Leviticus Chapter 25 Bible in Basic English

Leviticus 25:1

And the Lord said to Moses on Mount Sinai,

Leviticus 25:2

Say to the children of Israel, When you come into the land which I will give you, let the land keep a Sabbath to the Lord.

Leviticus 25:3

For six years put seed into your land, and for six years give care to your vines and get in the produce of them;

Leviticus 25:4

But let the seventh year be a Sabbath of rest for the land, a Sabbath to the Lord; do not put seed into your land or have your vines cut.

Leviticus 25:5

That which comes to growth of itself may not be cut, and the grapes of your uncared-for vines may not be taken off; let it be a year of rest for the land.

Leviticus 25:6

And the Sabbath of the land will give food for you and your man-servant and your woman-servant and those working for payment, and for those of another country who are living among you;

Leviticus 25:7

And for your cattle and the beasts on the land; all the natural increase of the land will be for food.

Leviticus 25:8

And let seven Sabbaths of years be numbered to you, seven times seven years; even the days of seven Sabbaths of years, that is forty-nine years;

Leviticus 25:9

Then let the loud horn be sounded far and wide on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the day of taking away sin let the horn be sounded through all your land.

Leviticus 25:10

And let this fiftieth year be kept holy, and say publicly that everyone in the land is free from debt: it is the Jubilee, and every man may go back to his heritage and to his family.

Leviticus 25:11

Let this fiftieth year be the Jubilee: no seed may be planted, and that which comes to growth of itself may not be cut, and the grapes may not be taken from the uncared-for vines.

Leviticus 25:12

For it is the Jubilee, and it is holy to you; your food will be the natural increase of the field.

Leviticus 25:13

In this year of Jubilee, let every man go back to his heritage.

Leviticus 25:14

And in the business of trading goods for money, do no wrong to one another.

Leviticus 25:15

Let your exchange of goods with your neighbours have relation to the number of years after the year of Jubilee, and the number of times the earth has given her produce.

Leviticus 25:16

If the number of years is great, the price will be increased, and if the number of years is small, the price will be less, for it is the produce of a certain number of years which the man is giving you.

Leviticus 25:17

And do no wrong, one to another, but let the fear of your God be before you; for I am the Lord your God.

Leviticus 25:18

So keep my rules and my decisions and do them, and you will be safe in your land.

Leviticus 25:19

And the land will give her fruit, and you will have food in full measure and be safe in the land.

Leviticus 25:20

And if you say, Where will our food come from in the seventh year, when we may not put in seed, or get in the increase

Leviticus 25:21

Then I will send my blessing on you in the sixth year, and the land will give fruit enough for three years.

Leviticus 25:22

And in the eighth year you will put in your seed, and get your food from the old stores, till the fruit of the ninth year is ready.

Leviticus 25:23

No exchange of land may be for ever, for the land is mine, and you are as my guests, living with me for a time.

Leviticus 25:24

Wherever there is property in land, the owner is to have the right of getting it back.

Leviticus 25:25

If your brother becomes poor, and has to give up some of his land for money, his nearest relation may come and get back that which his brother has given up.

Leviticus 25:26

And if he has no one to get it back for him, and later he himself gets wealth and has enough money to get it back;

Leviticus 25:27

Then let him take into account the years from the time when he gave it up, and make up the loss for the rest of the years to him who took it, and so get back his property.

Leviticus 25:28

But if he is not able to get it back for himself, then it will be kept by him who gave a price for it, till the year of Jubilee; and in that year it will go back to its first owner and he will have his property again.

Leviticus 25:29

And if a man gives his house in a walled town for money, he has the right to get it back for the space of a full year after he has given it up.

Leviticus 25:30

And if he does not get it back by the end of the year, then the house in the town will become the property of him who gave the money for it, and of his children for ever; it will not go from him in the year of Jubilee.

Leviticus 25:31

But houses in small unwalled towns will be the same as property in the country; they may be got back, and they will go back to their owners in the year of Jubilee.

Leviticus 25:32

But the houses in the towns of the Levites may be got back by the Levites at any time.

Leviticus 25:33

And if a Levite does not give money to get back his property, his house in the town which was exchanged for money will come back to him in the year of Jubilee. For the houses of the towns of the Levites are their property among the children of Israel.

Leviticus 25:34

But the land on the outskirts of their towns may not be exchanged for money, for it is their property for ever.

Leviticus 25:35

And if your brother becomes poor and is not able to make a living, then you are to keep him with you, helping him as you would a man from another country who is living among you.

Leviticus 25:36

Take no interest from him, in money or in goods, but have the fear of your God before you, and let your brother make a living among you.

Leviticus 25:37

Do not take interest on the money which you let him have or on the food which you give him.

Leviticus 25:38

I am the Lord your God, who took you out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan, that I might be your God.

Leviticus 25:39

And if your brother becomes poor and gives himself to you for money, do not make use of him like a servant who is your property;

Leviticus 25:40

But let him be with you as a servant working for payment, till the year of Jubilee;

Leviticus 25:41

Then he will go out from you, he and his children with him, and go back to his family and to the property of his fathers.

Leviticus 25:42

For they are my servants whom I took out from the land of Egypt; they may not become the property of another.

Leviticus 25:43

Do not be a hard master to him, but have the fear of God before you.

Leviticus 25:44

But you may get servants as property from among the nations round about; from them you may take men-servants and women-servants.

Leviticus 25:45

And in addition, you may get, for money, servants from among the children of other nations who are living with you, and from their families which have come to birth in your land; and these will be your property.

Leviticus 25:46

And they will be your children's heritage after you, to keep as their property; they will be your servants for ever; but you may not be hard masters to your countrymen, the children of Israel.

Leviticus 25:47

And if one from another nation living among you gets wealth, and your countryman, at his side, becomes poor and gives himself for money to the man from another nation or to one of his family;

Leviticus 25:48

After he has given himself he has the right to be made free, for a price, by one of his brothers,

Leviticus 25:49

Or his father's brother, or the son of his father's brother, or any near relation; or if he gets money, he may make himself free.

Leviticus 25:50

And let the years be numbered from the time when he gave himself to his owner till the year of Jubilee, and the price given for him will be in relation to the number of years, on the scale of the payment of a servant.

Leviticus 25:51

If there is still a long time, he will give back, on account of it, a part of the price which was given for him.

Leviticus 25:52

And if there is only a short time, he will take account of it with his master, and in relation to the number of years he will give back the price of making him free.

Leviticus 25:53

And he will be with him as a servant working for payment year by year; his master is not to be cruel to him before your eyes.

Leviticus 25:54

And if he is not made free in this way, he will go out in the year of Jubilee, he and his children with him.

Leviticus 25:55

For the children of Israel are servants to me; they are my servants whom I took out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.