Deuteronomy 15

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

At the end of seven years, shalt thou 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, shall be the manner of the release, Every creditor who lendeth aught to his neighbour, his hand shall release it, —he shall not exact it of his neighbour or his brother, because there hath been proclaimed a release unto Yahweh.

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

Of a foreigner, thou mayest exact it, —but, what thou hast with thy brother, thy hand shall release;

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,

save, when there shall be among you no needy person, —for Yahweh will indeed bless, thee, in the land which Yahweh thy God is giving unto thee as an inheritance to possess it:

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

only if thou do hearken unto the voice of Yahweh thy God, —to observe to do—all this commandment which I am commanding thee to-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.

When, Yahweh thy God, hath blessed thee, as he spake unto thee, then shalt thou lend unto many nations but thou, shalt not borrow, and, thou shalt rule over many nations but over thee, shall they not rule.

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.

When there cometh to be among you a needy person any one of thy brethren within any one of thy gates, in thy land, which Yahweh thy God is giving unto thee, thou shalt not harden thy heart nor shut thy hand from thy needy brother;

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

but thou shalt, open, thy hand unto him, —and, lend, him enough to meet the poverty which doth impoverish him.

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 thou heed to thyself lest there be something near thine abandoned heart, saying—Drawing nigh, is the seventh year the year of release, and so thine eye be evil, against thy needy brother, and thou give not unto him, —and he cry out against thee unto Yahweh, and it become in thee a sin!

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.

Thou shalt, give, unto him, and thy heart shall not be evil when thou givest unto him, —for on account of this very thing, will Yahweh thy God bless thee, in all that thou doest and in all whereunto thou puttest thy 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 needy will not cease out of the midst of the land—for this cause, am I commanding thee, saying, Thou shalt open, thy hand unto thy brother to thy poor and to thy needy, in thy 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.

When thy brother a Hebrew man (or a Hebrew woman) selleth himself unto thee, then shall he serve thee six years, —and in the seventh year, shalt thou let him go out free from thee;

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

and when thou lettest him go out free, from thee, thou shalt not let him go 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.

thou shalt, richly load, him out of thy flock, and out of thy threshing-floor and out of thy wine-vat, —of that wherewith Yahweh thy God hath blessed thee, shalt thou give unto 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 thou shalt remember that a servant, thou wast in the land of Egypt, and that Yahweh thy God, redeemed thee, —for this cause, am I commanding thee this thing, to-day.

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 it shall be, if he shall say unto thee, I will not go away from thee, —because he loveth thee, and thy household, because he is well off with thee,

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 shalt thou take an awl and thrust it through his ear unto the door, so shall he be thy servant all his life. And unto thine handmaid also, shalt thou do thus.

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 be hard in thine eyes when thou lettest him go out free, from thee; for to the double of the hire of a hireling, hath he served thee six years, —so will Yahweh thy God bless thee, in all that thou doest.

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 firstling that is brought forth in thy herd and in thy flock that is a male, shalt thou hallow unto Yahweh thy God, —thou shalt not work with a firstling of thine oxen, neither shalt thou shear a firstling of thy flock:

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

before Yahweh thy God, shalt thou eat it year by year, in the place which Yahweh shall choose, —thou, and thy household.

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.

But, when there is in it any blemish, lameness or blindness, any ill blemish, thou shalt not sacrifice it unto Yahweh thy God:

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

within thine own gates, mayest thou eat it, —the unclean of you and the clean alike, as the gazelle and as the hart.

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

Only the blood thereof, shalt thou not eat, —on the earth, shalt thou pour it out like water.