Δευτερονόμιον 15
1 δῑ ἑπτὰ ἐτῶν ποιήσεις ἄφεσιν
“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).
2 καὶ οὕτως τὸ πρόσταγμα τῆς ἀφέσεως ἀφήσεις πᾶν χρέος ἴδιον ὃ ὀφείλει σοι ὁ πλησίον καὶ τὸν ἀδελφόν σου οὐκ ἀπαιτήσεις ὅτι ἐπικέκληται ἄφεσις κυρίῳ τῷ θεῷ σου
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].
3 τὸν ἀλλότριον ἀπαιτήσεις ὅσα ἐὰν ᾖ σοι παρ’ αὐτῷ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ σου ἄφεσιν ποιήσεις τοῦ χρέους σου
[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.
4 ὅτι οὐκ ἔσται ἐν σοὶ ἐνδεής ὅτι εὐλογῶν εὐλογήσει σε κύριος ὁ θεός σου ἐν τῇ γῇ ᾗ κύριος ὁ θεός σου δίδωσίν σοι ἐν κλήρῳ κατακληρονομῆσαι αὐτήν
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.
5 ἐὰν δὲ ἀκοῇ εἰσακούσητε τῆς φωνῆς κυρίου τοῦ θεοῦ ὑμῶν φυλάσσειν καὶ ποιεῖν πάσας τὰς ἐντολὰς ταύτας ὅσας ἐγὼ ἐντέλλομαί σοι σήμερον
6 ὅτι κύριος ὁ θεός σου εὐλόγησέν σε ὃν τρόπον ἐλάλησέν σοι καὶ δανιεῖς ἔθνεσιν πολλοῖς σὺ δὲ οὐ δανιῇ καὶ ἄρξεις σὺ ἐθνῶν πολλῶν σοῦ δὲ οὐκ ἄρξουσιν
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].
7 ἐὰν δὲ γένηται ἐν σοὶ ἐνδεὴς τῶν ἀδελφῶν σου ἐν μιᾷ τῶν πόλεων σου ἐν τῇ γῇ ᾗ κύριος ὁ θεός σου δίδωσίν σοι οὐκ ἀποστέρξεις τὴν καρδίαν σου οὐδ’ οὐ μὴ συσφίγξῃς τὴν χεῖρά σου ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ σου τοῦ ἐπιδεομένου
“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.
8 ἀνοίγων ἀνοίξεις τὰς χεῖράς σου αὐτῷ δάνειον δανιεῖς αὐτῷ ὅσον ἐπιδέεται καθ’ ὅσον ἐνδεεῖται
Instead, be generous [IDM] and lend to them the money that they need.
9 πρόσεχε σεαυτῷ μὴ γένηται ῥῆμα κρυπτὸν ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ σου ἀνόμημα λέγων ἐγγίζει τὸ ἔτος τὸ ἕβδομον ἔτος τῆς ἀφέσεως καὶ πονηρεύσηται ὁ ὀφθαλμός σου τῷ ἀδελφῷ σου τῷ ἐπιδεομένῳ καὶ οὐ δώσεις αὐτῷ καὶ βοήσεται κατὰ σοῦ πρὸς κύριον καὶ ἔσται ἐν σοὶ ἁμαρτία μεγάλη
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].
10 διδοὺς δώσεις αὐτῷ καὶ δάνειον δανιεῖς αὐτῷ ὅσον ἐπιδέεται καὶ οὐ λυπηθήσῃ τῇ καρδίᾳ σου διδόντος σου αὐτῷ ὅτι διὰ τὸ ῥῆμα τοῦτο εὐλογήσει σε κύριος ὁ θεός σου ἐν πᾶσιν τοῖς ἔργοις καὶ ἐν πᾶσιν οὗ ἂν ἐπιβάλῃς τὴν χεῖρά σου
Give freely to poor people and give generously [IDM].
11 οὐ γὰρ μὴ ἐκλίπῃ ἐνδεὴς ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς διὰ τοῦτο ἐγώ σοι ἐντέλλομαι ποιεῖν τὸ ῥῆμα τοῦτο λέγων ἀνοίγων ἀνοίξεις τὰς χεῖράς σου τῷ ἀδελφῷ σου τῷ πένητι καὶ τῷ ἐπιδεομένῳ τῷ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς σου
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.”
