Rules about debts and slaves
35 If an Israelite becomes poor, he may not be able to take care of himself. You must help him with the things that he needs. Help him to live with you, as you would help a foreigner or a stranger. 36 If you lend money to him, do not take back more than you gave him. Respect and obey your God. Allow the poor man to live with you as part of your family. 37 If you lend money to him, or you sell food to him, do not take more than its true value. 38 I am the Lord your God who rescued you from the land of Egypt. Now I am giving you the land of Canaan. I have done this to be your God.
39 If a poor Israelite is in debt to you, he might sell himself to you. But you must not make him work for you as a slave. 40 Instead, you must pay him to work as your servant, or like a foreigner who is living with you. He must work for you until the next Jubilee year. 41 In the Jubilee year, he will be free to leave. He and his children can go back to his own family on the land that belongs to his ancestors. 42 Israel's people are my servants. I brought them out of Egypt. So nobody may buy them as slaves. 43 You must not be cruel to poor people. Instead, respect and obey your God.
44 You are allowed to buy male and female slaves, if they are people from other nations. 45 You may also buy people from the families of foreign people who live among you. The children that they give birth to in your land may also become your slaves. 46 Foreign slaves may continue to belong to you for your whole life. After you die, they can belong to your children. But you must not make other Israelites your slaves. You must not be cruel to them.
47 A foreign person who lives with you might become rich. A poor Israelite might be in debt to him. So the Israelite might sell himself to the foreigner or to someone from the foreigner's family. 48 Someone from the family of the poor Israelite always has the chance to buy him back. 49 It may be his brother, his uncle or his cousin. Anyone from his own family may buy him back so that he is free again. And if the poor man himself has success, he can pay to make himself free. 50 The poor man and the foreign man who bought him must decide together the fair price. They must count the number of years that remain until the next Jubilee year. They must decide how much pay a worker would receive during that time. That is the right price for the poor Israelite man to become free.
51 Many years may remain until the Jubilee year. If so, the man must pay most of the sale money to be free. 52 If only a few years remain, the man will pay a smaller price to become free. 53 The foreign person who has bought the Israelite man must pay him each year, as he would pay a worker. Do not allow the foreign owner to be cruel to the Israelite.
54 When the Jubilee year comes, the poor Israelite man must go free, if he has not already become free. His children will go free with him. 55 Israel's people are my own servants. They belong to me because I rescued them from the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’
Leviticus 26
God blesses the people who obey him
1 The Lord said to Moses, ‘You must not make idols for yourselves. Do not use wood or stone to make images or statues of false gods. Do not worship any stone shape that you have put on your land. I am the Lord your God.
2 You must obey my rules about Sabbath days. You must respect my holy tabernacle. I am the Lord.
3 You must carefully obey my laws and my commands. 4 If you do, I will send rain at the proper time each year. The land will provide you with food. Plenty of fruit will grow on your trees. 5 You will continue to bring in grain from your fields until it is time to pick your grapes. And you will continue to pick your grapes until it is time to plant seeds for the next year. You will have all the food to eat that you need. You will live safely in your land.
6 I will cause there to be peace in your land. You will not be afraid of trouble when you lie down to sleep. I will remove dangerous animals from your land. No enemies will come to attack you. 7 You will be able to chase after your enemies and kill them. 8 Five of your men will chase away 100 of your enemies. 100 of your men will chase away 10,000 enemies. You will attack them and kill them.
9 I will help you. I will cause you to have many children so that the number of your people grows. I will do what I have promised to do in my covenant with you. 10 When harvest time comes each year, you will still be eating food that you have stored. You will need to throw food out of your store rooms to make space for the new crops. 11 I will have my home among you. I will never turn against you. 12 I will walk among you. I will be your God and you will be my people. 13 I am the Lord your God. I brought you out from Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves of the Egyptians. I destroyed the power that caused you to suffer. Then you could live as free people.
