Locutusque est Dominus ad Moysen in monte Sinai, dicens:

And there, on mount Sinai, the Lord spoke to Moses,

And the Lord spoke to Moses in mount Sinai, saying:

Loquere filiis Israël, et dices ad eos: Quando ingressi fueritis terram quam ego dabo vobis, sabbatizes sabbatum Domino.

bidding him give these commands to the sons of Israel. When you reach the land I mean to make yours, there will be times of repose to be kept in the Lord’s honour.

Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them: When you shall have entered into the land which I will give you, observe the rest of the sabbath to the Lord.

Sex annis seres agrum tuum, et sex annis putabis vineam tuam, colligesque fructus ejus:

For six years thou mayest sow thy land, for six years thou mayest prune thy vineyard, and gather in its fruit;

Six years thou shalt sow thy field and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and shalt gather the fruits thereof:

septimo autem anno sabbatum erit terræ, requietionis Domini: agrum non seres, et vineam non putabis.

in the seventh year the land must have rest, lie fallow in the Lord’s honour; no field must be sown, no vineyard pruned.

But in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath to the land, of the resting of the Lord: thou shalt not sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.

Quæ sponte gignet humus, non metes: et uvas primitiarum tuarum non colliges quasi vindemiam: annus enim requietionis terræ est:

Thou shalt not make a harvest of the land’s aftergrowth, or hoard up, at vintage time, the dedicated grapes, in this year when all is repose;

What the ground shall bring forth of itself, thou shalt not reap: neither shalt thou gather the grapes or the firstfruits as a vintage: for it is a year of rest to the land:

sed erunt vobis in cibum, tibi et servo tuo, ancillæ et mercenario tuo, et advenæ qui peregrinantur apud te:

thou shalt leave them to be sustenance, as need arises, for thyself, thy slaves and slave-women, thy hired labourers, and the aliens in thy household;

But they shall be unto you for meat, to thee and to thy manservant, to thy maidservant and thy hireling, and to the strangers that sojourn with thee:

jumentis tuis et pecoribus, omnia quæ nascuntur præbebunt cibum.

for thy beasts of burden, too, and for thy cattle, the aftergrowth shall provide food enough.

All things that grow shall be meat to thy beasts and to thy cattle.

Numerabis quoque tibi septem hebdomadas annorum, id est, septies septem, quæ simul faciunt annos quadraginta novem:

Of these cycles of seven years thou shalt count seven, forty-nine years in all,

Thou shalt also number to thee seven weeks of years, that is to say, seven times seven, which together make forty-nine years:

et clanges buccina mense septimo, decima die mensis, propitiationis tempore, in universa terra vestra.

and then, on the tenth day of the seventh month, the day of atonement, there shall be sounding of trumpets all through the land.

And thou shalt sound the trumpet in the seventh month, the tenth day of the month, in the time of the expiation in all your land.

Sanctificabisque annum quinquagesimum, et vocabis remissionem cunctis habitatoribus terræ tuæ: ipse est enim jubilæus. Revertetur homo ad possessionem suam, et unusquisque rediet ad familiam pristinam:

The fiftieth year thou shalt set apart, by proclaiming release to all that dwell in thy country; it is the year of jubilee, in which every man comes into his own lands again, and is restored to his old home.

And thou shalt sanctify the fiftieth year, and shalt proclaim remission to all the inhabitants of thy land: for it is the year of jubilee. Every man shall return to his possession, and every one shall go back to his former family:

quia jubilæus est, et quinquagesimus annus. Non seretis neque metetis sponte in agro nascentia, et primitias vindemiæ non colligetis,

In this fiftieth year, the year of jubilee, thou shalt neither sow crops nor make a harvest of the aftergrowth, nor gather in the dedicated grapes;

Because it is the jubilee and the fiftieth year. You shall not sow, nor reap the things that grow in the field of their own accord, neither shall you gather the firstfruits of the vines,

ob sanctificationem jubilæi: sed statim oblata comedetis.

that would profane the jubilee; all must be eaten as it comes to hand.

Because of the sanctification of the jubilee: but as they grow you shall presently eat them.

Anno jubilæi, redient omnes ad possessiones suas.

In the year of jubilee, everyone will come into his own lands again.

In the year of the jubilee all shall return to their possessions.

