Leviticus 25:2-55 Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, When you come into the land which I give you… It is told of a famous smith of mediaeval times, that having been taken prisoner and immured in a dungeon, he conceived the idea of escaping, and began to examine the chain that bound him, with a view to discover some flaw that might make it easier to be broken. His hope was vain, for he found, from marks upon it, that it was one of his own workmanship, and it had always been his boast that none could ever break a chain that he had forged. And now it was his own chain that bound him. It is thus with the sinner. His own hands have forged the chain that binds him, a chain which in endless and evermultiplying coils is around his soul, and which no human hand can break. Yet is there a hand can break it — the hand of Him who brings "liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound." (Preacher's Lantern.) Parallel Verses KJV: 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. |