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Leviticus 25:23-31
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Leviticus 25:23-31
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
23 The land shall not be sold irrevocably; for the land is mine, and you are but resident aliens and under my authority. 24 Therefore, in every part of the country that you occupy, you must permit the land to be redeemed. 25 When one of your kindred is reduced to poverty and has to sell some property, that person’s closest relative,[a] who has the duty to redeem it, shall come and redeem what the relative has sold.(A) 26 If, however, the person has no relative to redeem it, but later on acquires sufficient means to redeem it, 27 the person shall calculate the years since the sale, return the balance to the one to whom it was sold, and thus regain the property.(B) 28 But if the person does not acquire sufficient means to buy back the land, what was sold shall remain in the possession of the purchaser until the year of the jubilee, when it must be released and returned to the original owner.(C)
29 [b]When someone sells a dwelling in a walled town, it can be redeemed up to a full year after its sale—the redemption period is one year. 30 But if such a house in a walled town has not been redeemed at the end of a full year, it shall belong irrevocably to the purchaser throughout the generations; it shall not be released in the jubilee. 31 However, houses in villages that are not encircled by walls shall be reckoned as part of the surrounding farm land; they may be redeemed, and in the jubilee they must be released.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 25:25 A close family member is responsible for redemption. Some of these are specified in v. 49.
- 25:29–31 Not being able to redeem a house in a walled city after one year is probably due to the demographic and economic situation of large towns as opposed to small villages and open agricultural areas. The agricultural lands associated with the latter were the foundation for the economic viability of the Israelite family, and as such, God—who is the ultimate owner of the land (25:23)—has assigned them to the Israelites as permanent holdings.
Leviticus 25:23-31
New International Version
Leviticus 25:23-31
New International Version
23 “‘The land(A) must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine(B) and you reside in my land as foreigners(C) and strangers. 24 Throughout the land that you hold as a possession, you must provide for the redemption(D) of the land.
25 “‘If one of your fellow Israelites becomes poor and sells some of their property, their nearest relative(E) is to come and redeem(F) what they have sold. 26 If, however, there is no one to redeem it for them but later on they prosper(G) and acquire sufficient means to redeem it themselves, 27 they are to determine the value for the years(H) since they sold it and refund the balance to the one to whom they sold it; they can then go back to their own property.(I) 28 But if they do not acquire the means to repay, what was sold will remain in the possession of the buyer until the Year of Jubilee. It will be returned(J) in the Jubilee, and they can then go back to their property.(K)
29 “‘Anyone who sells a house in a walled city retains the right of redemption a full year after its sale. During that time the seller may redeem it. 30 If it is not redeemed before a full year has passed, the house in the walled city shall belong permanently to the buyer and the buyer’s descendants. It is not to be returned in the Jubilee. 31 But houses in villages without walls around them are to be considered as belonging to the open country. They can be redeemed, and they are to be returned in the Jubilee.
New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
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