Deuteronomy 15

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

You are to cancel debts the end of every seven years.

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.

This is the way the it will work: If you provided a loan to someone you must cancel it. You are not allowed to collect anything from another Israelite, because the Lord's time of debt cancelation has been announced.

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

You are allowed to collect payments from a foreigner, but you must cancel whatever your fellow Israelite owes you.

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:

However, you shouldn't have poor people among you, for the Lord will really bless you in the country that the Lord your God is giving you to own.

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.

You just need to make sure you obey the Lord your God, and that you're careful to follow all these commandments I'm giving you today.

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.

The Lord your God is going to bless you as he promised. You will lend money to many nations but you won't need to borrow from any of them; you will rule over many nations but you won't be ruled by them.

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 there are Israelites who are poor in any of your towns in the country the Lord your God is giving you, then you must not be unfeeling or miserly towards them.

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

On the contrary. You should be generous to them, and lend them whatever they 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.

Make sure you don't think evil thoughts like, “The seventh year is coming up when debts will be canceled,” so that you look down on the poor with a sneer and refuse to give them anything. They will complain to the Lord about you, and you will be found guilty of sin.

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.

Give and give again to them, and don't feel irritated when you give. When you give generously the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you decide to do.

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.

You will always have those who are poor and in need among you, so that's why I'm telling you to give generously to them.

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.

If a Hebrew, one of your own people, whether man or woman, sells themselves to you as a slave and works for you for six years, you have to free them in the seventh year.

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

And when you free them, don't send them away with nothing.

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.

Give them plenty of gifts: animals from your flocks, grain from your threshing floor, and wine from your winepress. Give to them as generously as 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.

Don't forget that you were once slaves in Egypt, and the Lord your God set you free. That's why I'm giving you this command today.

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;

However, if your male slave tells you, “I don't want to leave you,” because he loves you and your family and is better off staying 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 use a metal tool to pierce his ear against the door, and he will be your slave for life. Do the same for your female slave.

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.

Don't see it as a problem to free your slave, because your slave's six years of service to you was worth twice what you would have paid to hire someone. The Lord your God will bless you in everything you do for acting in this way.

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.

You are to separate out to give the Lord your God all the firstborn males of your herds and flocks. You must not have the firstborn of your cattle work, and don't shear the firstborn of your 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.

Every year you and your family are to eat these animals that have been sacrificed in the presence of the Lord your God in the place that the Lord will choose.

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.

However, if an animal has some defect or is lame or blind, in fact if it has any serious defect at all, you are not to sacrifice it 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.

Eat it at home. All of you, whether you're ceremonially clean or not, can it eat it just like you would eat a gazelle or a deer,

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

but you are not to eat the blood—pour that out on the ground.