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Oil for the Lamps

24 The Lord said to Moses, “Tell the people of Israel to bring you pure oil from beaten olives for the light to keep a lamp burning all the time. Outside the curtain of the Law in the meeting tent, Aaron will keep it burning from evening to morning before the Lord always. It will be a Law forever for all your people. He will take care of the lamps on the pure gold lamp-stand before the Lord all the time.

The Bread Gift

“Then take fine flour and bake twelve loaves of bread. Use two jars of flour for each loaf. Set them side by side in two rows, six in each row, on the pure gold table before the Lord. Put pure, sweet-smelling spices on each row to go with the bread as something to be remembered. It is a gift by fire to the Lord. Every Day of Rest he will set it before the Lord all the time. It is a Law forever for the people of Israel. The bread is for Aaron and his sons who will eat it in a holy place. It is a most holy part for him out of the gifts by fire to the Lord. It is his share forever.”

Punishment for a Person Who Spoke against God

10 Now the son of an Israelite woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went among the people of Israel. And the Israelite woman’s son and a man of Israel fought with each other among the tents. 11 The son of the Israelite woman swore against the name of the Lord. So they brought him to Moses. (His mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the family of Dan.) 12 And they kept him shut up until the will of the Lord might be made known to them.

13 Then the Lord said to Moses, 14 “Take the one who has sworn against Me away from the tents. Let all who heard him lay their hands on his head. Then let all the people kill him by throwing stones. 15 Say to the people of Israel, ‘If anyone swears against his God, he will suffer for his own sin. 16 The one who speaks against the name of the Lord will be put to death for sure. All the people will kill him with stones. Both the stranger and those born in the land will be put to death when he speaks against the name of the Lord.

17 ‘If a man takes the life of any human being, he will be put to death for sure. 18 The one who takes the life of an animal will pay for it, a life for a life. 19 If a man hurts his neighbor, it will be done to him just as he has done, 20 broken bone for broken bone, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. Just as he has hurt a man, so he will be hurt. 21 So the one who kills an animal will pay for it with an animal. But the one who kills a man will be put to death. 22 You will have the same Law for the stranger and for the one born among you. For I am the Lord your God.’”

23 Then Moses spoke to the people of Israel. And they took the one who swore against God and brought him away from the tents and killed him with stones. So the people of Israel did as the Lord told Moses.

The Seventh Year—a Year of Rest for the Lord

25 The Lord said to Moses at Mount Sinai, “Say to the people of Israel, ‘When you come to the land I will give you, then the land will have a Year of Rest to the Lord. Six years you will plant seeds in your field. Six years you will take care of your vines and gather their fruit. But the seventh year will be a Year of Rest for the land, a Year of Rest to the Lord. You will not plant seeds in your field or take care of your vines. You will not gather what grows of itself in your field. And do not gather the fruit of the vines that have not been cared for. The land will have a Year of Rest. During the Year of Rest the land will give food for you, for your men and women servants, the man you pay to work for you, and the stranger who lives with you. Even your cattle and the animals in your land will have food to eat.

The Fiftieth Year

‘You are to number seven Years of Rest for yourself, seven times seven years. The time of the seven Years of Rest will be forty-nine years. Then let the horn be heard on the tenth day of the seventh month. On the day to be made free from sin you will let a horn be heard all through your land. 10 You will honor the fiftieth year as holy. And let it be known in all the land that all who are living there are free. It will be a happy time for you. Each of you will return to what is his. Each will return to his family. 11 That fiftieth year will be a happy time for you. You will not plant seeds in the field, or gather the food that grows of itself, or gather fruit from the vines that are not cared for. 12 This is a happy time. It will be holy to you. You will eat from what the field gives.

13 ‘In this Year of Jubilee each one will have what was his. 14 If you sell anything to your neighbor, or buy from your neighbor, do not do wrong to one another. 15 You will pay your neighbor by the number of years since the Year of Jubilee. And he will sell to you by the number of years the food may be gathered. 16 You will make the price more if there are many years, and make the price less if there are few years. For he is selling you the food that is gathered each year. 17 Do not do wrong to one another, but fear your God. I am the Lord your God.

