Deuteronomy 15

1 'At the end of seven years thou dost make a release,

Every seven years thou shalt make a release.

2 and this [is] the matter of the release: Every owner of a loan [is] to release his hand which he doth lift up against his neighbour, he doth not exact of his neighbour and of his brother, but hath proclaimed a release to Jehovah;

And this [is] the ordinance of the release: thou shalt remit every private debt which thy neighbour owes thee, and thou shalt not ask payment of it from thy brother; for it has been called a release to the Lord thy God.

3 of the stranger thou mayest exact, and that which is thine with thy brother doth thy hand release;

Of a stranger thou shalt ask again whatsoever he has of thine, but to thy brother thou shalt remit his debt to thee.

4 only when there is no needy one with thee, for Jehovah doth greatly bless thee in the land which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee — an inheritance to possess it.

For [thus] there shall not be a poor person in the midst of thee, for the Lord thy God will surely bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God gives thee by inheritance, that thou shouldest inherit it.

5 'Only, if thou dost diligently hearken to the voice of Jehovah thy God, to observe to do all this command which I am commanding thee to-day,

And if ye shall indeed hearken to the voice of the Lord your God, to keep and do all these commandments, as many as I charge thee this day,

6 for Jehovah thy God hath blessed thee as He hath spoken to thee; and thou hast lent [to] many nations, and thou hast not borrowed; and thou hast ruled over many nations, and over thee they do not rule.

(for the Lord thy God has blessed thee in the way of which he spoke to thee, ) then thou shalt lend to many nations, but thou shalt not borrow; and thou shalt rule over many nations, but they shall not rule over thee.

7 'When there is with thee any needy one of one of thy brethren, in one of thy cities, in thy land which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee, thou dost not harden thy heart, nor shut thy hand from thy needy brother;

And if there shall be in the midst of thee a poor [man] of thy brethren in one of thy cities in the land, which the Lord thy God gives thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, neither shalt thou by any means close up thine hand from thy brother who is in want.

8 for thou dost certainly open thy hand to him, and dost certainly lend him sufficient for his lack which he lacketh.

Thou shalt surely open thine hands to him, and shalt lend to him as much as he wants according to his need.

9 'Take heed to thee lest there be a word in thy heart — worthless, saying, Near [is] the seventh year, the year of release; and thine eye is evil against thy needy brother, and thou dost not give to him, and he hath called concerning thee unto Jehovah, and it hath been in thee sin;

Take heed to thyself that there be not a secret thing in thine heart, an iniquity, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, draws nigh; and thine eye shall be evil to thy brother that is in want, and thou shalt not give to him, and he shall cry against thee to the Lord, and there shall be great sin in thee.

10 thou dost certainly give to him, and thy heart is not sad in thy giving to him, for because of this thing doth Jehovah thy God bless thee in all thy works, and in every putting forth of thy hand;

Thou shalt surely give to him, and thou shalt lend him as much as he wants, according as he is in need; and thou shalt not grudge in thine heart as thou givest to him, because on this account the Lord thy God will bless thee in all thy works, and in all things on which thou shalt lay thine hand.

11 because the needy one doth not cease out of the land, therefore I am commanding thee, saying, Thou dost certainly open thy hand to thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy one, in thy land.

For the poor shall not fail off thy land, therefore I charge thee to do this thing, saying, Thou shalt surely open thine hands to thy poor brother, and to him that is distressed upon thy land.

12 'When thy brother is sold to thee, a Hebrew or a Hebrewess, and he hath served thee six years — then in the seventh year thou dost send him away free from thee.

And if thy brother [or sister], a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, be sold to thee, he shall serve thee six years, and in the seventh year thou shalt send him out free from thee.

13 And when thou dost send him away free from thee, thou dost not send him away empty;

And when thou shalt send him out free from thee, thou shalt not send him out empty.

14 thou dost certainly encircle him out of thy flock, and out of thy threshing-floor, and out of thy wine-vat; [of] that which Jehovah thy God hath blessed thee thou dost give to him,

Thou shalt give him provision for the way from thy flock, and from thy corn, and from thy wine; as the Lord thy God has blessed thee, thou shalt give to him.

15 and thou hast remembered that a servant thou hast been in the land of Egypt, and Jehovah thy God doth ransom thee; therefore I am commanding thee this thing to-day.

And thou shalt remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and the Lord thy God redeemed thee from thence; therefore I charge thee to do this thing.

16 'And it hath been, when he saith unto thee, I go not out from thee — because he hath loved thee, and thy house, because [it is] good for him with thee —

And if he should say to thee, I will not go out from thee, because he continues to love thee and thy house, because he is well with thee;

17 then thou hast taken the awl, and hast put [it] through his ear, and through the door, and he hath been to thee a servant age-during; and also to thy handmaid thou dost do so.

then thou shalt take an awl, and bore his ear through to the door, and he shall be thy servant for ever; and in like manner shalt thou do to thy maid-servant.

18 'It is not hard in thine eyes, in thy sending him away free from thee; for the double of the hire of an hireling he hath served thee six years, and Jehovah thy God hath blessed thee in all that thou dost.

It shall not seem hard to thee when they are sent out free from thee, because [thy servant] has served thee six years according to the annual hire of a hireling; so the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all things whatsoever thou mayest do.

19 'Every firstling that is born in thy herd and in thy flock — the male thou dost sanctify to Jehovah thy God; thou dost not work with the firstling of thine ox, nor shear the firstling of thy flock;

Every first-born that shall be born among thy kine and thy sheep, thou shalt sanctify the males to the Lord thy God; thou shalt not work with thy first-born calf, and thou shalt not shear the first-born of thy sheep.

20 before Jehovah thy God thou dost eat it year by year, in the place which Jehovah doth choose, thou and thy house.

Thou shalt eat it before the Lord year by year in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, thou and thy house.

21 'And when there is in it a blemish, lame, or blind, any evil blemish, thou dost not sacrifice it to Jehovah thy God;

And if there be in it a blemish, if it be lame or blind, an evil blemish, thou shalt not sacrifice it to the Lord thy God.

22 within thy gates thou dost eat it, the unclean and the clean alike, as the roe, and as the hart.

Thou shalt eat it in thy cities; the unclean in thee and the clean shall eat it in like manner, as the doe or the stag.

23 Only, its blood thou dost not eat; on the earth thou dost pour it as water.

Only ye shall not eat the blood; thou shalt pour it out on the earth as water.