The Seventh Year
(Exodus 23:10–13; Deuteronomy 15:1–6)

1And the Lorde spake vnto Moyses in mout Sinai, saying: 2Speake vnto the children of Israel, and say vnto them: When ye be come into ye lande which I geue you, the lande shall rest and kepe Sabbath vnto the Lorde. 3Sixe yeres thou shalt sowe thy fielde, and sixe yeres thou shalt cut thy vineyarde, and gather in the fruite therof. 4But the seuenth yere shalbe a Sabbath of rest vnto the lande, the Lordes Sabbath it shalbe: thou shalt neither sowe thy fielde, nor cut thy vineyarde. 5That which groweth of the owne accorde of thy haruest, thou shalt not reape, neither gather the grapes that thou hast left behynde: for it is a yere of rest vnto the lande. 6And the rest of the lande shalbe meate for you, euen for thee, for thy seruaunt, & for thy mayde, for thy hired seruaunt, and for the straunger that soiourneth with thee: 7And for thy cattell, and for the beastes that are in thy lande, shall all the encrease therof be meate.

The Year of Jubilee

8And thou shalt number seuen Sabbathes of yeres vnto thee, euen seuen tymes seuen yere, and the space of the seuen Sabbathes of yeres wylbe vnto thee nine and fourtie yeres. 9And then thou shalt cause to blowe the trumpet of the Iubilee in the tenth day of the seuenth moneth, euen in ye day of attonement shal ye make the trumpe blowe throughout all your lande. 10And ye shall halowe that yere, euen the fiftieth yere, and proclayme libertie throughout all the lande vnto all the inhabiters thereof: for it shalbe a Iubilee vnto you, and ye shall returne euery man vnto his possession, and euery man vnto his kinred agayne. 11A yere of Iubilee shal that fiftieth yere be vnto you: Ye shall not sowe, neither reape that which groweth of it selfe, neither gather the grapes that are left: 12For that yere of Iubilee shalbe holy vnto you: but ye shall eate of the encrease therof out of the fielde.

Return of Property

13In the yere of this Iubilee ye shall returne euery man vnto his possession agayne. 14If thou sellest ought vnto thy neyghbour, or byest ought of thy neyghbours hande, ye shal not oppresse one another. 15But according to the number of yeres after the Iubilee yere thou shalt bye of thy neighbour: and accordyng vnto the number of yeres of the fruites he shall sell vnto thee. 16According vnto the multitude of yeres he shall encrease the price therof, and according to the fewnesse of yeres, he shal minishe the price of it: for the number of fruites doth he sell vnto thee. 17Oppresse not ye therfore euery man his neighbour, but thou shalt feare thy God: For I am the Lorde your God.

The Blessing of Obedience
(Deuteronomy 28:1–14)

18Wherfore ye shall do after myne ordinaunces, and kepe my lawes, and do them, and ye shall dwell in the lande in safetie. 19And the lande shall geue her fruite, and ye shall eate your fyll, and dwell therin in safetie. 20And yf ye shall say, what shall we eate the seuenth yere? for we shall not sowe, nor gather in our increase: 21I wyll sende my blessyng vpon you in the sixt yere, and it shall bryng foorth fruite for three yeres. 22And ye shall sowe the eyght yere, and eate yet of olde fruite vntyll the ninth yere: euen vntill her fruites come ye shall eate of olde store.

The Law of Redemption

23The lande shall not be solde to waste: for the lande is myne, & ye be but staungers and soiourners with me. 24In all the lande of your possession, ye shal graunt a redemption for ye lande.

25If thy brother be waxed poore, and hath solde away of his possession, and yf any of his kinne come to redeeme it, let hym bye out that which his brother solde. 26And yf he haue no man to redeeme it, and his hande hath gotten and founde as much as may be sufficient to bye it out agayne: 27The let hym count howe long it hath ben solde, and delyuer the rest vnto the man to whom he solde it, that he may returne to his possession agayne. 28But and yf his hande can not get sufficient to restore to the other agayne, the that which is solde shal remayne in the hande of hym that hath bought it, vntyll the yere of Iubilee: and in the Iubilee it shall come out, and he shall returne vnto his possession agayne.