The Seventh Year

18 ‘So keep My Laws and do what I say, and you will be safe living in the land. 19 Then the land will give its food, so you can eat all you want and be safe living there. 20 If you say, “What will we eat in the seventh year if we do not plant seeds or gather in the food of our field?” 21 I will let My good come upon you in the sixth year, so it will give you enough food for three years. 22 When you are planting seeds in the eighth year, you can still eat from the old store of food. You can eat the old food until the food of the ninth year is gathered.

23 ‘The land will not be sold to be kept forever. For the land is Mine. You are only strangers staying with Me. 24 For all the land you have, you must be willing to let it go. 25 When your brother becomes poor and sells some of his land, then one in his family who is near to him is to come and buy what his brother has sold. 26 But a man may have no one to buy his land, and he himself may become able to buy it again. 27 Then he should add up the years since he sold it, and pay what is left of the price to the man to whom he sold it. So he will return to his own land. 28 But if he is not able to buy it again for himself, then what he has sold will belong to the one who bought it until the Year of Jubilee. In the Year of Jubilee it will be let go and he may return to it.

29 ‘If a man sells a house within the walls of a city, he has the right to buy it back for a whole year from the time he sold it. He can buy it during that year. 30 But if it is not bought back again for him within a whole year, then the house within the city walls belongs forever to the family of the one who bought it. It will not be returned to him in the Year of Jubilee. 31 But houses in towns that have no walls will be thought of as open fields. They may be let go, and will be returned in the Year of Jubilee. 32 The houses in the cities of the Levites may be returned to the Levites at any time. 33 If a house is not bought again by a Levite, then the house that was sold in one of their cities will be returned to him in the Year of Jubilee. For the houses of the Levites belong to them among the people of Israel. 34 But the open field of their cities must not be sold. It belongs to them forever.

The Poor Paying Money Back

35 ‘If your brother becomes poor and is not able to pay you what he owes, then you should help him as you would help a stranger or visitor. So he may live with you. 36 Do not make him pay for the use of the money he owes you. But fear your God, so your brother may live with you. 37 Do not make him pay for the use of your money or your food. 38 I am the Lord your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God.

About Servants and Workmen

39 ‘If your brother becomes so poor that he sells himself to you, do not make him work as a servant. 40 He will be as a man who is paid to work for you, as one who is traveling from place to place, until the Year of Jubilee. 41 Then he will leave you, he and his children, that he may return to the land of his fathers. 42 For I brought them out of the land of Egypt as My servants. They are not to be sold as a servant. 43 Do not make it hard for him, but fear your God. 44 Those men and women you may have who are sold as servants will be from the nations around you. 45 You may buy from among the children of the strangers who live among you, and from their families that are with you and were born in your land. You may own them. 46 You may give them to your children after you, to receive as their own. You can have them as servants forever. But do not make it hard for your brothers, the people of Israel.

47 ‘Now a stranger or one visiting you may become rich. And your brother may become so poor that he sells himself to a stranger living among you, or to the children of a stranger’s family. 48 Then he may be made free after he has been sold. One of his brothers may pay the price to free him. 49 His father’s brother, the son of his father’s brother, or one of his own family may pay the price to free him. Or if he becomes rich he may pay the price himself. 50 With the one who bought him he will add the years from the year he sold himself until the Year of Jubilee. The price for him to be set free will be decided upon by the number of years. The time he was with the man who owned him will be as that of a man paid to work for him. 51 If there are still many years, he will return a part of the price which was given for him. 52 If there is only a few years until the Year of Jubilee, he will decide upon the amount of money with his owner. He should pay the price to be set free, decided upon by the number of years. 53 He will be like a man paid to work for him year by year. Make sure his owner does not make it hard for him. 54 Even if the price is not paid for him in this way, he will go free in the Year of Jubilee, he and his children. 55 Because the people of Israel are My servants. They are My servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.