12 ἐὰν δὲ πραθῇ σοι ὁ ἀδελφός σου ὁ Εβραῖος ἢ ἡ Εβραία δουλεύσει σοι ἓξ ἔτη καὶ τῷ ἑβδόμῳ ἐξαποστελεῖς αὐτὸν ἐλεύθερον ἀπὸ σοῦ
“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.
13 ὅταν δὲ ἐξαποστέλλῃς αὐτὸν ἐλεύθερον ἀπὸ σοῦ οὐκ ἐξαποστελεῖς αὐτὸν κενόν
When you free them, do not allow them to go (empty-handed/without giving them anything).
14 ἐφόδιον ἐφοδιάσεις αὐτὸν ἀπὸ τῶν προβάτων σου καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ σίτου σου καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς ληνοῦ σου καθὰ εὐλόγησέν σε κύριος ὁ θεός σου δώσεις αὐτῷ
Give to them generously from the things with which Yahweh has blessed you—sheep, grain, and wine.
15 καὶ μνησθήσῃ ὅτι οἰκέτης ἦσθα ἐν γῇ Αἰγύπτου καὶ ἐλυτρώσατό σε κύριος ὁ θεός σου ἐκεῖθεν διὰ τοῦτο ἐγώ σοι ἐντέλλομαι ποιεῖν τὸ ῥῆμα τοῦτο
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.
16 ἐὰν δὲ λέγῃ πρὸς σέ οὐκ ἐξελεύσομαι ἀπὸ σοῦ ὅτι ἠγάπηκέν σε καὶ τὴν οἰκίαν σου ὅτι εὖ αὐτῷ ἐστιν παρὰ σοί
“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.
17 καὶ λήμψῃ τὸ ὀπήτιον καὶ τρυπήσεις τὸ ὠτίον αὐτοῦ πρὸς τὴν θύραν καὶ ἔσται σοι οἰκέτης εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα καὶ τὴν παιδίσκην σου ποιήσεις ὡσαύτως
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].
18 οὐ σκληρὸν ἔσται ἐναντίον σου ἐξαποστελλομένων αὐτῶν ἐλευθέρων ἀπὸ σοῦ ὅτι ἐφέτιον μισθὸν τοῦ μισθωτοῦ ἐδούλευσέν σοι ἓξ ἔτη καὶ εὐλογήσει σε κύριος ὁ θεός σου ἐν πᾶσιν οἷς ἐὰν ποιῇς
“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.”
19 πᾶν πρωτότοκον ὃ ἐὰν τεχθῇ ἐν τοῖς βουσίν σου καὶ ἐν τοῖς προβάτοις σου τὰ ἀρσενικά ἁγιάσεις κυρίῳ τῷ θεῷ σου οὐκ ἐργᾷ ἐν τῷ πρωτοτόκῳ μόσχῳ σου καὶ οὐ μὴ κείρῃς τὸ πρωτότοκον τῶν προβάτων σου
“(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].
20 ἔναντι κυρίου φάγῃ αὐτὸ ἐνιαυτὸν ἐξ ἐνιαυτοῦ ἐν τῷ τόπῳ ᾧ ἐὰν ἐκλέξηται κύριος ὁ θεός σου σὺ καὶ ὁ οἶκός σου
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].
21 ἐὰν δὲ ᾖ ἐν αὐτῷ μῶμος χωλὸν ἢ τυφλὸν ἢ καὶ πᾶς μῶμος πονηρός οὐ θύσεις αὐτὸ κυρίῳ τῷ θεῷ σου
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.
22 ἐν ταῖς πόλεσίν σου φάγῃ αὐτό ὁ ἀκάθαρτος ἐν σοὶ καὶ ὁ καθαρὸς ὡσαύτως ἔδεται ὡς δορκάδα ἢ ἔλαφον
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.
23 πλὴν τὸ αἷμα οὐ φάγεσθε ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν ἐκχεεῖς αὐτὸ ὡς ὕδωρ
But you must not eat any of the blood; you must drain all the blood on the ground [when you kill those animals].”
