Leviticus 25
Leviticus 25 establishes the sabbatical year and the Jubilee as distinctive institutions for Israel. These laws teach that the land ultimately belongs to God, that His people must practice mercy and restraint, and that economic life should include rhythms of rest, release, and restoration.
1verseThe LORD said to Moses on Mount Sinai,
2verse“Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall keep a Sabbath to the LORD.
3verseYou shall sow your field six years, and you shall prune your vineyard six years, and gather in its fruits;
4versebut in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the LORD. You shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard.
5verseWhat grows of itself in your harvest you shall not reap, and you shall not gather the grapes of your undressed vine. It shall be a year of solemn rest for the land.
6verseThe Sabbath of the land shall be for food for you; for yourself, for your servant, for your maid, for your hired servant, and for your stranger, who lives as a foreigner with you.
7verseFor your livestock also, and for the animals that are in your land, shall all its increase be for food.
8verse“‘You shall count off seven Sabbaths of years, seven times seven years; and there shall be to you the days of seven Sabbaths of years, even forty-nine years.
9verseThen you shall sound the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month. On the Day of Atonement you shall sound the trumpet throughout all your land.
10verseYou shall make the fiftieth year holy, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee to you; and each of you shall return to his own property, and each of you shall return to his family.
11verseThat fiftieth year shall be a jubilee to you. In it you shall not sow, neither reap that which grows of itself, nor gather from the undressed vines.
12verseFor it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you. You shall eat of its increase out of the field.
13verse“‘In this Year of Jubilee each of you shall return to his property.
14verse“‘If you sell anything to your neighbor, or buy from your neighbor, you shall not wrong one another.
15verseAccording to the number of years after the Jubilee you shall buy from your neighbor. According to the number of years of the crops he shall sell to you.
16verseAccording to the length of the years you shall increase its price, and according to the shortness of the years you shall diminish its price; for he is selling the number of the crops to you.
17verseYou shall not wrong one another, but you shall fear your God; for I am the LORD your God.
18verse“‘Therefore you shall do my statutes, and keep my ordinances and do them; and you shall dwell in the land in safety.
19verseThe land shall yield its fruit, and you shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety.
20verseIf you said, “What shall we eat the seventh year? Behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase;”
21versethen I will command my blessing on you in the sixth year, and it shall bear fruit for the three years.
22verseYou shall sow the eighth year, and eat of the fruits from the old store until the ninth year. Until its fruits come in, you shall eat the old store.
23verse“‘The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine; for you are strangers and live as foreigners with me.
24verseIn all the land of your possession you shall grant a redemption for the land.
25verse“‘If your brother becomes poor, and sells some of his possessions, then his kinsman who is next to him shall come, and redeem that which his brother has sold.
26verseIf a man has no one to redeem it, and he becomes prosperous and finds sufficient means to redeem it,
27versethen let him reckon the years since its sale, and restore the surplus to the man to whom he sold it; and he shall return to his property.
28verseBut if he isn’t able to get it back for himself, then what he has sold shall remain in the hand of him who has bought it until the Year of Jubilee. In the Jubilee it shall be released, and he shall return to his property.
29verse“‘If a man sells a dwelling house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it has been sold. For a full year he shall have the right of redemption.
30verseIf it isn’t redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house that is in the walled city shall be made sure in perpetuity to him who bought it, throughout his generations. It shall not be released in the Jubilee.
31verseBut the houses of the villages which have no wall around them shall be accounted for with the fields of the country: they may be redeemed, and they shall be released in the Jubilee.
32verse“‘Nevertheless, in the cities of the Levites, the Levites may redeem the houses in the cities of their possession at any time.
33verseThe Levites may redeem the house that was sold, and the city of his possession, and it shall be released in the Jubilee; for the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Israel.
34verseBut the field of the pasture lands of their cities may not be sold, for it is their perpetual possession.
35verse“‘If your brother has become poor, and his hand can’t support himself among you, then you shall uphold him. He shall live with you like an alien and a temporary resident.