Good Comes to Those Who Obey

26 ‘Do not make gods for yourselves. Do not set up for yourselves something to look like a god or a holy object. Do not set up something cut from stone in your land to bow down to. For I am the Lord your God. Keep My Days of Rest and honor My holy place. I am the Lord. If you live by My Laws and do what I say, I will give you rain at the right time. So the land will give its food and the trees will give their fruit. The crushing of your grain will last until the grapes are gathered. The grape gathering will last until the seeds are planted. You will eat your food until you are full, and be safe living in your land. I will give peace in the land. You will lie down and no one will make you afraid. I will make the land free from the danger of wild animals. And no sword will move through your land. You will go after those who hate you, and they will fall in front of you by the sword. Five of you will go after a hundred. A hundred of you will go after ten thousand. And those who hate you will fall in front of you by the sword. I will care for you and give you many children. I will keep My agreement with you. 10 You will eat last year’s food, and use it all because you will have new. 11 I will make My home among you. My soul will not turn away from you. 12 I will walk among you and be your God. And you will be My people. 13 I am the Lord your God Who brought you out of the land of Egypt so you would not be their servants. I have broken loose the heavy load from your back and made you walk straight.

Punishment to Those Who Do Not Obey

14 ‘But if you do not obey Me and do not do all I say, 15 if you turn away from My Laws and do not want to do what I tell you to do, and do not do it, and so break My agreement, 16 I will do this to you: I will bring upon you much fear, disease that destroys, and sickness that will waste away the eyes and make the body weak. You will plant your seeds for nothing, for those who hate you will eat it. 17 I will turn against you so you will fall in front of those who fight you. Those who hate you will rule over you. You will run away when no one is coming after you. 18 If after all of these things you still do not obey Me, I will punish you seven times more for your sins. 19 I will break the pride you have of your power. I will make your sky like iron and your earth like brass. 20 You will use your strength for nothing. For your land will not give food, and the trees of the land will not give fruit.

21 ‘If you act against Me and will not obey Me, I will bring you seven times more trouble than your sins. 22 I will let the wild animals loose among you. They will rob you of your children and destroy your cattle. They will make you few in number, so that your roads will be empty.

23 ‘If after these things you do not turn to Me, but still go against Me, 24 then I will go against you. I Myself will punish you seven times for your sins. 25 I will bring a sword upon you that will punish you for breaking the agreement. I will send disease among you when you gather together in your cities. So you will be given into the hands of those who hate you. 26 When I take away your bread of life, ten women will make your bread in one stove. They will give out your bread by weight. And you will eat it and not be filled.

27 ‘If you still do not obey Me after all this, but go against Me, 28 then I will go against you with anger. I Myself will punish you seven times for your sins. 29 You will eat the flesh of your sons and daughters. 30 I will destroy your high places and cut down your altars of special perfume. I will throw your dead bodies on what is left of your gods. My soul will hate you. 31 I will destroy your cities also, and your holy places. I will not smell your pleasing smells. 32 I will destroy the land, so those living in it who hate you will be filled with fear because of it. 33 I will divide you among the nations and send the sword after you. Your land will be destroyed and your cities a waste.

34 ‘Then the land will be like new because of its Days of Rest while it lies waste and you are in the land of those who hate you. Then the land will rest and have new life because of the Days of Rest. 35 As long as it lies waste it will have the rest it did not have on your Days of Rest, while you were living in it. 36 Of those of you who are left in the lands of those who hate you, I will make their hearts weak. The sound of a leaf blown by the wind will make them run away even when no one is going after them. They will run away as if it were a sword, and they will fall. 37 They will fall over each other as if running from the sword, when no one is going after them. You will have no strength to stand up in front of those who hate you. 38 You will die among the nations. The land of those who hate you will eat you up. 39 So those of you who are left will waste away in the lands of those who hate you, because of their sins. Also because of the sins of their fathers, they will waste away with them.

