Part 26

And the LORD spake unto Moses in mount Sinai saying, speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them: When ye be come in to the land which I give you, let the land rest a Sabbath unto the LORD. Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt cut thy vines and gather in thy fruits. But the seventh year shall be a Sabbath of rest unto the land. The LORD's Sabbath it shall be, and thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor cut thy vines. The corn that groweth by itself thou shalt not reap, neither gather the grapes that grow without thy dressing: but it shall be a Sabbath of rest unto the land. Nevertheless the Sabbath of the land shall be meat for you: even for thee and thy servant and for thy maid and for thy hired servant and for the stranger that dwelleth with thee: and for thy cattle and for the beasts that are in thy land, shall all the increase thereof be meat. Then number seven weeks of years, that is, seven times seven years: and the space of the seven weeks of years will be unto thee forty nine years. And then thou shalt make an horn blow: even in the tenth day of the seventh month, which is the day of atonement. And then shall ye make the horn blow, even thorowout all your land. And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty thorowout the land unto all the inhabiters thereof. It shall be a year of horns blowing unto you and ye shall return: every man unto his possession and every man unto his kindred again. A year of horns blowing shall that fiftieth year be unto you. Ye shall not sow neither reap the corn that groweth by itself, nor gather the grapes that grow without thy labour. For it is a year of horns blowing and shall be holy unto you: how be it, yet ye shall eat of the increase of the field. And in this year of horns blowing ye shall return, every man unto his possession again. When thou sellest ought unto thy neighbour or buyest of thy neighbour's hand, ye shall not oppress one another: but according to the number of years after the trompet year, thou shalt buy of thy neighbour, and according unto the number of fruit years, he shall sell unto thee. According unto the multitude of years, thou shalt increase the price thereof and according to the fewness of years, thou shalt minish the price: for the number of fruit he shall sell unto thee. And see that no man oppress his neighbour, but fear thy God. For I am the LORD your God. Wherefore do after mine ordinances and keep my laws and do them, that ye may dwell in the land in safety. And the land shall give her fruit, and ye shall eat your fill and dwell therein in safety. If ye shall say, what shall we eat the seventh year inasmuch as we shall not sow nor gather in our increase?. I will send my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years: and ye shall sow the eighth year and eat of old fruit until the ninth year, and even until her fruits come, ye shall eat of old store. Wherefore the land shall not be sold for ever, because that the land is mine, and ye but strangers and sojourners with me: and ye shall thorowout all the land of your possession, let the land go home free again. When thy brother is waxed poor and hath sold away of his possession: if any of his kin come to redeem it, he shall buy out that which his brother sold. And though he have no man to redeem it for him, yet if his hand can get sufficient to buy it out again, then let him count how long it hath been sold, and deliver the rest unto him to whom he sold it, and so he shall return unto his possession again. But and if his hand can not get sufficient to restore it to him again, then that which is sold shall remain in the hand of him that hath bought it, until the horn year: {jubilee} and in the horn year {of Jubilee} it shall come out, and he shall return unto his possession again. If a man sell a dwelling house in a walled city, he may buy it out again any time within a whole year after it is sold: and that shall be the space in which he may redeem it again. But and if it be not bought out again within the space of a full year, then the house in the walled city shall be stablished for ever unto him that bought it and to his successors after him and shall not go out in the trompet year. {of jubilee} But the houses in villages which have no walls round about them, shall be counted like unto the fields of the country, and may be bought out again at any season, and shall go out free in the trompet year. {of jubilee} Notwithstanding the cities of the Levites and the houses in the cities of their possessions the Levites may redeem at all seasons. And if a man purchase ought of the Levites: whether it be house or city that they possess, the bargain shall go out in the trompet year {of jubilee} for the houses of the cities of the Levites, are their possessions among the children of Israel. But the fields that lie round about their cities, shall not be bought: for they are their possessions for ever. If thy brother be waxed poor and fallen in decay with thee, receive him as a stranger or a sojourner, and let him live by thee. And thou shalt take none usury of him, nor yet vantage. But shalt fear thy God, that thy brother may live with thee. Thou shalt not lend him thy money upon usury, nor lend him of thy food to have advantage by it for I am the LORD your God which brought you out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God. If thy brother that dwelleth by thee wax poor and sell himself unto thee, thou shalt not let him labour as a bondservant doeth: but as an hired servant and as a sojourner he shall be with thee, and shall serve thee unto the trompet year, {of jubilee} and then shall he depart from thee: both he and his children with him, and shall return unto his own kindred again and unto the possessions of his fathers; for they are my servants which I brought out of the land of Egypt, and shall not be sold as bondmen. See therefore that thou reign not over him cruelly, but fear thy God. If thou wilt have bondservants and maidens, thou shalt buy them of the heathen that are round about you, and of the children of the strangers that are sojourners among you, and of their generations that are with you, which they begat in your land. And ye shall possess them and give them unto your children after you, to possess them for ever: and they shall be your bond men. But over your brethren the children of Israel, ye shall not reign one over another cruelly. When a stranger and a sojourner waxeth rich by thee, and thy brother that dwelleth by him waxeth poor and sell himself unto the stranger that dwelleth by thee or to any of the stranger's kin: after that he is sold he may be redeemed again: one of his brethren may buy him out: whether it be his uncle or his uncle's son, or any that is nye of kin unto him of his kindred: either if his hand can get so much he may be loosed. And he shall reckon with him that bought him, from the year that he was sold in unto the trompet year, and the price of his buying shall be according unto the number of years, and he shall be with him as a hired servant. If there be yet many years behind, according unto them he shall give again for his deliverance, of the money that he was sold for. If there remain but few years unto the trompet year, he shall so count with him, and according unto his years give him again for his redemption, and shall be with him year by year as an hired servant, and the other shall not reign cruelly over him in thy sight. If he be not bought free in the meantime, then he shall go out in the trompet year and his children with him; for the children of Israel are my servants which I brought out of the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.

