you shouldn’t take advantage of each other. You should pay your neighbor according to the number of years after the trumpet, and he should sell it according to the number of years left to farm it. If the next Trumpet Year is far off, then the price should be higher, but if the next Trumpet Year is soon, the price should be lower. After all, the person selling the land is actually selling the number of harvests. Do not take advantage of each other, but revere your God, because I am the Existing One your God.
“So follow my orders, keep my rules, and live according to them so you can have security while you live there. The land will produce its fruit, and you’ll be able to eat it and live there with security. You’re probably wondering, ‘What will we eat in the 7th year if we can’t plant or harvest any crops?’ I will send my prosperity to you in the 6th year so that it will produce enough crops to last you 3 years. When you plant in the 8th year, you will still have enough of the old crops to sustain yourselves until the 9th year when your new crops are ready to be harvested.
Sold property can be bought back before the trumpet year
“The land should never be sold permanently because it belongs to me. You are really just foreigners who are traveling with me. All throughout your country, you should allow the land to be redeemed. If your brother becomes so poor he has to sell part of his property, then his nearest relative should come buy back what his brother had sold. If a man doesn’t have any relatives but his finances recover, then he should calculate the years since it was sold and buy it back so he can return to his property. But if he can’t afford to buy it back, then that property should continue to belong to the person who bought it until the Year of the Trumpets. On the Trumpet Year it will revert back to the original owner so he can return to his property.
House sales in cities
“If a man sells a house in a walled city, he may buy it back within a year of its sale. He should have the right to buy it back for a full year. If he doesn’t buy it back within that full year, then that house will permanently belong to the buyer for the rest of his generations. It shouldn’t even be released in the Trumpet year.
House sales in rural villages
“But the houses in the more rural villages should be classified the same as the farmland fields: they can be bought back any time and will revert to their original owner in the Trumpet Year.
House sales in Levite cities
In the Levite cities, the Levites have the right to buy back any houses they sold at any time. If a Levite exercises his right to buy back a property in a Levite city, then that house will revert back to its original owner in the Trumpet Year. That’s because those cities were specifically given to the Levites. The farmland fields of their cities shouldn’t be sold, because those belong to the Levites forever.
Provide for your impoverished brother
“If your brother becomes poor and can’t afford to pay rent, then you should provide for him like you would a foreigner or refugee, and he should live with you. Don’t charge him anything, but revere your God so that your brother can remain alive with you. If you lend him money, don’t charge him interest, and don’t take a profit from the food you sell him. I am the Existing One your God who rescued you from Egypt so that I could give you this land and be your God.
“If your brother becomes so poor that he has to sell himself to you, don’t treat him like a slave. Treat him like you would an employee or foreigner. He should work for you until the Trumpet Year, then he and his family can be released to return to his father’s land. Do it this way because they are my servants who I rescued from Egypt and they shouldn’t be treated like slaves. Don’t be a ruthless ruler, but instead revere your God.
Slaves
You may buy slaves (male and female) from the surrounding countries. You may also buy slaves from any foreigners who live among you and have children in your country. You may pass them down to your children as their inheritance. Those people can be your slaves, but you shouldn’t take your Israelite brothers as slaves to treat ruthlessly.
If a foreigner becomes rich in your country and your impoverished Israelite brother sells himself to the foreigner’s clan, then he may be bought back by one of his relatives. Or if he becomes rich himself, he may buy back his own self. He and his owner should calculate his price according to the number of years until the next Trumpet Year. He can look at his time as a slave and consider it as a time of being an employee. If the Trumpet Year is still a long ways away, then he should pay a larger proportion of his sale price, but if the Trumpet Year is coming up soon, then he should factor in all the years he worked and pay a smaller proportion of his original sale price. The owner should treat him like his yearly employees. He shouldn’t rule over him ruthlessly. If he never gets bought back, then he and his family will be released in the Trumpet Year. That’s because I am the one who the Israelites are actually servants to. They are my servants who I brought from Egypt. I am the Existing One your God.