40 ‘If they tell their sins and the sins of their fathers which they did when they were not faithful to Me and were against Me with anger, 41 (I also was angry with them and brought them into the land of those who hate them) if their sinful heart loses its pride and they are willing to turn away from their sin, 42 I will remember My agreement with Jacob, My agreement with Isaac, and My agreement with Abraham. And I will remember the land. 43 But the land will be left behind them and become better with its Days of Rest while it lies empty without them. During this time they will turn away from their sin because they had not done what I told them to do and their soul hated My Laws. 44 Yet even when they are in the land of those who hate them, I will not turn away from them. I will not hate them enough to destroy them and break My agreement with them. For I am the Lord their God. 45 But because of them I will remember the agreement with their fathers, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the eyes of the nations, to be their God. I am the Lord.’”

46 These are the Laws which the Lord made between Himself and the people of Israel through Moses at Mount Sinai.

Laws about Gifts to the Lord

27 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to the sons of Israel, ‘When a man makes a special promise, you will decide upon the worth of this person for the Lord. The price you put on a man from twenty to sixty years old will be fifty pieces of silver, by the weight of the holy place. For a woman it will be thirty pieces of silver. For a male from five to twenty years old it will be twenty pieces of silver. For a woman it will be ten pieces of silver. Your price for a child from one month to five years old will be five pieces of silver for the boy, and three pieces of silver for the girl. Your price for a person sixty years old and older will be fifteen pieces of silver for the man, and ten pieces of silver for the woman. But if the person is too poor to pay your price, he will be brought to the religious leader. The religious leader will decide the worth of the person by how much he who made the promise is able to pay.

‘If it is a kind of animal which men give as a gift to the Lord, any such animal that is given to the Lord will be holy. 10 He must not have another animal take its place, good for bad or bad for good. If he does trade one animal for another, then both animals will become holy. 11 But if the animal is unclean and not the kind which men give to the Lord, then he will bring the animal to the religious leader. 12 The religious leader will decide if it is good or bad. Whatever price the religious leader puts on it, so it will be. 13 If the man wants to buy it again, he will add a fifth to your price.

14 ‘When a man sets apart his house as holy to the Lord, the religious leader will decide if it is good or bad. Whatever price the religious leader puts on it, so it will be. 15 If the man who sets it apart wants to buy his house again, he will add one-fifth part to your price. Then it will be his.

16 ‘If a man sets apart to the Lord part of a field he owns, you will decide upon its price by the seed needed for it. Ten baskets of barley seed will be worth fifty pieces of silver. 17 If he sets apart his field during the Year of Jubilee, it will be worth your full price. 18 But if he sets apart his field after the Year of Jubilee, the religious leader will decide upon its worth by the years left until the next Year of Jubilee. It will be taken off your price. 19 If the man who sets it apart wants to buy his field again, he will add one-fifth part to your price. Then it will be his. 20 But if he does not want to buy the field again, or has sold the field to another man, it cannot be bought again. 21 And when the field becomes free in the Jubilee, it will be holy to the Lord, like a field set apart. It will belong to the religious leader. 22 If a man sets apart to the Lord a field he has bought, which is not a part of the land he was given by his father, 23 the religious leader will decide its worth until the Year of Jubilee. The man will pay that amount on that day as holy to the Lord. 24 In the Year of Jubilee the field will return from him who bought it to the one who owned it first. 25 The price of silver used in the holy place will decide its worth. One piece of silver will be worth twenty small pieces of money.

26 ‘But no man may set apart a first-born of the animals. A first-born of the cattle or the flock belongs to the Lord. 27 If it is an animal that is unclean, he will buy it again by paying your price and one-fifth part added to it. If it is not bought again, then it will be sold for your price.

28 ‘But nothing that a man sets apart to the Lord of all he has, of man or animal or his own land, will be sold or bought. Everything that has been set apart is most holy to the Lord. 29 No person who has been set apart to be destroyed from among men can be paid for. He must be put to death.

30 ‘The tenth part of all the land, of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s. It is holy to the Lord. 31 If a man wants to buy any of the tenth part that belongs to the Lord, he will add one-fifth part to its price. 32 And every tenth animal of the cattle or flock, whatever passes under the shepherd’s stick, the tenth one will be holy to the Lord. 33 The man will not ask if it is good or bad, or trade it for something else. If he does trade it for something else, then both will become holy. He cannot buy them again.’”

34 These are the Laws the Lord gave Moses on Mount Sinai for the sons of Israel.