October 10

Leviticus xxv.—1. And the Lord spake unto Moses in Mount Sinai, saying,

2. Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the Lord.

3. Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof;

4. But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the Lord: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.

5. That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed; for it is a year of rest unto the land.

6. And the sabbath of the land shall be meat for you: for thee, and for thy servant, and for thy maid, and for thy hired servant, and for thy stranger that sojourneth with thee,

7. And for thy cattle, and for the beast that are in thy land, shall all the increase thereof be meat.

8. And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years.

9. Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month; in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land.

10. And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.

11. A jubilee shall that fiftieth year be unto you: ye shall not sow, neither reap that which groweth of itself in it, nor gather the grapes in it of thy vine undressed.

12. For it is the jubilee; it shall be holy unto you: ye shall eat the increase thereof out of the field.

13. In the year of this jubilee ye shall return every man unto his possession.

14. And if thou sell aught unto thy neighbor, or buyest aught of thy neighbor's hand, ye shall not oppress one another:

15. According to the number of years after the jubilee thou shalt buy of thy neighbor, and according unto the number of years of the fruits he shall sell unto thee;

16. According to the multitude of years thou shalt increase the price thereof, and according to the fewness of years thou shalt diminish the price of it: for according to the number of the years of the fruits doth he sell unto thee.

17. Ye shall not, therefore, oppress one another; but thou shalt fear thy God: for I am the Lord your God.

The best agriculture recognizes the importance of a rotation of crops, and of now and then letting the land lie fallow. But here is the rule laid down in this old law of Moses. Labor reformers and social reformers of modern times are seeking by various projects, sometimes violent, often unwise, commonly impracticable, to equalize the distribution of property, to secure to every man an interest in the soil, to remedy the inequalities of social life, and relieve the burdens of the poor. But this ancient provision of the jubilee, based upon an original distribution of the land among all the families of the people, brought around every fiftieth year relief

from debt, from oppression, from poverty; prevented monopoly, hoarding, slavery, and the manifold evils of caste and covetousness. Once in a generation it gave every man a chance to take a new start, and better his condition. Moses did not borrow this from Egypt; for exactly the opposite system prevailed there: the monopoly of the land by the government reduced the mass of the people to virtual serfdom. The poor man has yet to learn that the Bible is his best friend; the rich, that it is his best counsellor; and both rulers and people, that its principles are the best guide of society.

APPROPRIATE HYMNS.]

Prayer.

[Nos. 3, 7, 29.

Blessed be God, the Father of all mercies, for the mercies of the past night; for shelter, safety, comfort, rest, and peace. How precious are thy thoughts unto us, O God! how great is the sum of them! When we awake, we are still with thee. So would our hearts rise to thee, O Lord! with the morning light, with the incense of prayer and praise; yea, we would present our bodies unto thee a living sacrifice. May this, our reasonable service, be made holy through the blood of Jesus, and acceptable through the Spirit of all grace! May the Holy Spirit descend and rest upon us, making our home and our hearts the abode of peace!

Help us this day to live unto thee, and in all our works and ways to do that which is well pleasing in thy sight. Prosper the labor of our hands, our studies, our various callings; bless to us the means of knowledge and improvement; make us thoughtful of others, considerate of the poor and afflicted, wise and ready unto every good word and work. We commend unto thee our kindred and friends, beseeching thee to grant them the promise of the life that now is; and in the world to come, life everlasting. We pray for thy holy Church universal, for the coming of light, peace, and salvation in all the earth, through Christ our Lord. Amen.