Thematic Bible
Thematic Bible
King » Precepts concerning
It is not for kings, O Lemuel; it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes to desire strong drink. They will drink and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted.
Enter the land Jehovah your God gives you. Possess it and live in it. You will say: I will set a king over me like all the nations who are around me, you shall surely set a king over you whom Jehovah your God chooses. It will be one from among your countrymen. You may not put a foreigner over yourselves who is not your countryman. He must not increase his herd of horses. He must not send the people to return to Egypt to get more horses. For Jehovah said to you: You should never again return that way. read more.
He must not take many wives or his heart will turn astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold. When he first sits on the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself a copy of this law on a scroll taken in the presence of the Levitical priests. He should keep it with him. He should read from it all the days of his life. In this way he will learn to respect Jehovah his God by carefully observing all the words of this Law and these statutes.
He must not take many wives or his heart will turn astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold. When he first sits on the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself a copy of this law on a scroll taken in the presence of the Levitical priests. He should keep it with him. He should read from it all the days of his life. In this way he will learn to respect Jehovah his God by carefully observing all the words of this Law and these statutes.
The Lord Jehovah says: 'Suppose the prince offers one of his sons a gift from his property. The gift will belong to his descendants because it is their inheritance. Suppose the prince offers a gift from his property to one of his servants. The gift will belong to the servant only until the year of freedom. Then the gift will go back to the prince. Only his sons can inherit his property. The prince must not take any of the people's property. He must not force them to give up their property. He must give his own property as an inheritance to his sons so that none of my people will be separated from their property.'
Land » Sale and redemption of, laws concerning
Corresponding to the number of years after the jubilee, you shall buy from your friend; he is to sell to you according to the number of years of crops. In proportion to the extent of the years you shall increase its price, and in proportion to the fewness of the years you shall diminish its price, for it is a number of crops he is selling to you.
If you give your field in the jubilee year, it will have its full value. Should you give the field after the jubilee year, the priest will estimate its value based on the number of years left until the next jubilee year. If you want to buy it back, you must pay its full value plus one-fifth more. read more.
If you do not buy it back and it is sold to someone else, it may not be redeemed. When the field is released in the jubilee year, it will be holy like a field claimed by Jehovah. It will become the property of the priest. You may give a field you bought, not one that was a part of your family property, to Jehovah as something holy. The priest must figure out the field's value until the jubilee year. You will pay its value on that day as something holy, belonging to Jehovah. In the jubilee year the field will go back to the person from whom it was bought, to whom it belongs as family property.
If you do not buy it back and it is sold to someone else, it may not be redeemed. When the field is released in the jubilee year, it will be holy like a field claimed by Jehovah. It will become the property of the priest. You may give a field you bought, not one that was a part of your family property, to Jehovah as something holy. The priest must figure out the field's value until the jubilee year. You will pay its value on that day as something holy, belonging to Jehovah. In the jubilee year the field will go back to the person from whom it was bought, to whom it belongs as family property.
During the Year of Restoration, when all property that has been sold is restored to its original owners, the property of Zelophehad's daughters will be permanently added to the tribe into which they marry and will be lost to our tribe.
No land may be permanently bought or sold. It all belongs to me! It is not your land! You only live there for a little while. When property is sold, the original owner must be given the first chance to buy it. If any of you Israelites become so poor that you are forced to sell your property, your closest relative must buy it back. read more.
If that relative has the money. Later, if you can afford to buy it, you must pay enough to make up for what the present owner will lose on it before the next Year of Celebration, when the property would become yours again. If he cannot earn enough to buy it back, what he sold stays in the hands of the buyer until the year of jubilee. In the jubilee it will be released, and he will own it again. If anyone sells a home in a walled city, for one year after selling it he has the right to buy it back. He may buy it back only within that time. If he does not buy it back during that year, the house in the city belongs to the buyer for generations to come. It will not be released in the jubilee. Houses in villages without walls are regarded as belonging to the fields of the land. They can be bought back. They will be released in the jubilee. The Levites always have the right to buy back their property in the cities they own. If any Levite buys back a house, in the jubilee the purchased house in the city will be released. This is because the houses in the Levite cities are their property among the Israelites.
If that relative has the money. Later, if you can afford to buy it, you must pay enough to make up for what the present owner will lose on it before the next Year of Celebration, when the property would become yours again. If he cannot earn enough to buy it back, what he sold stays in the hands of the buyer until the year of jubilee. In the jubilee it will be released, and he will own it again. If anyone sells a home in a walled city, for one year after selling it he has the right to buy it back. He may buy it back only within that time. If he does not buy it back during that year, the house in the city belongs to the buyer for generations to come. It will not be released in the jubilee. Houses in villages without walls are regarded as belonging to the fields of the land. They can be bought back. They will be released in the jubilee. The Levites always have the right to buy back their property in the cities they own. If any Levite buys back a house, in the jubilee the purchased house in the city will be released. This is because the houses in the Levite cities are their property among the Israelites.
Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle is coming to you. He says: Buy for yourself my field at Anathoth, for you have the right of redemption to buy it.' Then Hanamel my uncle's son came to me in the court of the guard according to the word of Jehovah and said to me: 'Buy my field, please, that is at Anathoth, which is in the land of Benjamin. You have the right of possession and the redemption is yours. Buy it for yourself.' Then I knew that this was the word of Jehovah. I bought the field at Anathoth from Hanamel my uncle's son. I weighed out the silver for him, seventeen shekels of silver. read more.
I signed and sealed the deed, and called in witnesses, and weighed out the silver on the scales. I took the deeds of purchase, both the sealed copy containing the terms and conditions and the open copy. I gave the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the sight of Hanamel my uncle's son and in the sight of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, before all the Jews who were sitting in the court of the guard. I commanded Baruch in their presence, saying: Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel says: Take these deeds, this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware jar, that they may be preserved a long time. Jehovah of Host, the God of Israel says: Houses and fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.' After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah I prayed to Jehovah:
I signed and sealed the deed, and called in witnesses, and weighed out the silver on the scales. I took the deeds of purchase, both the sealed copy containing the terms and conditions and the open copy. I gave the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the sight of Hanamel my uncle's son and in the sight of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, before all the Jews who were sitting in the court of the guard. I commanded Baruch in their presence, saying: Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel says: Take these deeds, this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware jar, that they may be preserved a long time. Jehovah of Host, the God of Israel says: Houses and fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.' After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah I prayed to Jehovah:
Yet you, Lord Jehovah, told me to buy a field with money and get witnesses to confirm it, although the city was handed over to the Babylonians.
Men will buy fields for money, sign and seal deeds, and call in witnesses in the land of Benjamin, in the environs of Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland and in the cities of the Negev. I will restore their prosperity, declares Jehovah.
The prince must not take any of the people's property. He must not force them to give up their property. He must give his own property as an inheritance to his sons so that none of my people will be separated from their property.'