Leviticus 25 Bible study questions help a small group, Sunday class or personal reader work through one of the most distinctive chapters in the Torah: the sabbath year, the Year of Jubilee, and God’s rules for land, debt and servanthood. The questions below move from what the text says, to what it means, to how it shapes everyday choices about money, work and generosity.
Leviticus 25 at a Glance
The chapter opens at Mount Sinai with a rest for the land every seventh year, so that fields, vineyards and livestock are left unworked and the harvest that grows on its own becomes shared food. It then counts seven sabbath cycles to the fiftieth year, the Jubilee, when land returns to original families and the community sounds a trumpet of release.
From there the chapter turns to practical protections: fair pricing in land sales, redemption of property and persons by close relatives, an ban on charging interest to poor neighbors, and limits on enslaving fellow Israelites. Each section ends by pointing back to God’s ownership of the land and the people, which gives the whole chapter its reason.
Observation Questions
Use these questions at the start of the session to slow the group down and let everyone point to the text before anyone offers an interpretation. Ask people to find the answer in the verses first, then read the leader’s note aloud only after the group has had a chance to speak.
Leviticus 25:4
But in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the LORD. You shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard.
(WEB)
Reading this verse at the start of the session introduces the sabbath for the land and its purpose as a rest to the LORD. It sets the tone for the chapter and gives the group a clear image to discuss.
Leviticus 25:10
You shall make the fiftieth year holy, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee to you; and each of you shall return to his own property, and each of you shall return to his family.
(WEB)
This verse announces the fiftieth year as holy and proclaims liberty to all inhabitants. Hearing it aloud helps the group feel the force of the word liberty before the more detailed rules are discussed.
Leviticus 25:23
“‘The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine; for you are strangers and live as foreigners with me.
(WEB)
The statement that the land is God’s and the people are strangers with Him is the theological center of the chapter. Reading it aloud gives the group a shared foundation for all the practical provisions that follow.
Leviticus 25:35-37
35 “‘If your brother has become poor, and his hand can’t support himself among you; then you shall uphold him. He shall live with you like an alien and a temporary resident. 36 Take no interest from him or profit, but fear your God; that your brother may live among you. 37 You shall not lend him your money at interest, nor give him your food for profit.
(WEB)
These verses command support for a poor brother and forbid interest or profit from him, grounding that command in the fear of God. Reading the passage together helps the group hear the call to mercy without softening its demands.
Leviticus 25:55
For to me the children of Israel are servants; they are my servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.
(WEB)
The chapter closes by repeating that Israel is God’s servant, brought out of Egypt by the LORD your God. Ending the reading here reminds the group that every rule in the chapter rests on God’s own act of rescue.
Memory Verse for Leviticus 25
A Closing Prayer for the Group
Father, we come to you as people who hold little that is truly our own, and we thank you for the land, the food, the homes and the relationships you have placed in our care. Teach us to rest the way your sabbath commands, to trust your provision when the future feels uncertain, and to uphold those among us who have become poor without taking advantage of them. Free us from the habit of gripping what is not ours to keep. Shape our fear of you into mercy toward our neighbors and our family. Amen.
