Leviticus 25:1-7

1 And the Lord spake to Moses in the hill of Sinai, and said (And the Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, and said,)

2 Speak thou to the sons of Israel, and thou shalt say to them, When ye have entered into the land which I shall give to you, the earth keep the sabbath of the Lord (the land shall keep sabbaths to the Lord);

3 six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt cut thy vineyard, and thou shalt gather the fruits thereof;

4 forsooth in the seventh year shall be the sabbath of the earth, of [the] resting of the Lord (but the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest for the land, yea, a sabbath to the Lord); thou shalt not sow the field, and thou shalt not cut the vineyard,

5 thou shalt not reap those things which the earth bringeth forth freely, and thou shalt not gather the grapes of thy first fruits, as vintage; for it is the year of resting of the land; (thou shalt not harvest those things which the land bringeth forth freely, and thou shalt not gather the grapes of thy first fruits, as vintage; for it is a year of rest for the land;)

6 but those fruits shall be to you into meat, to thee, and to thy servant, and to thine handmaid, and to thine hired man, and to the comeling that is a pilgrim with thee; (but those fruits shall be food for you, yea, for thee, and for thy slave, and for thy slave-girl, and for thy hired man, and for the newcomer who is a foreigner, or a stranger, among thee;)

7 all things that come forth, shall give meat to thy work beasts, and [thy] small beasts. (all things that come forth, shall be food for thy work beasts, and thy small beasts.)

Leviticus 25:1-7 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO LEVITICUS 25

In this chapter the Israelites are directed, when come into the land of Canaan, to observe every seventh year as a sabbatical year, in which there was to be no tillage of the land, and yet there would be a sufficiency for man and beast, Le 25:1-7; and every fiftieth year as a year of jubilee, in which also there was to be no tillage of the land, and every man was to return to his possession or estate, which had been sold to another any time before this, Le 25:8-17; and a promise of safety and plenty in the seventh year is made to encourage the observance of it, Le 25:18-22; and several laws and rules are delivered out concerning the sale of lands, the redemption of them, and their return to their original owner in the year of jubilee, Le 25:23-28; and the sale of houses, and the redemption of them, and the difference between those in walled cities and those in villages, with respect thereunto, Le 25:29-31; and also concerning the houses of the cities of the Levites, and the fields of the suburbs of them, Le 25:32-34; to which are added some instructions about relieving decayed, persons, and lending and giving to them, without taking usury of them, Le 25:34-38; and other laws concerning the release of such Israelites as had sold themselves for servants to the Israelites, in the year of jubilee, since none but Heathens were to be bondmen and bondmaids for ever, Le 25:39-46; and of such who were sold to proselytes, Le 25:47-55.