Deuteronomy 15

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

“In the seventh year, you shall perform a remission,

2 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.

which shall be celebrated according to this order. Anyone to whom anything is owed, by his friend or neighbor or brother, will not be able to request its return, because it is the year of remission of the Lord.

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

From the sojourner and the new arrival, you may require its return. From your fellow countryman and neighbor, you will not have the power to request its return.

4 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:

And there shall not be anyone indigent or begging among you, so that the Lord your God may bless you in the land which he will deliver to you as a possession.

5 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.

But only if you heed the voice of the Lord your God, and keep to all that he has ordered, that which I am entrusting to you this day, will he bless you, just as he has promised.

6 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.

You shall lend money to many nations, and you yourselves shall borrow in return from no one. You shall rule over very many nations, and no one shall rule over you.

7 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:

If one of your brothers, who dwells within the gates of your city, in the land which the Lord your God will give to you, falls into poverty, you shall not harden your heart, nor tighten your hand.

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

Instead, you shall open your hand to the poor, and you shall lend to him whatever you perceive him to need.

9 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.

Take care, lest perhaps an impious thought might creep within you, and you might say in your heart: ‘The seventh year of remission approaches.’ And so you might turn your eyes away from your poor brother, unwilling to lend to him what he has asked. If so, then he may cry out against you to the Lord, and it will be a sin for you.

10 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.

Instead, you shall give to him. Neither shall you do anything craftily while assisting him in his needs, so that the Lord your God may bless you, at all times and in all things to which you will put your hand.

11 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.

The poor will not be absent from the land of your habitation. For this reason, I instruct you to open your hand to your indigent and poor brother, who lives among you in the land.

12 [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.

When your brother, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, has been sold to you, and has served you for six years, in the seventh year you shall set him free.

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

And when you grant his freedom, you shall by no means permit him to go away empty.

14 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.

Instead, you shall give to him, for his journey, from your flocks and threshing floor and winepress, with which the Lord your God has blessed you.

15 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.

Remember that you yourself also served in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God set you free. And therefore, I now command this of you.

16 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;

But if he will say, ‘I am not willing to depart,’ because he loves you and your household, and because he feels that it would be good for him to stay with you,

17 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.

then you shall take an awl and pierce his ear, at the door of your house. And he shall serve you even forever. You shall also act similarly toward your woman servant.

18 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.

You should not avert your eyes from them when you set them free, because he has served you for six years, in a manner deserving of the pay of a hired hand. So may the Lord your God bless you in all the works that you do.

19 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.

Of the firstborn, those born from your herds and sheep, you shall sanctify to the Lord your God whatever is of the male sex. You shall not put the firstborn of the oxen to work, nor shall you shear the firstborn of the sheep.

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

In the sight of the Lord your God, you shall eat these, each year, in the place which the Lord will choose, you and your household.

21 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.

But if it has a blemish, or is lame, or is blind, or if it is in any part deformed or debilitated, it shall not be immolated to the Lord your God.

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

Instead, you shall eat it within the gates of your city. The clean as well as the unclean alike shall feed on these, such as the roe deer and the stag.

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

This alone shall you observe: that you do not eat their blood, but pour it upon the ground like water.”