TOPIC SABBATH YEAR AND JUBILEE Leviticus 25:1-5, 10-11, 14, 17-18, 24-26, 32, 35-40, 55 While Moses was on Mount Sinai, the lord said to him, “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. When you have entered the land I am giving you, the land itself must observe a Sabbath rest before the lord every seventh year. For six years you may plant your fields and prune your vineyards and harvest your crops, but during the seventh year the land must have a Sabbath year of complete rest. It is the lord ’s Sabbath. Do not plant your fields or prune your vineyards during that year. And don’t store away the crops that grow on their own or gather the grapes from your unpruned vines. The land must have a year of complete rest. Set this year apart as holy, a time to proclaim freedom throughout the land for all who live there. It will be a jubilee year for you, when each of you may return to the land that belonged to your ancestors and return to your own clan. This fiftieth year will be a jubilee for you. During that year you must not plant your fields or store away any of the crops that grow on their own, and don’t gather the grapes from your unpruned vines. “When you make an agreement with your neighbor to buy or sell property, you must not take advantage of each other. Show your fear of God by not taking advantage of each other. I am the lord your God. “If you want to live securely in the land, follow my decrees and obey my regulations. “With every purchase of land you must grant the seller the right to buy it back. If one of your fellow Israelites falls into poverty and is forced to sell some family land, then a close relative should buy it back for him. If there is no close relative to buy the land, but the person who sold it gets enough money to buy it back, “The Levites always have the right to buy back a house they have sold within the towns allotted to them. “If one of your fellow Israelites falls into poverty and cannot support himself, support him as you would a foreigner or a temporary resident and allow him to live with you. Do not charge interest or make a profit at his expense. Instead, show your fear of God by letting him live with you as your relative. Remember, do not charge interest on money you lend him or make a profit on food you sell him. 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. “If one of your fellow Israelites falls into poverty and is forced to sell himself to you, do not treat him as a slave. Treat him instead as a hired worker or as a temporary resident who lives with you, and he will serve you only until the Year of Jubilee. For the people of Israel belong to me. They are my servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt. I am the lord your God.
Posted on: Tue, 01 Apr 2014 05:28:32 +0000
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