29And yf a man sell a dwellyng house in a walled citie, he may bye it out agayne within a whole yere after it is solde: within a yere may he redeeme it. 30But and yf he bye it not out agayne within the space of a full yere, then the house that is in the walled citie, shalbe stablished, as translated to hym that bought it and his successours after hym, & shall not go out in the Iubilee. 31But the houses of vyllages, which haue no walles rounde about them, are counted as the fielde of the coutrey: and therefore they may be bought out agayne, and shal go out in the Iubilee. 32Notwithstandyng, the cities of the Leuites, and the houses of the cities of their possession, may the Leuites redeeme at all seasons. 33And yf a man purchase of the Leuites, the house that was solde, and the citie of their possession, shall go out in the yere of Iubilee: for the houses of the cities of the Leuites, are their possession among the children of Israel. 34But the fielde of the suburbes of their cities may not be solde: for it is their perpetuall possession.

Redemption of the Poor

35If thy brother be waxen poore and fallen in decay with thee, thou shalt relieue hym as a straunger or soiourner, that he may lyue with thee. 36And thou shalt take none vsurie of hym, or vantage: but thou shalt feare thy God, that thy brother may lyue with thee. 37Thou shalt not geue hym thy money vpon vsurie, nor lende him thy victuels for encrease. 38I am the Lorde your God, which brought you out of the lande of Egypt, to geue you the lande of Chanaan, and to be your God.

Redemption of Bondmen

39If thy brother that dwelleth by thee be waxen poore, and be solde vnto thee, thou shalt not compell hym to serue as a bonde seruaunt: 40But as an hired seruaunt, and as a soiourner he shalbe with thee, and shall serue thee vnto the yere of Iubilee. 41And then shall he depart from thee, both he and his children with hym, and shall returne vnto his owne kinred agayne, and vnto the possession of his fathers shall he returne. 42For they are my seruauntes, which I brought out of the lande of Egypt, and shall not therfore be solde as bondmen. 43Thou shalt not rule ouer hym cruelly, but shalt feare thy God. 44Thy bondseruaunt and thy bondemayde which thou shalt haue, shalbe of the heathen that are rounde about you: of them shall ye purchase seruauntes and maydes. 45Moreouer, of the children of ye straungers that are soiourners among you, of them shall ye bye, & of their families that are with you, which they begat in your lande: these shalbe your possession. 46And ye shall take them as inheritauce for your children after yon, to possesse them for an inheritaunce, they shalbe your bondmen for euer: but ouer your brethren the children of Israel, ye shall not rule one ouer another cruelly.

Redemption of Servants

47If a soiourner or straunger waxe riche by thee, and thy brother that dwelleth by hym waxe poore, and sell hym selfe vnto the straunger or soiourner by thee, or to the stocke of the straungers kinne: 48After that he is solde, he may be redeemed agayne: one of his brethren may redeeme hym: 49Either his vncle, or his vncles sonne may bye hym out: or any that is nye of kinne vnto hym of his kinred, may redeeme hym: either yf his hande can get so much, he may be bought out. 50And he shall recken with hym that bought hym, from the yere that he was solde in, vnto the yere of Iubilee: and the price of his beyng, shalbe accordyng vnto the number of yeres, according to the tyme of an hired seruaunt shall he be with hym. 51If there be yet many yeres behynde, accordyng vnto them let hym geue againe for his deliueraunce, of the money that he was bought for. 52If there remayne but fewe yeres vnto the yere of Iubilee, let hym count with hym agayne: and accordyng vnto his yeres, geue hym agayne for his redemption. 53And he shalbe with hym yere by yere as an hired seruaunt: and the other shal not raigne cruelly ouer him in thy sight. 54If he be not redeemed thus, he shall go out in the yere of Iubilee, both he and his children with hym: 55For vnto me the children of Israel are seruauntes, they are my seruauntes which I brought out of the lande of Egypt: I am the Lorde your God.