Deuteronomy 15

1 At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts.

Every seven years you shall make a release.

2 This is the manner of remission: Every creditor shall cancel what he has loaned to his neighbor. He is not to collect anything from his neighbor or brother, because the LORD’s time of release has been proclaimed.

And this [is] the ordinance of the release: you shall remit every private debt which your neighbour owes you, and you shall not ask payment of it from your brother; for it has been called a release to the Lord your God.

3 You may collect something from a foreigner, but you must forgive whatever your brother owes you.

Of a stranger you shall ask again whatever he has of your, but to your brother you shall remit his debt to you.

4 There will be no poor among you, however, because the LORD will surely bless you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance,

For [thus] there shall not be a poor person in the midst of you, for the Lord your God will surely bless you in the land which the Lord your God gives you by inheritance, that you should inherit it.

5 if only you obey the LORD your God and are careful to follow all these commandments I am giving you today.

And if you shall indeed listen to the voice of the Lord your God, to keep and do all these commandments, as many as I charge you this day,

6 When the LORD your God blesses you as He has promised, you will lend to many nations but borrow from none; you will rule over many nations but be ruled by none.

(for the Lord your God has blessed you in the way of which he spoke to you, ) then you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow; and you shall rule over many nations, but they shall not rule over you.

7 If there is a poor man among your brothers within any of the gates in the land that the LORD your God is giving you, then you are not to harden your heart or shut your hand from your poor brother.

And if there shall be in the midst of you a poor [man] of your brethren in one of your cities in the land, which the Lord your God gives you, you shall not harden your heart, neither shall you by any means close up your hand from your brother who is in lack.

8 Instead, you are to open your hand to him and freely loan him whatever he needs.

You shall surely open your hands to him, and shall lend to him as much as he wants according to his need.

9 Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought in your heart: “The seventh year, the year of release, is near,” so that you look upon your poor brother begrudgingly and give him nothing. He will cry out to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty of sin.

Take heed to yourself that there be not a secret thing in your heart, an iniquity, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, draws near; and your eye shall be evil to your brother that is in lack, and you shall not give to him, and he shall cry against you to the Lord, and there shall be great sin in you.

10 Give generously to him, and do not let your heart be grieved when you do so. And because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything to which you put your hand.

You shall surely give to him, and you shall lend him as much as he wants, according as he is in need; and you shall not grudge in your heart as you give to him, because on this account the Lord your God will bless you in all your works, and in all things on which you shall lay your hand.

11 For there will never cease to be poor in the land; that is why I am commanding you to open wide your hand to your brother and to the poor and needy in your land.

For the poor shall not fail off your land, therefore I charge you to do this thing, saying, You shall surely open your hands to your poor brother, and to him that is distressed upon your land.

12 If a fellow Hebrew, a man or a woman, is sold to you and serves you six years, then in the seventh year you must set him free.

And if your brother [or sister], a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, be sold to you, he shall serve you six years, and in the seventh year you shall send him out free from you.

13 And when you release him, do not send him away empty-handed.

And when you shall send him out free from you, you shall not send him out empty.

14 You are to furnish him liberally from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress. You shall give to him as the LORD your God has blessed you.

You shall give him provision for the way from your flock, and from your corn, and from your wine; as the Lord your God has blessed you, you shall give to him.

15 Remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you; that is why I am giving you this command today.

And you shall remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you from thence; therefore I charge you to do this thing.

16 But if your servant says to you, ‘I do not want to leave you,’ because he loves you and your household and is well off with you,

And if he should say to you, I will not go out from you, because he continues to love you and your house, because he is well with you;

17 then take an awl and pierce it through his ear into the door, and he will become your servant for life. And treat your maidservant the same way.

then you shall take an awl, and bore his ear through to the door, and he shall be your servant for ever; and in like manner shall you do to your maidservant.

18 Do not regard it as a hardship to set your servant free, because his six years of service were worth twice the wages of a hired hand. And the LORD your God will bless you in all you do.

It shall not seem hard to you when they are sent out free from you, because [your servant] has served you six years according to the annual hire of a hireling; so the Lord your God shall bless you in all things whatever you may do.

19 You must set apart to the LORD your God every firstborn male produced by your herds and flocks. You are not to put the firstborn of your oxen to work, nor are you to shear the firstborn of your flock.

Every firstborn that shall be born amongst your kine and your sheep, you shall sanctify the males to the Lord your God; you shall not work with your firstborn calf, and you shall not shear the firstborn of your sheep.

20 Each year you and your household are to eat it before the LORD your God in the place the LORD will choose.

You shall eat it before the Lord year by year in the place which the Lord your God shall choose, you and your house.

21 But if an animal has a defect, is lame or blind, or has any serious flaw, you must not sacrifice it to the LORD your God.

And if there be in it a blemish, if it be lame or blind, an evil blemish, you shall not sacrifice it to the Lord your God.

22 Eat it within your gates; both the ceremonially unclean and clean may eat it as they would a gazelle or a deer.

You shall eat it in your cities; the unclean in you and the clean shall eat it in like manner, as the doe or the stag.

23 But you must not eat the blood; pour it on the ground like water.

Only you shall not eat the blood; you shall pour it out on the earth as water.