Bible Verses About Sabbatic Year

"If you purchase a Hebrew slave, he is to work six years; but in the seventh, he is to be given his freedom without having to pay anything.

"You are not to oppress a foreigner, for you know how a foreigner feels, since you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

"For six years, you are to sow your land with seed and gather in its harvest.

But the seventh year, you are to let it rest and lie fallow, so that the poor among your people can eat; and what they leave, the wild animals in the countryside can eat. Do the same with your vineyard and olive grove.

I will desolate the land, so that your enemies living in it will be astounded by it.

You I will disperse among the nations, and I will draw out the sword in pursuit after you; your land will be a desolation and your cities a wasteland.

Then, at last, the land will be paid its Shabbats. As long as it lies desolate and you are in the lands of your enemies, the land will rest and be repaid its Shabbats.

Yes, as long as it lies desolate it will have rest, the rest it did not have during your Shabbats, when you lived there.

As for those of you who are left, I will fill their hearts with anxiety in the lands of their enemies. The sound of a driven leaf will frighten them, so that they will flee as one flees from the sword and fall when no one is pursuing.

Yes, with no one pursuing they will stumble over each other as if fleeing the sword - you will have no power to stand before your enemies.

And among the nations you will perish; the land of your enemies will devour you.

Those of you who remain will pine away in the lands of your enemies from guilt over your misdeeds and those of your ancestors.

Then they will confess their misdeeds and those of their ancestors which they committed against me in their rebellion; they will admit that they went against me.

At that time I will be going against them, bringing them into the lands of their enemies. But if their uncircumcised hearts will grow humble, and they are paid the punishment for their misdeeds;

"At the end of every seven years you are to have a sh'mittah.

Here is how the sh'mittah is to be done: every creditor is to give up what he has loaned to his fellow member of the community -he is not to force his neighbor or relative to repay it, because ADONAI's time of remission has been proclaimed.

You may demand that a foreigner repay his debt, but you are to release your claim on whatever your brother owes you.

In spite of this, there will be no one needy among you; because ADONAI will certainly bless you in the land which ADONAI your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess -

if only you will listen carefully to what ADONAI your God says and take care to obey all these mitzvot I am giving you today.

Yes, ADONAI your God will bless you, as he promised you - you will lend money to many nations without having to borrow, and you will rule over many nations without their ruling over you.

Guard yourself against allowing your heart to entertain the mean-spirited thought that because the seventh year, the year of sh'mittah is at hand, you would be stingy toward your needy brother and not give him anything; for then he may cry out to ADONAI against you, and it will be your sin.

"If your kinsman, a Hebrew man or woman, is sold to you, he is to serve you for six years; but in the seventh year, you are to set him free.

Moreover, when you set him free, don't let him leave empty-handed;

but supply him generously from your flock, threshing-floor and winepress; from what ADONAI your God has blessed you with, you are to give to him.

Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and ADONAI your God redeemed you; that is why I am giving you this order today.