Quando vendes quippiam civi tuo, vel emes ab eo, ne contristes fratrem tuum, sed juxta numerum annorum jubilæi emes ab eo,

If, then, thou art selling land to one of thy fellow-countrymen, or buying it from him, do not drive a hard bargain with him. If thou art buying, take into account the number of years since the jubilee,

When thou shalt sell any thing to thy neighbour, or shalt buy of him; grieve not thy brother: but thou shalt buy of him according to the number of years from the jubilee.

et juxta supputationem frugum vendet tibi.

and pay him according to what value there is in the remaining harvests.

And he shall sell to thee according to the computation of the fruits.

Quanto plures anni remanserint post jubilæum, tanto crescet et pretium: et quanto minus temporis numeraveris, tanto minoris et emptio constabit: tempus enim frugum vendet tibi.

If many years are still to run before the next jubilee, the price will be higher; if few, the price must be brought down. It is but the succession of so many harvests that he is selling thee.

The more years remain after the jubilee, the more shall the price increase: and the less time is counted, so much the less shall the purchase cost. For he shall sell to thee the time of the fruits.

Nolite affligere contribules vestros, sed timeat unusquisque Deum suum, quia ego Dominus Deus vester.

Do not take advantage of your own fellow-countrymen; each of you has a divine vengeance to reckon with; the vengeance of the Lord, your God.

Do not afflict your countrymen, but let every one fear his God: because I am the Lord your God.

Facite præcepta mea, et judicia custodite, et implete ea: ut habitare possitis in terra absque ullo pavore,

Do my bidding, remember the decrees I make, and carry them out; so you shall remain secure in your possession of the land;

Do my precepts, and keep my judgments, and fulfil them: that you may dwell in the land without any fear,

et gignat vobis humus fructus suos, quibus vescamini usque ad saturitatem, nullius impetum formidantes.

such crops it will bear as shall give you food to your hearts’ content, shall deliver you, come what enemy may, from fear of famine.

And the ground may yield you its fruits, of which you may eat your fill, fearing no man’s invasion.

Quod si dixeritis: Quid comedemus anno septimo, si non severimus, neque collegerimus fruges nostras?

Would you ask, how you are to live in the seventh year, since you have neither sowed nor gathered in crops?

But if you say: What shall we eat the seventh year, if we sow not, nor gather our fruits?

dabo benedictionem meam vobis anno sexto, et faciet fructus trium annorum:

Be assured that in the sixth year my blessing shall be upon the land, and it will yield food for three years to come;

I will give you my blessing the sixth year, and it shall yield the fruits of three years:

seretisque anno octavo, et comedetis veteres fruges usque ad nonum annum: donec nova nascantur, edetis vetera.

you will still be enjoying the old harvest, when you sow in the eighth year, still be enjoying the old harvest, when the ninth year comes and you can reap the new.

And the eighth year you shall sow, and shall eat of the old fruits, until the ninth year: till new grow up, you shall eat the old store.

Terra quoque non vendetur in perpetuum, quia mea est, et vos advenæ et coloni mei estis:

The land must not be sold in perpetuity; it is mine, and you come into it as strangers whom I have settled there.

The land also shall not be sold for ever: because it is mine, and you are strangers and sojourners with me.

unde cuncta regio possessionis vestræ sub redemptionis conditione vendetur.

Nothing that is yours must be sold but on the condition that it can be redeemed.

For which cause all the country of your possession shall be under the condition of redemption.

Si attenuatus frater tuus vendiderit possessiunculam suam, et voluerit propinquus ejus, potest redimere quod ille vendiderat.

If thy brother-Israelite falls on evil days, and must sell thee his little plot of ground, his next of kin, if he will, may redeem what was sold.

If thy brother being impoverished sell his little possession, and his kinsman will, he may redeem what he had sold.

Sin autem non habuerit proximum, et ipse pretium ad redimendum potuerit invenire,

Or, if he has no near kinsman, but is able to find the money himself,

But if he have no kinsman, and he himself can find the price to redeem it:

computabuntur fructus ex eo tempore quo vendidit: et quod reliquum est, reddet emptori, sicque recipiet possessionem suam.

let him pay the sale price, less the value of the crops since the time of the sale, and so recover possession.

The value of the fruits shall be counted from that time when he sold it: and the overplus he shall restore to the buyer, and so shall receive his possession again.

