Leviticus 25:25-35

25 If thy brother is made poor, and selleth his little possession, and his nigh kinsmen will, he may again-buy that that he sold (he can buy back what he hath sold);

26 soothly if he hath no nigh kinsman, and he may find [the] price to again-buy, (and if he hath no one near of kin, but he findeth the money to buy it back,)

27 the fruits shall be reckoned from that time in which he sold it, and he shall yield that that is left to the buyer, and he shall receive so his possession again (and so he shall receive his possession back again).

28 That if his hand findeth not, that he yield the price, the buyer shall have that that he bought, till to the year of jubilee; for in that year each selling shall go again to the lord, and to the first wielder. (But if his hand findeth not, so that he can pay the price, the buyer shall have what he bought, until the Jubilee Year; then in that year each parcel of land which hath been purchased, shall return to its original owner.)

29 He that selleth his house, within the walls of a city, shall have license to again-buy (it), till one year be [full-]filled; (He who selleth his house, within the walls of a city, shall have license to buy it back, until one year is fulfilled;)

30 if he again-buyeth (it) not, and the circle of the year is passed, the buyer shall wield it, and his heirs into without end, and it shall not be able to be again-bought, yea, in the jubilee. (but if he buyeth it not back, and the circle of the year is passed, the buyer, and his heirs, shall own it forever, and it shall not be able to be bought back, yea, even in the Jubilee Year.)

31 Forsooth if the house is in a town that hath not walls, it shall be sold by the law of [the] fields; soothly if it is not again-bought in the jubilee, it shall turn again to the lord thereof (and even if it is not bought back, in the Jubilee Year it shall return to its original owner).

32 The houses of [the] deacons, that be in [the] cities, may ever[more] be again-bought; (But the houses of the Levites, that be in the cities, can be bought back forevermore;)

33 if those be not again-bought, those shall turn again in the jubilee to the lords (thereof); for the houses of the cities of deacons be for (their) possessions (forevermore) among the sons of Israel; (and even if they be not bought back, they shall still return to their original owners in the Jubilee Year; for the houses in the Levite cities shall be their possessions among the Israelites forevermore;)

34 forsooth the suburbs of them shall not be sold, for it is (their) everlasting possession.

35 If thy brother is made poor, and feeble in power, and thou receivest him as a comeling, and a pilgrim (and thou receivest him like a newcomer, or like a foreigner), and he liveth with thee,

Leviticus 25:25-35 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.