Chapter .xxvi.

Ye shall make you no idols, nor graven image, neither rear you up any pillar, neither ye shall set up any image of stone in your land to bow your selves thereto: for I am the LORD your God; keep my Sabbaths and fear my sanctuary. For I am the LORD. If ye shall walk in mine ordinances and keep my commandments and do them, then I will send you rain in the right season and your land shall yield her increase and the trees of the field shall give their fruit. And the threshing shall reach unto wine harvest, and the wine harvest shall reach unto sowing time, and ye shall eat your bread in plenteousness, and shall dwell in your land peaceably. And I will send peace in your land, that ye shall sleep, and no man shall make you afraid. And I will rid evil beasts out of your land, and there shall no sword go thorowout your land. And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you upon the sword. And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight, and your enemies shall fall before you upon the sword. And I will turn unto you and increase you and multiply you, and set up my testament with you. And ye shall eat old store, and cast out the old for plenteousness of the new. I will make my dwelling place among you, and my soul shall not loathe you. And I will walk among you and will be your God, and ye shall be my people. For I am the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of the Egyptians, that ye should not be their bondmen, and I brake the bows of your yokes, and made you go up right. But and if ye will not hearken unto me, nor will do all these my commandments, or if ye shall despise mine ordinances either if your souls refuse my laws, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but shall break mine appointment: then I will do this again unto you: I will visit you with vexations, swelling and fevers, that shall make your eyes dazzle, and with sorrows of heart. And ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. And I will set my face against you and ye shall fall before your enemies, and they that hate you shall reign over you, and ye shall flee when no man followeth you. And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then will I punish you seven times more for your sins, and will break the pride of your strength. For I will make the heaven over you as hard as iron, and your land as hard as brass. And so your labour shall be spent in vain. For your land shall not give her increase, neither the trees of the land shall give their fruits. And if ye walk contrary unto me and will not hearken unto me, I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins. I will send in wild beasts upon you, which shall rob you of your children and destroy your cattle, and make you so few in number that your high ways shall grow unto a wilderness. And if ye will not be learned yet for all this but shall walk contrary unto me, then will I also walk contrary unto you and will punish you yet seven times for your sins. I will send a sword upon you, that shall avenge my testament with you. And when ye are fled unto your cities, I will send the pestilence among you, ye shall be delivered into the hands of your enemies. And when I have broken the staff of your bread: that ten wives shall bake your bread in one oven and men shall deliver you your bread again by weight, then shall ye eat and shall not be satisfied. And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, but shall walk contrary unto me, then I will walk contrary unto you also wrathfully, and will also chastise you seven times for your sins: so that ye shall eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters. And I will destroy your altars built upon high hills, and overthrow your images, and cast your carcasses upon the bodies of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you. And I will make your cities desolate, and bring your sanctuaries unto nought, and will not smell the savours of your sweet odours. And I will bring the land unto a wilderness: so that your enemies which dwell therein shall wonder at it. And I will straw you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you, and your land shall be waste, and your cities desolate. Then the land shall rejoice in her Sabbaths, as long as it lieth void and ye in your enemies' land: even then shall the land keep holy day and rejoice in her Sabbaths. And as long as it lieth void it shall rest, for that it could not rest in your Sabbaths, when ye dwelt therein. And upon them that are left alive of you, I will send a faintness into their hearts in the land of their enemies: so that the sound of a leaf that falleth, shall chase them and they shall flee as though they fled a sword, and shall fall no man following them. And they shall fall one upon another, as it were before a sword even no man following them, and ye shall have no power to stond before your enemies: And ye shall perish among the heathen, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up. And they that are left of you, shall pine away in their unrighteousness, even in their enemies' land, and also in the misdeeds of their fathers shall they consume. And they shall confess their misdeeds and the misdeeds of their fathers in their trespasses which they have trespassed against me, and for that also that they have walked contrary unto me. Therefore I also will walk contrary unto them, and will bring them into the land of their enemies. And then at the least way their uncircumcised hearts shall be tamed, and then they shall make an atonement for their misdeeds. And I will remember my bond with Iacob and my testament with Isaac, and my testament with Abraham, and will think on the land. For the land shall be left of them and shall have pleasure in her Sabbaths, while she lieth waste without them, and they shall make an atonement for their misdeeds, because they despised my laws and their souls refused mine ordinances. And yet for all that when they be in the land of their enemies, I will not so cast them away nor my soul shall not so abhor them, that I will utterly destroy them and break mine appointment with them: for I am the LORD their God. I will therefore remember unto them the first covenant made when I brought them out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the heathen to be their God: for I am the LORD. These are the ordinances, judgements, and laws which the LORD made between him and the children of Israel in mount Sinai by the hand of Moses.

