Possession of houses, pits, ditches, vaults, dovecotes, bathhouses, olive presses, irrigated fields, slaves, and anything which provides benefit continually [must be] three years from day to day. A field watered by rain must be possessed three years, but not from day to day. R' Yishmael says: Three months in the first, three in the last, and twelve months in between, [for] a total of eighteen months. R' Akiva says: One month in the first, one month in the last, and twelve months in between, [for] a total of fourteen months. R' Yishmael said: In [regard to] what is this said? In [regard to] a field of grain. However, in [the case of] a field of trees, [if] he gathered his crop, picked his olives, and gathered in his dried figs —- these [count as] three years.

[There are] three lands [in Eretz Yisrael] in regard to chazakah: Judea, Transjordan, and the Galilee. [If] he was in Judea and [another] took possession in the Galilee, [or he was] in the Galilee and [another] took possession in Judea, it is no chazakah, until he is with him in the [same] province. R' Yehudah said: They said three years only so that [in case[ one is in Spain and [another] takes possession [of the field] for one year, they have one year to travel and notify him, and he can return the following year.

Any possession not accompanied by a claim is not a chazakah. How so? [If] he said to him, “What are you doing in my [property]?” and he replied, “Because no one ever said anything to me,” it is not a chazakah. [But if he replied,] “You sold [it] to me,” [or] “You gave [it] to me as a gift,” [or] “Your father sold it to me,” [or] “Your father gave it to me as a gift,” it is a chazakah. One who comes [to a property] by virtue of inheritance does not require a claim.  Craftsmen, partners, sharecroppers, and administrators have no chazakah. A man has no chazakah in the property of his wife, nor does a woman have a chazakah in the property of her husband, nor a father in the property of his son, nor a son in the property of his father.  In regard to what is this stated? In [regard to] one who holds possession. But in [the case of] one who gives a gift, brothers who divide, and one who takes possession of the property of a convert, [if] he closed off, fenced off, or breached somewhat, it is a chazakah.

[If] two [witnesses] testified on his behalf that he ate its [produce] three years, and they were found to be zomemim, they pay him everything. [If] two [testified] concerning the first [year], two concerning the second [year], and two concerning the third [year], they divide it in three among them. [If they were] three brothers, and one joined with them, these are three testimonies; but they are one testimony in regard to hazamah.