Which biblical verse inspired the inscription on Philadelphia’s Liberty Bell?

Leviticus 25:10 inspired the inscription on Philadelphia’s Liberty Bell.

The bell carries the words “Proclaim LIBERTY Throughout all the Land unto all the Inhabitants Thereof,” drawn from the King James Bible’s rendering of Leviticus 25:10. In its biblical context, the verse concerns the Jubilee year, when liberty was proclaimed throughout the land.

The Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly commissioned the bell in 1752 from the London firm Lester and Pack, later known as the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. It cracked soon after arriving in Philadelphia and was recast twice by local founders John Pass and John Stow; their names appear on the bell.

The bell became known as the Liberty Bell in the 1830s, when abolitionist groups adopted it as a symbol. Popular tradition says it rang on July 4, 1776, but there is no contemporary evidence for that story. It may have rung when the Declaration was publicly read in Philadelphia on July 8.