Deuteronomy 15
1 In the seuenthe yeer thou schalt make remyssioun,
At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release.
2 that schal be fillid bi this ordre. To whom ony thing is `dettid, ethir owid of his freend, ether neiybore, and brother, he schal not mowe axe, for it is the yeer of remyssioun of the Lord.
And this is the manner of the release: Every creditor that lendeth any thing to his neighbour shall release it; he shall not exact it of his neighbour, or of his brother; because it is called the LORD’S release.
3 Thou schalt axe of a pilgrym and comelyng; thou hast not power to axe of a citeseyn and neiybore;
Of a foreigner thou mayest exact it again: but that which is thine with thy brother thy hand shall release;
4 and outerli a nedi man and begger schal not be among you, that thi Lord God blesse thee, in the lond which he schal yyue to thee in to the possessioun.
Except 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 If netheles thou schalt here the vois of thi Lord God, and schalt kepe alle thingis whiche he comaundide, and whiche Y comaunde to dai to thee, he schal blesse thee, as he bihiyte.
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 schalt leene to many folkis, and thou schalt not take borewyng of ony man; thou schalt be lord of ful many naciouns, and no man schal be lord of 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 oon of thi britheren that dwellen with ynne the yatis of thi citee, in the lond which thi Lord God schal yyue to thee, cometh to pouert, thou schalt not make hard thin herte, nether thou schalt `drawe to gydere the hond,
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 thou schalt opene it to the pore man, and thou schalt `yyue loone to which thou siest hym haue nede.
But thou shalt open thy hand wide to him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he lacketh.
9 Be thou war lest perauenture wickid thouyt crepe priueli to thee, and thou seie in thin herte, The seuenthe yeer of remyssioun neiyeth; and thou turne awey the iyen fro thi pore brother, and thou nyle yyue to hym the loone that he axith; lest he crie ayens thee to the Lord, and it be maad to thee in to synne.
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 nothing; and he shall cry to the LORD against thee, and it shall be sin to thee.
10 But thou schalt yyue to hym, and thou schalt `not do ony thing falsly in releuynge `hise nedis, that thi Lord God blesse thee in al tyme, and in alle thingis to whiche thou schalt sette to hond.
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 Pore men schulen not faile in the lond of `thin habitacioun; therfor Y comaunde to thee, that thou opene the hond to thi brother nedi and pore, that lyuen with thee in the lond.
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 Whanne thi brothir an Ebrew man, ethir an Ebrew womman, is seeld to thee, and hath serued thee sixe yeer, in the seuenthe yeer thou schalt delyuere hym fre.
And if thy brother, an Hebrew man, or an 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 thou schalt not suffre hym go awey voide, to whom thou hast yyue fredom;
And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let him depart empty:
14 but thou schalt yyue lijflode in the weye, of flockis, and of cornfloor, and of thi pressour, in whiche thi Lord God hath blessid thee.
Thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and out of thy floor, and out of thy winepress: of that which the LORD thy God hath blessed thee thou shalt give to him.
15 Haue thou mynde that also thou seruedist in the lond of Egipt, and thi Lord God delyurede thee, `ether made thee free, and therfor Y comaunde now to thee.
And thou shalt remember that thou wast a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD thy God redeemed thee: therefore I command thee this thing this day.
16 Forsothe if `the seruaunt seith, Y nyle go out, for he loueth thee, and thin hows, and feelith that it is wel to hym at thee, thou schalt take `a nal,
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 and thou schalt peerse his eere in the yate of thin hous, and he schal serue thee til in to the world, `that is til to the iubilee, ethir fiftithe yeer; also thou schalt do in lijk maner to the handmayde.
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 maidservant thou shalt do likewise.
18 Thou schalt not turne awei fro hem thin iyen, whanne thou schalt delyure hem fre, for bi the hire of an hirid man thei serueden thee bi sixe yeer; that thi Lord God blesse thee, in alle the werkis whiche thou doist.
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 first gendrid thingis that ben borun in thi droues, and scheep, what euer is of male kynde, thou schalt halewe to thi Lord God. Thou schalt not worche in the firste gendrid thing `of oxe, and thou schalt not clippe the firste gendrid thinges of scheep.
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 herd, nor shear the firstling of thy flock.
20 Thou schalt ete tho bi alle yeeris in the siyt of thi Lord God, thou, and thin hows, in the place `which the Lord chees.
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 Sotheli if it hath a wem, ethir is crokid, ethir is blynd, ethir is foul, ethir feble in ony part, it schal not be offrid to thi Lord 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 schalt ete it with ynne the yatis of thi citee, bothe a cleene man and vncleene schulen ete tho in lijk maner, as a capret and an hert.
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 Onely thou schalt kepe this, that thou ete not the blood of tho, but schede out as watir in to erthe.
Only thou shalt not eat its blood; thou shalt pour it upon the ground as water.