Quod si non invenerit manus ejus ut reddat pretium, habebit emptor quod emerat, usque ad annum jubilæum. In ipso enim omnis venditio redibit ad dominum et ad possessorem pristinum.

If he cannot find the money, then the buyer will remain in possession till the year of jubilee comes; that year, all which has been sold comes back to its true master, who held it in earlier days.

But if his hands find not the means to repay the price, the buyer shall have what he bought, until the year of the jubilee. For in that year all that is sold shall return to the owner, and to the ancient possessor.

Qui vendiderit domum intra urbis muros, habebit licentiam redimendi, donec unus impleatur annus.

The man who sells a house within the walls of a city, is free to effect its redemption till a year has passed;

He that selleth a house within the walls of a city, shall have the liberty to redeem it, until one year be expired:

Si non redemerit, et anni circulus fuerit evolutus, emptor possidebit eam, et posteri ejus in perpetuum, et redimi non poterit, etiam in jubilæo.

if it remains unredeemed at the end of the year, it passes into the possession of the man who bought it, and of his heirs in perpetuity; there is no redeeming it now, even in the year of jubilee.

If he redeem it not, and the whole year be fully out, the buyer shall possess it, and his posterity for ever, and it cannot be redeemed, not even in the jubilee.

Sin autem in villa domus, quæ muros non habet, agrorum jure vendetur: si ante redempta non fuerit, in jubilæo revertetur ad dominum.

But if the house stands in some unwalled village, there is the same right of redemption as if it were land; it will return to its true master in the year of jubilee, if he has not redeemed it first.

But if the house be in a village, that hath no walls, it shall be sold according to the same law as the fields: if it be not redeemed before, in the jubilee it shall return to the owner.

Ædes Levitarum quæ in urbibus sunt, semper possunt redimi:

The houses which the Levites own in their cities can always be redeemed,

The houses of Levites, which are in cities, may always be redeemed:

si redemptæ non fuerint, in jubilæo revertentur ad dominos, quia domus urbium Levitarum pro possessionibus sunt inter filios Israël.

and if they are not redeemed they return to their masters in the jubilee year; that is because the Levites have been granted their cities in lieu of lands such as their brethren enjoy.

If they be not redeemed, in the jubilee they shall all return to the owners, because the houses of the cities of the Levites are for their possessions among the children of Israel.

Suburbana autem eorum non veneant, quia possessio sempiterna est.

The land round their cities must never be sold; it is their inalienable property.

But let not their suburbs be sold, because it is a perpetual possession.

Si attenuatus fuerit frater tuus, et infirmus manu, et susceperis eum quasi advenam et peregrinum, et vixerit tecum,

If thy brother-Israelite falls on evil days, or his strength fails him, and thou givest him lodging as if he were some alien guest of thine,

If thy brother be impoverished, and weak of hand, and thou receive him as a stranger and sojourner, and he live with thee,

ne accipias usuras ab eo, nec amplius quam dedisti: time Deum tuum, ut vivere possit frater tuus apud te.

thou shalt not claim interest over and above what thou hast spent on him. Thou hast the vengeance of thy God to fear; see to it that thy brother has freedom to lodge with thee.

Take not usury of him nor more than thou gavest: fear thy God, that thy brother may live with thee.

Pecuniam tuam non dabis ei ad usuram, et frugum superabundantiam non exiges.

It is not for thee to receive interest on what thou spendest, and entertain him to thy own profit.

Thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury, nor exact of him any increase of fruits.

Ego Dominus Deus vester, qui eduxi vos de terra Ægypti, ut darem vobis terram Chanaan, et essem vester Deus.

Bethink you how I, the Lord your God, rescued you from Egypt and gave you a home in Chanaan, to make you mine.

I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that I might give you the land of Chanaan, and might be your God.

Si paupertate compulsus vendiderit se tibi frater tuus, non eum opprimes servitute famulorum,

And if thy brother-Israelite is brought by poverty to sell his own liberty to thee, do not submit him to bondage with thy slaves;

If thy brother constrained by poverty, sell himself to thee, thou shalt not oppress him with the service of bondservants:

sed quasi mercenarius et colonus erit: usque ad annum jubilæum operabitur apud te,

let him work in thy household as if he were a hired servant or a free alien, till the year of jubilee comes.

But he shall be as a hireling, and a sojourner: he shall work with thee until the year of the jubilee,

et postea egredietur cum liberis suis, et revertetur ad cognationem, ad possessionem patrum suorum.

