The Year for Canceling Debts(A)

15 At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts.(B) This is how it is to be done: Every creditor shall cancel any loan they have made to a fellow Israelite. They shall not require payment from anyone among their own people, because the Lord’s time for canceling debts has been proclaimed. You may require payment from a foreigner,(C) but you must cancel any debt your fellow Israelite owes you. However, there need be no poor people among you, for in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless(D) you, if only you fully obey the Lord your God and are careful to follow(E) all these commands I am giving you today. For the Lord your God will bless you as he has promised, and you will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. You will rule over many nations but none will rule over you.(F)

If anyone is poor(G) among your fellow Israelites in any of the towns of the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted(H) toward them. Rather, be openhanded(I) and freely lend them whatever they need. Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought: “The seventh year, the year for canceling debts,(J) is near,” so that you do not show ill will(K) toward the needy among your fellow Israelites and give them nothing. They may then appeal to the Lord against you, and you will be found guilty of sin.(L) 10 Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart;(M) then because of this the Lord your God will bless(N) you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. 11 There will always be poor people(O) in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.(P)

Freeing Servants(Q)(R)

12 If any of your people—Hebrew men or women—sell themselves to you and serve you six years, in the seventh year you must let them go free.(S) 13 And when you release them, do not send them away empty-handed. 14 Supply them liberally from your flock, your threshing floor(T) and your winepress. Give to them as the Lord your God has blessed you. 15 Remember that you were slaves(U) in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you.(V) That is why I give you this command today.

16 But if your servant says to you, “I do not want to leave you,” because he loves you and your family and is well off with you, 17 then take an awl and push it through his earlobe into the door, and he will become your servant for life. Do the same for your female servant.

18 Do not consider it a hardship to set your servant free, because their service to you these six years has been worth twice as much as that of a hired hand. And the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.

The Firstborn Animals

19 Set apart for the Lord(W) your God every firstborn male(X) of your herds and flocks.(Y) Do not put the firstborn of your cows to work, and do not shear the firstborn of your sheep.(Z) 20 Each year you and your family are to eat them in the presence of the Lord your God at the place he will choose.(AA) 21 If an animal has a defect,(AB) is lame or blind, or has any serious flaw, you must not sacrifice it to the Lord your God.(AC) 22 You are to eat it in your own towns. Both the ceremonially unclean and the clean may eat it, as if it were gazelle or deer.(AD) 23 But you must not eat the blood; pour it out on the ground like water.(AE)

The Sabbatical Year

15 (A)At the end of every seven years you shall [a]grant a release of debts. And this is the regulation for the release of debts: every creditor is to forgive what he has loaned to his neighbor; he shall not require it of his neighbor and his brother, because the Lords release has been proclaimed. (B)From a foreigner you may require it, but your hand shall [b]forgive whatever of yours is with your brother. However, there will be no poor among you, since (C)the Lord will certainly bless you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, if only you listen obediently to the voice of the Lord your God, to [c]follow carefully all this commandment which I am commanding you today. (D)For the Lord your God will have blessed you just as He has promised you, and you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow; and you will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you.

“If there is (E)a poor person among you, one of your brothers, in any of your [d]towns in your land which the Lord your God is giving you, (F)you shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand from your poor brother; but (G)you shall fully open your hand to him, and generously lend him enough for his need in whatever he lacks. Be careful that there is no mean-spirited [e]thought in your heart, [f]such as, ‘(H)The seventh year, the year of release of debts, is near,’ and (I)your eye is malicious toward your poor brother, and you give him nothing; then he (J)may cry out to the Lord against you, and it will be a sin in you. 10 You shall generously give to him, and your heart shall not be [g]grudging when you give to him, because (K)for this thing the Lord your God will bless you in all your work, and in all [h]your undertakings. 11 (L)For the poor will not cease [i]to exist in the land; therefore I am commanding you, saying, ‘You shall fully open your hand to your brother, to your needy and poor in your land.’

12 (M)If your fellow countryman, a Hebrew man or woman, is sold to you, then he shall serve you for six years, but in the seventh year you shall set him [j]free. 13 And when you set him [k]free, you shall not send him away empty-handed. 14 You shall give generously to him from your flock, your threshing floor, and from your wine vat; you shall give to him as the Lord your God has blessed you. 15 And you are to remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore I am commanding [l]this of you today. 16 But it shall come about, (N)if he says to you, ‘I will not leave you,’ because he loves you and your household, since he is doing well with you, 17 then you shall take an [m]awl and pierce it through his ear into the door, and he shall be your servant permanently. You shall also do the same to your female slave.

