Leviticus 25:41-51

41 Then he shall depart free from thy house, both he and his children with him, and shall return unto his own family, and unto the possession of his fathers shall he be restored.
42 For they belong to me, I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as slaves.
43 Thou shalt not rule over him with rigor, but shalt fear thy God.
44 Both thy menslaves and thy maidslaves, which thou shalt have, shall be of the Gentiles that are round about you; of them shall ye buy slaves.
45 Ye may also buy of the children of the strangers that live among you and of those of their lineage that are born in your land, who are with you, and they shall be your possession.
46 And ye shall possess them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit as a possession; they shall be your bondmen for ever; but over your brethren, the sons of Israel, ye shall not rule over one another with rigor.
47 And if a sojourner or stranger who is with thee becomes rich and thy brother who is with him becomes poor and sells himself unto the stranger or sojourner who is with thee or to the race of the lineage of the stranger,
48 after he is sold he shall have redemption; one of his brethren shall redeem him;
49 either his uncle or his uncle’s son shall redeem him; or any that is near of kin unto him of his lineage shall redeem him; or if he is able, he may redeem himself.
50 And he shall reckon with him that bought him from the year that he was sold to him unto the year of jubilee; and the price of his sale shall be according to the number of years, according to the time of a hired servant shall it be with him.
51 If there are yet many years, according unto them he shall give again the price of his redemption out of the money that he was bought for.

Leviticus 25:41-51 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.

The Jubilee Bible (from the Scriptures of the Reformation), edited by Russell M. Stendal, Copyright © 2000, 2001, 2010