Legacy Standard Bible

Leviticus 25:39-55

39aIf a brother 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 man, as aif he were a foreign resident; he shall serve with you until the year of jubilee. 41He shall then go out from you, he and his sons with him, and shall return to his family, that he may return to the possession of the land of his fathers. 42For they are My slaves whom I brought out from the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold in a slave sale. 43aYou shall not have dominion over him with brutality, but you shall fear your God. 44As for your male and female slaves whom you may have—you may acquire male and female slaves from the nations that are around you. 45And also you may acquire from the sons of the foreign residents who sojourn among you, from them and their families who are with you; as for those whom they have begotten in your land, they also may become your possession. 46You may even give them as an inheritance to your sons after you, to receive as a possession; you can use them as permanent slaves. aBut in respect to your brothers, the sons of Israel, you shall not have dominion over one another with brutality.

Redemption from a Sojourner

47Now if the 1means of a sojourner or of a foreign resident with you becomes sufficient, and a brother of yours becomes so poor with regard to him as to sell himself to a sojourner who resides with you or to the descendants of a sojourner’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 1,aif 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. It is like the days of a hired man that he shall be with him. 51If there are still many years, ahe shall return part of his purchase price in proportion to them for his own redemption; 52and if few years remain until the year of jubilee, he shall so calculate with him. In proportion to his years he shall return the amount for his redemption. 53Like a man hired year by year he shall be with him; ahe shall not have dominion over him with brutality in your sight. 54Even if he is not redeemed by 1these means, ahe shall still go out in the year of jubilee, he and his sons with him. 55For the sons of Israel are My slaves; they are My slaves whom I brought out from the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God.