Study Desk

"Command the Israelites to bring to you pure oil from crushed olives. That oil is for the lamps that must burn without stopping.

"Take fine flour and bake twelve loaves with it. Use 16 cups of flour for each loaf.

The people held him as a prisoner and waited for the Lord 's command to be made clear to them.

a broken bone for a broken bone, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. The same kind of injury a person gives another person must be given that person.

Whoever kills an animal must pay for the animal. But whoever kills another person must be put to death.

"The law will be the same for foreigners and for people from your own country. This is because I am the Lord your God."

You will plant seed in your field for six years. You will trim your vineyards for six years and bring in its fruits.

"The land will have a year of rest, but you will still have enough food. There will be enough food for your men and women servants. There will be food for your hired workers and for the foreigners living in your country.

And there will be enough food for your cattle and other animals to eat.

"You will also count seven groups of seven years. This will be 49 years. During that time there will be seven years of rest for the land.

You will make the 50th year a special year. You will announce freedom for everyone living in your country. This time will be called ‘Jubilee.' Each of you will go back to your own property. And each of you will go back to your own family.

The 50th year will be a special celebration for you. Don't plant seeds, don't harvest the crops that grow by themselves, and don't gather grapes from the vines that are not trimmed.

That year is Jubilee. It will be a holy time for you. You will eat the crops that come from the field.

If you want to buy your neighbor's land, count the number of years since the last Jubilee, and use that number to decide the right price. You are only buying the rights for harvesting crops until the next Jubilee.

And the land will produce good crops for you. Then you will have plenty of food, and you will live safely on the land.

I will order my blessing to come to you during the sixth year. The land will continue growing crops for three years.

Then the years must be counted since the land was sold. That number must be used to decide how much to pay for the land. The person must then buy back the land, and it will be their property again.

"You must count the years from the time they sold themselves to the foreigner up to the next year of Jubilee. Use that number to decide the price, because really the person only ‘hired' them for a few years.

"Don't make idols for yourselves. Don't set up statues or memorial stones in your land to bow down to, because I am the Lord your God!

You will have enough crops to last for more than a year. You will harvest the new crops. But then you will have to throw out the old crops to make room for the new crops.