Bible in Basic English
And in the eighth year you will put in your seed, and get your food from the old stores, till the fruit of the ninth year is ready.
No exchange of land may be for ever, for the land is mine, and you are as my guests, living with me for a time.
Wherever there is property in land, the owner is to have the right of getting it back.
If your brother becomes poor, and has to give up some of his land for money, his nearest relation may come and get back that which his brother has given up.
And if he has no one to get it back for him, and later he himself gets wealth and has enough money to get it back;
Then let him take into account the years from the time when he gave it up, and make up the loss for the rest of the years to him who took it, and so get back his property.
But if he is not able to get it back for himself, then it will be kept by him who gave a price for it, till the year of Jubilee; and in that year it will go back to its first owner and he will have his property again.
And if a man gives his house in a walled town for money, he has the right to get it back for the space of a full year after he has given it up.
And if he does not get it back by the end of the year, then the house in the town will become the property of him who gave the money for it, and of his children for ever; it will not go from him in the year of Jubilee.
But houses in small unwalled towns will be the same as property in the country; they may be got back, and they will go back to their owners in the year of Jubilee.
But the houses in the towns of the Levites may be got back by the Levites at any time.
And if a Levite does not give money to get back his property, his house in the town which was exchanged for money will come back to him in the year of Jubilee. For the houses of the towns of the Levites are their property among the children of Israel.
But the land on the outskirts of their towns may not be exchanged for money, for it is their property for ever.
And if your brother becomes poor and is not able to make a living, then you are to keep him with you, helping him as you would a man from another country who is living among you.
Take no interest from him, in money or in goods, but have the fear of your God before you, and let your brother make a living among you.
Do not take interest on the money which you let him have or on the food which you give him.
I am the Lord your God, who took you out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan, that I might be your God.
And if your brother becomes poor and gives himself to you for money, do not make use of him like a servant who is your property;
But let him be with you as a servant working for payment, till the year of Jubilee;
Then he will go out from you, he and his children with him, and go back to his family and to the property of his fathers.
For they are my servants whom I took out from the land of Egypt; they may not become the property of another.
Do not be a hard master to him, but have the fear of God before you.
But you may get servants as property from among the nations round about; from them you may take men-servants and women-servants.
And in addition, you may get, for money, servants from among the children of other nations who are living with you, and from their families which have come to birth in your land; and these will be your property.
And they will be your children's heritage after you, to keep as their property; they will be your servants for ever; but you may not be hard masters to your countrymen, the children of Israel.
And if one from another nation living among you gets wealth, and your countryman, at his side, becomes poor and gives himself for money to the man from another nation or to one of his family;
After he has given himself he has the right to be made free, for a price, by one of his brothers,
Or his father's brother, or the son of his father's brother, or any near relation; or if he gets money, he may make himself free.
And let the years be numbered from the time when he gave himself to his owner till the year of Jubilee, and the price given for him will be in relation to the number of years, on the scale of the payment of a servant.
If there is still a long time, he will give back, on account of it, a part of the price which was given for him.
And if there is only a short time, he will take account of it with his master, and in relation to the number of years he will give back the price of making him free.
And he will be with him as a servant working for payment year by year; his master is not to be cruel to him before your eyes.
And if he is not made free in this way, he will go out in the year of Jubilee, he and his children with him.
For the children of Israel are servants to me; they are my servants whom I took out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
— Leviticus 25:22-1964, Bible in Basic English
“And the eighth year you shall sow, and shall eat of the old fruits, until the ninth year: till new grow up, you shall eat the old store. The land also shall not be sold for ever: because it is mine, and you are strangers and sojourners with me. For which cause all the country of your possession shall be under the condition of redemption. If thy brother being impoverished sell his little possession, and his kinsman will: he may redeem what he had sold. But if he have no kinsman, and he himself can find the price to redeem it: The value of the fruits shall be counted from that time when he sold it. And the overplus he shall restore to the buyer, and so shall receive his possession again. But if his hands find not the means to repay the price, the buyer shall have what he bought, until the year of the jubilee. For in that year all that is sold shall return to the owner, and to the ancient possessor. He that selleth a house within the walls of a city, shall have the liberty to redeem it, until one year be expired. If he redeem it not, and the whole year be fully out, the buyer shall possess it, and his posterity for ever, and it cannot be redeemed, not even in the jubilee. But if the house be in a village, that hath no walls, it shall be sold according to the same law as the fields. If it be not redeemed before, in the jubilee it shall return to the owner. The houses of Levites, which are in cities, may always be redeemed. If they be not redeemed, in the jubilee they shall all return to the owners: because the houses of the cities of the Levites are for their possessions among the children of Israel. But let not their suburbs be sold, because it is a perpetual possession. If thy brother be impoverished, and weak of hand, and thou receive him as a stranger and sojourner, and he live with thee: Take not usury of him nor more than thou gavest. Fear thy God, that thy brother may live with thee. Thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury: nor exact of him any increase of fruits. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that I might give you the land of Chanaan, and might be your God. If thy brother constrained by poverty, sell himself to thee: thou shalt not oppress him with the service of bondservants. But he shall be as a hireling, and a sojourner: he shall work with thee until the year of the jubilee. And afterwards he shall go out with his children: and shall return to his kindred and to the possession of his fathers. For they are my servants, and I brought them out of the land of Egypt: let them not be sold as bondmen. Afflict him not by might: but fear thy God. Let your bondmen, and your bondwomen, be of the nations that are round about you: And of the strangers that sojourn among you, or that were born of them in your land. These you shall have for servants: And by right of inheritance shall leave them to your posterity, and shall possess them for ever. But oppress not your brethren the children of Israel by might. If the hand of a stranger or a sojourner grow strong among you, and thy brother being impoverished sell himself to him, or to any of his race: After the sale he may be redeemed. He that will of his brethren shall redeem him: Either his uncle, or his uncle's son, or his kinsman, by blood, or by affinity. But if he himself be able also, he shall redeem himself: Counting only the years from the time of his selling unto the year of the jubilee: and counting the money that he was sold for, according to the number of the years and the reckoning of a hired servant. If there be many years that remain until the jubilee, according to them shall he also repay the price. If few, he shall make the reckoning with him according to the number of the years: and shall repay to the buyer of what remaineth of the years. His wages being allowed for which he served before: he shall not afflict him violently in thy sight. And if by these means he cannot be redeemed, in the year of the jubilee he shall go out with his children. For the children of Israel are my servants, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt. ”
And the land will give her fruit, and you will have food in full measure and be safe in the land.
And if you say, Where will our food come from in the seventh year, when we may not put in seed, or get in the increase
Then I will send my blessing on you in the sixth year, and the land will give fruit enough for three years.
And in the eighth year you will put in your seed, and get your food from the old stores, till the fruit of the ninth year is ready.
No exchange of land may be for ever, for the land is mine, and you are as my guests, living with me for a time.
Wherever there is property in land, the owner is to have the right of getting it back.
If your brother becomes poor, and has to give up some of his land for money, his nearest relation may come and get back that which his brother has given up.
And if he has no one to get it back for him, and later he himself gets wealth and has enough money to get it back;
Then let him take into account the years from the time when he gave it up, and make up the loss for the rest of the years to him who took it, and so get back his property.
But if he is not able to get it back for himself, then it will be kept by him who gave a price for it, till the year of Jubilee; and in that year it will go back to its first owner and he will have his property again.
And if a man gives his house in a walled town for money, he has the right to get it back for the space of a full year after he has given it up.
And if he does not get it back by the end of the year, then the house in the town will become the property of him who gave the money for it, and of his children for ever; it will not go from him in the year of Jubilee.
But houses in small unwalled towns will be the same as property in the country; they may be got back, and they will go back to their owners in the year of Jubilee.
But the houses in the towns of the Levites may be got back by the Levites at any time.
And if a Levite does not give money to get back his property, his house in the town which was exchanged for money will come back to him in the year of Jubilee. For the houses of the towns of the Levites are their property among the children of Israel.
But the land on the outskirts of their towns may not be exchanged for money, for it is their property for ever.
And if your brother becomes poor and is not able to make a living, then you are to keep him with you, helping him as you would a man from another country who is living among you.
Take no interest from him, in money or in goods, but have the fear of your God before you, and let your brother make a living among you.
Do not take interest on the money which you let him have or on the food which you give him.
I am the Lord your God, who took you out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan, that I might be your God.
And if your brother becomes poor and gives himself to you for money, do not make use of him like a servant who is your property;
But let him be with you as a servant working for payment, till the year of Jubilee;
Then he will go out from you, he and his children with him, and go back to his family and to the property of his fathers.
For they are my servants whom I took out from the land of Egypt; they may not become the property of another.
Do not be a hard master to him, but have the fear of God before you.
But you may get servants as property from among the nations round about; from them you may take men-servants and women-servants.
And in addition, you may get, for money, servants from among the children of other nations who are living with you, and from their families which have come to birth in your land; and these will be your property.
And they will be your children's heritage after you, to keep as their property; they will be your servants for ever; but you may not be hard masters to your countrymen, the children of Israel.
And if one from another nation living among you gets wealth, and your countryman, at his side, becomes poor and gives himself for money to the man from another nation or to one of his family;
After he has given himself he has the right to be made free, for a price, by one of his brothers,
Or his father's brother, or the son of his father's brother, or any near relation; or if he gets money, he may make himself free.
And let the years be numbered from the time when he gave himself to his owner till the year of Jubilee, and the price given for him will be in relation to the number of years, on the scale of the payment of a servant.
If there is still a long time, he will give back, on account of it, a part of the price which was given for him.
And if there is only a short time, he will take account of it with his master, and in relation to the number of years he will give back the price of making him free.
And he will be with him as a servant working for payment year by year; his master is not to be cruel to him before your eyes.
And if he is not made free in this way, he will go out in the year of Jubilee, he and his children with him.
For the children of Israel are servants to me; they are my servants whom I took out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.