Then, with his children, he must be restored to his kindred and to his ancestral lands.

And afterwards he shall go out with his children, and shall return to his kindred and to the possession of his fathers,

Mei enim servi sunt, et ego eduxi eos de terra Ægypti: non veneant conditione servorum:

The Israelites know no master but me, their rescuer from Egypt; they must not be bought and sold like slaves;

For they are my servants, and I brought them out of the land of Egypt: let them not be sold as bondmen:

ne affligas eum per potentiam, sed metuito Deum tuum.

do not use thy power over him, then, to treat him ill, as thou fearest God’s vengeance.

Afflict him not by might, but fear thy God.

Servus et ancilla sint vobis de nationibus quæ in circuitu vestro sunt:

Your men-slaves and women-slaves must come from the nations round about you;

Let your bondmen, and your bondwomen, be of the nations that are round about you.

et de advenis qui peregrinantur apud vos, vel qui ex his nati fuerint in terra vestra, hos habebitis famulos:

or they must be aliens who have come to dwell among you, or children of theirs born on your soil; these you may hold as chattels,

And of the strangers that sojourn among you, or that were born of them in your land, these you shall have for servants:

et hæreditario jure transmittetis ad posteros, ac possidebitis in æternum: fratres autem vestros filios Israël ne opprimatis per potentiam.

passing them on to your children by right of inheritance, as belonging to you in perpetuity; but you must not lord it over your brother-Israelites.

And by right of inheritance shall leave them to your posterity, and shall possess them for ever. But oppress not your brethren the children of Israel by might.

Si invaluerit apud vos manus advenæ atque peregrini, et attenuatus frater tuus vendiderit se ei, aut cuiquam de stirpe ejus:

If an alien comes to dwell among you and grows rich, and one of thy brother-Israelites sells his liberty to this man, or to some descendant of his,

If the hand of a stranger or a sojourner grow strong among you, and thy brother being impoverished sell himself to him, or to any of his race:

post venditionem potest redimi. Qui voluerit ex fratribus suis, redimet eum,

there is still opportunity for him to be redeemed after the sale. He may be redeemed by any of his clan,

After the sale he may be redeemed. He that will of his brethren shall redeem him:

et patruus, et patruelis, et consanguineus, et affinis. Sin autem et ipse potuerit, redimet se,

uncle or cousin or kinsman by blood or kinsman by affinity. Nay, if he can lay hands on the money, he may redeem himself.

Either his uncle, or his uncle’s son, or his kinsman, by blood, or by affinity. But if he himself be able also, he shall redeem himself,

supputatis dumtaxat annis a tempore venditionis suæ usque ad annum jubilæum: et pecunia, qua venditus fuerat, juxta annorum numerum, et rationem mercenarii supputata.

In doing so, he will reckon up the number of years from the time of his sale to the next jubilee, and divide the price he was sold for by the number of years, as if he was a hireling paid yearly wages.

Counting only the years from the time of his selling unto the year of the jubilee: and counting the money that he was sold for, according to the number of the years and the reckoning of a hired servant,

Si plures fuerint anni qui remanent usque ad jubilæum, secundum hos reddet et pretium:

If there are many years to run before the jubilee, he must pay the full price for them;

If there be many years that remain until the jubilee, according to them shall he also repay the price.

si pauci, ponet rationem cum eo juxta annorum numerum, et reddet emptori quod reliquum est annorum,

if there are few, he will settle his account by paying his master the value of those few years’ work.

If few, he shall make the reckoning with him according to the number of the years, and shall repay to the buyer of what remaineth of the years,

quibus ante servivit mercedibus imputatis: non affliget eum violenter in conspectu tuo.

Full allowance must be made for the years he has served already; thou shalt not stand by and see him treated unjustly.

His wages being allowed for which he served before: he shall not afflict him violently in thy sight.

Quod si per hæc redimi non potuerit, anno jubilæo egredietur cum liberis suis.

And if, even so, he cannot find the price of his redemption, in the year of jubilee he and his children shall go free.

And if by these means he cannot be redeemed, in the year of the jubilee he shall go out with his children.

Mei enim sunt servi filii Israël, quos eduxi de terra Ægypti.

They are no one’s servants but mine, these sons of Israel whom I rescued from the land of Egypt.

For the children of Israel are my servants, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt.