Deuteronomy 15
1 “At the end of every seven years, you must (cancel all debts/tell people who owe you money that they do not need to pay it back).
At the end of seven years thou shalt make a release,
2 Do it like this: Each of you who has lent money to a fellow Israeli must cancel that debt. You must not insist that he pay it back. You must do that because Yahweh has declared that the debts must be canceled [every seven years].
and this is the manner of the release: Every creditor shall relax his hand from the loan which he hath lent unto his neighbour; he shall not demand it of his neighbour, or of his brother; for a release to Jehovah hath been proclaimed.
3 [During that year] you may require foreigners [who live among you] to pay what they owe you, but you must not try to require that any fellow Israeli pay you what he owes you.
Of the foreigner thou mayest demand it; but what is thine with thy brother thy hand shall release;
4 Yahweh our God will bless you in the land that he is giving to you. If you obey Yahweh our God and obey all the commandments that I am giving to you today, there will not be any poor people among you.
save when there shall be no one in need among you; for Jehovah will greatly bless thee in the land that Jehovah thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it,
if thou only diligently hearken unto the voice of Jehovah thy God, to take heed to do all this commandment which I command thee this day.
6 Yahweh our God will bless you like he has promised to do, and you will [be able to] lend money to people of other people-groups, but you will not [need to] borrow from any of them. You will control [the finances of] many people-groups, but they will not control your [finances].
For Jehovah thy God will bless thee, as he promised thee; and thou shalt lend on pledge to many nations, but thou shalt not borrow; and thou shalt rule over many nations, but they shall not rule over thee.
7 “In the towns that Yahweh our God is giving to you, if there are any Israelis who are poor, do not be selfish [IDM] and refuse [IDM] to help them.
If there be amongst you a poor man, any one of thy brethren in one of thy gates, in thy land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thy heart, nor shut thy hand from thy brother in need;
8 Instead, be generous [IDM] and lend to them the money that they need.
but thou shalt open thy hand bountifully unto him, and shalt certainly lend him on pledge what is sufficient for his need, [in that] which he lacketh.
9 Be sure that you do not say to yourself, ‘The year when debts will be canceled is near, [so I do not want to lend anyone any money now, because he will not need to pay it back when that year comes].’ It would be evil to even think that. If you act in an unfriendly way toward a needy fellow Israeli, and give him nothing, he will cry out to Yahweh about you, and [Yahweh will say that] you have sinned [by not helping that person].
Beware that there be not a wicked thought in thy heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and he cry against thee to Jehovah, and it be sin in thee.
10 Give freely to poor people and give generously [IDM].
Thou shalt bountifully give unto him, and thy heart shall not be evil-disposed when thou givest unto him; because for this thing Jehovah thy God will bless thee in all thy works, and in all the business of thy hand.
11 If you do that, Yahweh will bless you in everything that you do. There will always be some poor people in your land, so I command you to give generously to poor [DOU] people.”
For the needy shall never cease from within the land; therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thy hand bountifully unto thy brother, to thy poor and to thy needy, in thy land.
12 “If any of your fellow Israeli men or women sell themselves to one of you [to become your slave], you must free them after they have worked for you for six years. When the seventh year comes, you must free them.
If thy brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, have been sold unto thee, he shall serve thee six years, and in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee.
13 When you free them, do not allow them to go (empty-handed/without giving them anything).
And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty;
14 Give to them generously from the things with which Yahweh has blessed you—sheep, grain, and wine.
thou shalt certainly furnish him from thy sheep, and out of thy floor, and out of thy winepress: of what Jehovah thy God hath blessed thee with shalt thou give unto him.
15 Do not forget that your ancestors were once slaves in Egypt, and Yahweh our God freed them. That is the reason that I am now commanding you to do this.
And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and that Jehovah thy God redeemed thee; therefore I command thee this thing to-day.
16 “But one of your slaves may say, ‘I do not want to leave you.’ He loves you and your family, because you have treated him well.
And it shall be, if he say unto thee, I will not go away from thee, — because he loveth thee and thy house, because he is well with thee, —
17 If he says that, take him to the door of your house and, [while he stands against the doorway], pierce one of his earlobes with (an awl/a sharp pointed tool). That will indicate that he will be your slave for the rest of his life. Do the same thing to any female slave [who does not want to leave you].
then thou shalt take an awl, and thrust it through his ear and into the door; and he shall be thy bondman for ever. And also unto thy handmaid thou shalt do likewise.
18 “Do not complain when you are required to free your slaves. [Keep in mind that] they served you for six years, and you paid them only half as much as you pay the servants that you hire. [If you free them, ] Yahweh our God will bless you in everything that you do.”
Let it not seem hard unto thee, when thou sendest him away free from thee; for double the worth of a hired servant hath he been to thee, [in] serving thee six years; and Jehovah thy God will bless thee in all that thou doest.
19 “(Set aside for/Dedicate to) Yahweh our God the firstborn male animals from your cattle and sheep. Do not force them to do any work for you, and do not (shear/cut off) the wool [of the firstborn animals to sell the wool].
Every firstling that is born among thy kine and among thy sheep that is a male, thou shalt hallow to Jehovah thy God: thou shalt do no work with the firstling of thy kine, nor shear the firstling of thy sheep.
20 You and your family may [kill them and] eat their meat in the presence of Yahweh at the place that Yahweh chooses [for you to worship him].
Thou shalt eat it before Jehovah thy God, year by year, in the place which Jehovah will choose, thou and thy household.
21 But if the animals have any defects, if they are lame or blind, or if they have any other serious defect, you must not sacrifice them to Yahweh our God.
But if there be a defect therein, [if it be] lame, or blind, [or have] any evil defect, thou shalt not sacrifice it to Jehovah thy God.
22 You may [kill and] eat [the meat of those animals] at your homes. Those who have done things that cause them to become unacceptable to God and those who have not done such things are permitted to eat that meat, just like anyone is permitted to eat the meat of a deer or an antelope.
In thy gates shalt thou eat it; the unclean and the clean [shall eat it] alike, as the gazelle and as the hart.
23 But you must not eat any of the blood; you must drain all the blood on the ground [when you kill those animals].”
Only thou shalt not eat the blood thereof: thou shalt pour it upon the earth as water.
