Deuteronomy 15

1 In the seventh year thou shalt make a remission,

At the end of [every] seven years thou shalt make a release.

2 Which shall be celebrated in this order. He to whom any thing is owing from his friend or neighbour or brother, cannot demand it again, because it is the year of remission of the Lord,

And this [is] the manner of the release: Every creditor that lendeth [aught] to his neighbor shall release [it]; he shall not exact [it] of his neighbor, or of his brother; because it is called the LORD'S release.

3 Of the foreigner or stranger thou mayst exact it: of thy countryman and neighbour thou shalt not have power to demand it again.

Of a foreigner thou mayest exact [it again]: but [that] which is thine with thy brother thy hand shall release:

4 And there shall be no poor nor beggar among you: that the Lord thy God may bless thee in the land which he will give thee in possession.

Save when there shall be no poor among you; for the LORD shall greatly bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee [for] an inheritance to possess it:

5 Yet so if thou hear the voice of the Lord thy God, and keep all things that he hath ordained, and which I command thee this day, he will bless thee, as he hath promised.

Only if thou shalt carefully hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all these commandments which I command thee this day.

6 Thou shalt lend to many nations, and thou shalt borrow of no man. Thou shalt have dominion over very many nations, and no one shall have dominion over thee.

For the LORD thy God shall bless thee, as he promised thee: and thou shalt lend to many nations, but thou shalt not borrow; and thou shalt reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over thee.

7 If one of thy brethren that dwelleth within the gates of thy city in the land which the Lord thy God will give thee, come to poverty: thou shalt not harden thy heart, nor close thy hand,

If there shall be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the LORD the God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thy heart, nor shut thy hand from thy poor brother:

8 But shalt open it to the poor man, thou shalt lend him, that which thou perceivest he hath need of.

But thou shalt open thy hand wide to him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, [in that] which he wanteth.

9 Beware lest perhaps a wicked thought steal in upon thee, and thou say in thy heart: The seventh year of remission draweth nigh; and thou turn away thy eyes from thy poor brother, denying to lend him that which he asketh: lest he cry against thee to the Lord, and it become a sin unto thee.

Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thy eye shall be evil against thy poor brother, and thou shalt give him naught; and he shall cry to the LORD against thee, and it shall be sin to thee.

10 But thou shalt give to him: neither shalt thou do any thing craftily in relieving his necessities: that the Lord thy God may bless thee at all times, and in all things to which thou shalt put thy hand.

Thou shalt surely give him, and thy heart shall not be grieved when thou givest to him: because that for this thing the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thy hand to.

11 There will not be wanting poor in the land of thy habitation: therefore I command thee to open thy hand to thy needy and poor brother, that liveth in the land.

For the poor shall never cease from the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thy hand wide to thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.

12 When thy brother a Hebrew man, or Hebrew woman is sold to thee, and hath served thee six years, in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free:

[And] if thy brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, shall be sold to thee, and serve thee six years; then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee.

13 And when thou sendest him out free, thou shalt not let him go away empty:

And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let him depart empty:

14 But shalt give him for his way out of thy flocks, and out of thy barnfloor, and thy winepress, wherewith the Lord thy God shall bless thee.

Thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and out of thy floor, and out of thy wine-press: [of that] with which the LORD thy God hath blessed thee thou shalt give to him.

15 Remember that thou also wast a bondservant in the land of Egypt, and the Lord thy God made thee free, and therefore I now command thee this.

And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bond-man in the land of Egypt, and the LORD thy God redeemed thee: therefore I command thee this thing this day.

16 But if he say: I will not depart: because he loveth thee, and thy house, and findeth that he is well with thee:

And it shall be, if he shall say to thee, I will not leave thee; because he loveth thee and thy house, because he is well with thee;

17 Thou shalt take an awl, and bore through his ear in the door of thy house, and he shall serve thee for ever: thou shalt do in like manner to thy womanservant also.

Then thou shalt take an awl, and thrust [it] through his ear into the door, and he shall be thy servant for ever. And also to thy maid-servant thou shalt do likewise.

18 Turn not away thy eyes from them when thou makest them tree: because he hath served thee six years according to the wages of a hireling: that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the works that thou dost.

It shall not seem hard to thee, when thou sendest him away free from thee; for he hath been of double the worth of a hired servant [to thee], in serving thee six years: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all that thou doest.

19 Of the firstlings, that come of thy herds and thy sheep, thou shalt sanctify to the Lord thy God whatsoever is of the male sex. Thou shalt not work with the firstling of a bullock, and thou shalt not shear the firstlings of thy sheep.

All the firstling males that come of thy herd and of thy flock thou shalt sanctify to the LORD thy God: thou shalt do no work with the firstling of thy bullock, nor shear the firstling of thy sheep.

20 In the sight of the Lord thy God shalt thou eat them every year, in the place that the Lord shall choose, thou and thy house.

Thou shalt eat [it] before the LORD thy God year by year in the place which the LORD shall choose, thou and thy household.

21 But if it have a blemish, or be lame, or blind, or in any part disfigured or feeble, it shall not be sacrificed to the Lord thy God.

And if there is [any] blemish in it, [as if it is] lame, or blind, [or hath] any ill blemish, thou shalt not sacrifice it to the LORD thy God.

22 But thou shalt eat it within the gates of thy city: the clean and the unclean shall eat them alike, as the roe and as the hart.

Thou shalt eat it within thy gates: the unclean and the clean [person shall eat it] alike, as the roebuck, and as the hart.

23 Only thou shalt take heed not to eat their blood, but pour it out on the earth as water.

Only thou shalt not eat its blood; thou shalt pour it upon the ground as water.