Chapter .xxvij.

And the LORD spake unto Moses saying: speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them: If any man will give a singular vow unto the LORD according to the value of his soul, then shall the male from twenty years unto forty be set at fifty sicles of silver, after the sicle of the sanctuary, and the female at thirty sicles. And from five years to twenty the male shall be set at twenty sicles, and the female at ten sicles. And from a month unto five years, the male shall be set at five sicles of silver, and the female at three. And the man that is forty and above, shall be valued at fifteen sicles, and the woman at ten. If he be too poor so to be set, then let him come before the priest: and let the priest value him, according as the hand of him that vowed is able to get. If it be of the beasts of which men bring an offering unto the LORD: all that any man giveth of such unto the LORD, shall be holy. He may not alter it nor change it: a good for a bad or a bad for good. If he change beast for beast, then both the same beast and it also wherewith it was changed shall be holy. If it be any manner of unclean beast of which men may not offer unto the LORD, let him bring the beast before the priest and let the priest value it. And whether it be good or bad as the priest setteth it, so shall it be. And if he will buy it again, let him give the fifth part more to that it was set at. If any man dedicate his house, it shall be holy unto the LORD. And the priest shall set it; whether it be good or bad, and as the priest hath set it, so it shall be. If he that sanctified it will redeem his house, let him give the fifth part of the money that it was judged at thereto, and it shall be his. If a man hallow a piece of his inherited land unto the LORD, it shall be set according to that it beareth. If it bear an homer of barley, it shall be set at fifty sicles of silver. If he hallow his field immediately from the trompet year, it shall be worth according as it is esteemed. But and if he hallow his field after the trumpet year, the priest shall reckon the price with him according to the years that remain unto the trumpet year, and thereafter it shall be lower set. If he that sanctified the field will redeem it again, let him put the fifth part of the price that it was set at, thereunto, and it shall be his: if he will not it shall be redeemed no more. But when the field goeth out in the trompet year, it shall be holy unto the LORD: even as a thing dedicated, and it shall be the priest's possession. If a man sanctify unto the LORD a field, which he hath bought and is not of his inheritance, then the priest shall reckon with him what it is worth unto the trompet year, {year of jubilee} and he shall give the price that it is set at the same day, and it shall be holy unto the LORD. But in the trompet year, the field shall return unto him of whom he bought it, whose inheritance of land it was. And all setting shall be according to the holy sicle. One sicle maketh twenty geras. But the firstborn of the beasts that pertain unto the LORD, may no man sanctify: whether it be ox or sheep, for they are the LORD's already. If it be an unclean beast, then let him redeem it as it is set at, and give the fifth part more thereto. If it be not redeemed, then let it be sold as it is rated. Notwithstanding no dedicated thing that a man dedicateth unto the LORD, of all his goods, whether it be man or beast or land of his inheritance, shall be sold or redeemed: for all dedicate things are most holy unto the LORD. No dedicated thing therefore that is dedicate of man, may be redeemed, but must needs die. All these tithes of the land, whether it be of the corn of the field or fruit of the trees, shall be holy unto the LORD. If any man will redeem ought of his tithes, let him add the fifth part more thereto. And the tithes of oxen and sheep and of all that goeth under the herdman's keeping, shall be holy tithes unto the LORD. Men shall not look if it be good or bad nor shall change it. If any man change it then both it and that it was changed withall, shall be holy and may not be redeemed. These are the commandments which the LORD gave Moses in charge to give unto the children of Israel in mount Sinai.

The end of the third book of Moses.

The Fourth Book of Moses, called Numbers {Numeri}

Chapter .j.