36verseTake no interest from him or profit; but fear your God, that your brother may live among you.
37verseYou shall not lend him your money at interest, nor give him your food for profit.
38verseI 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.
39verse“‘If your brother has grown poor among you, and sells himself to you, you shall not make him to serve as a slave.
40verseAs a hired servant, and as a temporary resident, he shall be with you; he shall serve with you until the Year of Jubilee.
41verseThen he shall go out from you, he and his children with him, and shall return to his own family, and to the possession of his fathers.
42verseFor they are my servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt. They shall not be sold as slaves.
43verseYou shall not rule over him with harshness, but shall fear your God.
44verse“‘As for your male and your female slaves, whom you may have from the nations that are around you, from them you may buy male and female slaves.
45verseMoreover, of the children of the aliens who live among you, of them you may buy, and of their families who are with you, which they have conceived in your land; and they will be your property.
46verseYou may make them an inheritance for your children after you, to hold for a possession. Of them you may take your slaves forever, but over your brothers the children of Israel you shall not rule, one over another, with harshness.
47verse“‘If an alien or temporary resident with you becomes rich, and your brother beside him has grown poor, and sells himself to the stranger or foreigner living among you, or to a member of the stranger’s family,
48verseafter he is sold he may be redeemed. One of his brothers may redeem him;
49verseor his uncle, or his uncle’s son, may redeem him, or any who is a close relative to him of his family may redeem him; or if he has grown rich, he may redeem himself.
50verseHe shall reckon with him who bought him from the year that he sold himself to him to the Year of Jubilee. The price of his sale shall be according to the number of years; he shall be with him according to the time of a hired servant.
51verseIf there are yet many years, according to them he shall give back the price of his redemption out of the money that he was bought for.
52verseIf there remain but a few years to the year of jubilee, then he shall reckon with him; according to his years of service he shall give back the price of his redemption.
53verseAs a servant hired year by year shall he be with him. He shall not rule with harshness over him in your sight.
54verseIf he isn’t redeemed by these means, then he shall be released in the Year of Jubilee: he and his children with him.
55verseFor to me the children of Israel are servants; they are my servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.
The Meaning of the Sabbatical Year (Verses 1–7)
The sabbatical year commands that the land rest every seventh year. Israel must not sow fields or prune vineyards in the normal way. What grows of itself may provide food for the people, servants, hired workers, resident foreigners, livestock, and wild animals. The law teaches trust in God’s provision and respect for the land as God’s possession.
Proclaiming the Jubilee (Verses 8–22)
The Jubilee is proclaimed in the fiftieth year, after seven cycles of seven years. Liberty is proclaimed, Israelite debt-servants are released, and ancestral land that had been sold returns to the family line. This system prevents permanent loss of inheritance and reminds Israel that they live as tenants under God, the true owner of the land.
Regulations Concerning Land and Property (Verses 23–34)
Land may be sold, but not as a permanent possession, because the land belongs to the LORD. The price of land is calculated according to the number of harvest years until the Jubilee. The chapter also distinguishes rules for houses, villages, walled cities, and Levitical property.
Caring for the Poor and Those in Servitude (Verses 35–55)
Israel is commanded to support an impoverished brother, not to charge him interest, and not to treat fellow Israelites as permanent slaves. If an Israelite becomes poor and sells himself as a servant, he is to be treated with dignity and released according to the Jubilee principle. The chapter grounds economic mercy in the memory that God redeemed Israel from Egypt.
Reflection Points
- God’s rule extends to land, work, money, debt, rest, and social relationships.
- Consider how restoration, protection of the vulnerable, and freedom from oppressive systems might be practiced today.
- The Jubilee points to grace, release, and a new beginning for those who cannot restore themselves.
Try Applying It to Yourself
- Reflect on whether I recognize my time, possessions, work, and abilities as entrusted by God rather than owned absolutely by me.
- Look for practical ways to help marginalized neighbors and participate in restoration rather than exploitation.
- Practice rhythms of rest and renewal instead of living only by accumulation and competition.