Rules for the Ruler

¹⁶ “‘This is what the Lord God says: If the ruler gives a gift from his land to any of his sons, that land will belong to the son and then to the son’s children. It is their property passed down from their family. ¹⁷ But if the ruler gives a gift from his land to any of his servants, that land will belong to the servant only until the year of freedom. Then the land will go back to the ruler. Only the ruler’s sons may keep a gift of land from the ruler. ¹⁸ The ruler must not take any of the people’s land, forcing them out of their land. He must give his sons some of his own land so my people will not be scattered out of their own land.’”