Immerse: Beginnings Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 207
25:52–26:18
L e v itic u s
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proportion of what they received when they sold themselves. If only a
few years remain until the Year of Jubilee, they will repay a small amount
for their redemption. The foreigner must treat them as workers hired on
a yearly basis. You must not allow a foreigner to treat any of your fellow
Israelites harshly. If any Israelites have not been bought back by the time
the Year of Jubilee arrives, they and their children must be set free at that
time. For the people of Israel belong to me. They are my servants, whom I
brought out of the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.
“Do not make idols or set up carved images, or sacred pillars, or sculptured
stones in your land so you may worship them. I am the Lord your God.
You must keep my Sabbath days of rest and show reverence for my sanctuary. I am the Lord.
“If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, I will
send you the seasonal rains. The land will then yield its crops, and the trees
of the field will produce their fruit. Your threshing season will overlap with
the grape harvest, and your grape harvest will overlap with the season of
planting grain. You will eat your fill and live securely in your own land.
“I will give you peace in the land, and you will be able to sleep with no
cause for fear. I will rid the land of wild animals and keep your enemies out
of your land. In fact, you will chase down your enemies and slaughter them
with your swords. Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you
will chase ten thousand! All your enemies will fall beneath your sword.
“I will look favorably upon you, making you fertile and multiplying your
people. And I will fulfill my covenant with you. You will have such a surplus of crops that you will need to clear out the old grain to make room
for the new harvest! I will live among you, and I will not despise you. I will
walk among you; I will be your God, and you will be my people. I am the
Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so you would
no longer be their slaves. I broke the yoke of slavery from your neck so you
can walk with your heads held high.
“However, if you do not listen to me or obey all these commands, and
if you break my covenant by rejecting my decrees, treating my regulations
with contempt, and refusing to obey my commands, I will punish you. I
will bring sudden terrors upon you—wasting diseases and burning fevers
that will cause your eyes to fail and your life to ebb away. You will plant
your crops in vain because your enemies will eat them. I will turn against
you, and you will be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you will
rule over you, and you will run even when no one is chasing you!
“And if, in spite of all this, you still disobey me, I will punish you seven
