Leviticus 25:25-55

²⁵‘If a fellow countryman of yours becomes so poor that he sells part of his property, then his closest redeemer is to come and buy back what his relative has sold. ²⁶Or in case someone has no redeemer, but recovers to find sufficient means for its redemption, ²⁷then he shall calculate the years since its sale and refund the balance to the man to whom he sold it, and so return to his property. ²⁸But if he has not found sufficient means to get it back for himself, then what he has sold shall remain in the hands of its purchaser until the year of jubilee; but at the jubilee it shall revert, so that he may return to his property.

²⁹‘Likewise, if a man sells a dwelling house in a walled city, then his redemption right remains valid until a full year after its sale; his right of redemption lasts a full year. ³⁰But if it is not bought back for him within the space of a full year, then the house that is in the walled city passes permanently to its purchaser throughout his generations; it does not revert in the jubilee. ³¹The houses of the villages, however, which have no surrounding wall, shall be regarded as open fields; they have redemption rights and revert in the jubilee. ³²As for the cities of the Levites, the Levites have a permanent right of redemption for the houses of the cities which are their possession. ³³What, therefore, belongs to the Levites may be redeemed, and a house sale in the city of this possession reverts in the jubilee, because the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the sons of Israel. ³⁴But pasture fields of their cities shall not be sold, for that is their permanent possession.

³⁵‘Now in case a countryman of yours becomes poor and his means among you falter, then you are to sustain him, like a stranger or a resident, so that he may live with you. ³⁶Do not take any kind of interest from him, but fear your God, so that your countryman may live with you. ³⁷You shall not give him your silver at interest, nor your food for profit. ³⁸I 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.

³⁹‘Now if a countryman of yours becomes so poor with regard to you that he sells himself to you, you shall not subject him to a slave’s service. ⁴⁰He shall be with you as a hired worker, as if he were a foreign resident; he shall serve with you up to the year of jubilee. ⁴¹He shall then leave you, he and his sons with him, and shall go back to his family, so that he may return to the property of his forefathers. ⁴²For they are My servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt; they are not to be sold in a slave sale. ⁴³You shall not rule over him with severity, but are to revere your God. ⁴⁴As for your male and female slaves whom you may have—you may acquire male and female slaves from the pagan nations that are around you. ⁴⁵You may also acquire them from the sons of the foreign residents who reside among you, and from their families who are with you, whom they will have produced in your land; they also may become your possession. ⁴⁶You may also pass them on as an inheritance to your sons after you, to receive as a possession; you can use them as permanent slaves. But in respect to your countrymen, the sons of Israel, you shall not rule with severity over one another.

⁴⁷‘Now if the means of a stranger or of a foreign resident with you becomes sufficient, and a countryman of yours becomes poor in relation to him and sells himself to a stranger who is residing with you, or to the descendants of a stranger’s family, ⁴⁸then he shall have redemption right after he has been sold. One of his brothers may redeem him, ⁴⁹or his uncle, or his uncle’s son may redeem him, or one of his blood relatives from his family may redeem him; or if he prospers, he may redeem himself. ⁵⁰He then, with his purchaser, shall calculate from the year when he sold himself to him up to the year of jubilee; and the price of his sale shall correspond to the number of years calculated. It is like the days of a hired worker that he will be with him. ⁵¹If there are still many years remaining, he shall refund part of his purchase price in proportion to them for his own redemption; ⁵²but if few years remain until the year of jubilee, he shall so calculate with him. In proportion to his years he is to refund the amount for his redemption. ⁵³He shall be with him like a worker hired year by year; he shall not rule over him with severity in your sight. ⁵⁴Even if he is not redeemed by these means, he shall still leave in the year of jubilee, he and his sons with him. ⁵⁵For the sons of Israel are My servants; they are My servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.