18 “It shall not seem difficult for you when you set him [n]free, because he has given you six years with double the [o]service of a hired worker; so the Lord your God will bless you in whatever you do.

19 (O)You shall consecrate to the Lord your God all the firstborn males that are born in your herd and in your flock; you shall not work with the firstborn of your herd, nor shear the firstborn of your flock. 20 (P)You and your household shall eat it every year before the Lord your God in the place which the Lord chooses. 21 (Q)But if it has any impairment, such as a limp, or blindness, or any serious impairment, you shall not sacrifice it to the Lord your God. 22 You shall eat it within your gates; (R)the unclean and the clean alike may eat it, as (S)a gazelle or a deer. 23 Only (T)you shall not eat its blood; you are to pour it out on the ground like water.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 15:1 Lit make
  2. Deuteronomy 15:3 Lit release
  3. Deuteronomy 15:5 Lit perform
  4. Deuteronomy 15:7 Lit gates
  5. Deuteronomy 15:9 Lit word
  6. Deuteronomy 15:9 Lit saying
  7. Deuteronomy 15:10 Lit evil
  8. Deuteronomy 15:10 Lit the putting forth of your hand
  9. Deuteronomy 15:11 Lit from the midst of
  10. Deuteronomy 15:12 Lit free from you
  11. Deuteronomy 15:13 Lit free from you
  12. Deuteronomy 15:15 Lit this thing
  13. Deuteronomy 15:17 I.e., a pointed tool
  14. Deuteronomy 15:18 Lit free from you
  15. Deuteronomy 15:18 Lit wages

Release for Debtors

15 “At the end of every seventh year you must cancel the debts of everyone who owes you money. This is how it must be done. Everyone must cancel the loans they have made to their fellow Israelites. They must not demand payment from their neighbors or relatives, for the Lord’s time of release has arrived. This release from debt, however, applies only to your fellow Israelites—not to the foreigners living among you.

“There should be no poor among you, for the Lord your God will greatly bless you in the land he is giving you as a special possession. You will receive this blessing if you are careful to obey all the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today. The Lord your God will bless you as he has promised. You will lend money to many nations but will never need to borrow. You will rule many nations, but they will not rule over you.

“But if there are any poor Israelites in your towns when you arrive in the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tightfisted toward them. Instead, be generous and lend them whatever they need. Do not be mean-spirited and refuse someone a loan because the year for canceling debts is close at hand. If you refuse to make the loan and the needy person cries out to the Lord, you will be considered guilty of sin. 10 Give generously to the poor, not grudgingly, for the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do. 11 There will always be some in the land who are poor. That is why I am commanding you to share freely with the poor and with other Israelites in need.

Release for Hebrew Slaves

12 “If a fellow Hebrew sells himself or herself to be your servant[a] and serves you for six years, in the seventh year you must set that servant free.

13 “When you release a male servant, do not send him away empty-handed. 14 Give him a generous farewell gift from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress. Share with him some of the bounty with which the Lord your God has blessed you. 15 Remember that you were once slaves in the land of Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you! That is why I am giving you this command.

16 “But suppose your servant says, ‘I will not leave you,’ because he loves you and your family, and he has done well with you. 17 In that case, take an awl and push it through his earlobe into the door. After that, he will be your servant for life. And do the same for your female servants.

18 “You must not consider it a hardship when you release your servants. Remember that for six years they have given you services worth double the wages of hired workers, and the Lord your God will bless you in all you do.

Sacrificing Firstborn Male Animals

19 “You must set aside for the Lord your God all the firstborn males from your flocks and herds. Do not use the firstborn of your herds to work your fields, and do not shear the firstborn of your flocks. 20 Instead, you and your family must eat these animals in the presence of the Lord your God each year at the place he chooses. 21 But if this firstborn animal has any defect, such as lameness or blindness, or if anything else is wrong with it, you must not sacrifice it to the Lord your God. 22 Instead, use it for food for your family in your hometown. Anyone, whether ceremonially clean or unclean, may eat it, just as anyone may eat a gazelle or deer. 23 But you must not consume the blood. You must pour it out on the ground like water.

Footnotes

  1. 15:12 Or If a Hebrew man or woman is sold to you.

Laws concerning the Sabbatical Year

15 “Every seventh year you shall grant a remission of debts.(A) And this is the manner of the remission: every creditor shall remit the claim that is held against a neighbor, not exacting it,[a] because the Lord’s remission has been proclaimed. Of a foreigner you may exact it, but you must remit your claim on whatever any member of your community owes you. There will, however, be no one in need among you, because the Lord is sure to bless you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you as a possession to occupy, if only you will obey the Lord your God by diligently observing this entire commandment that I command you today.(B) When the Lord your God has blessed you, as he promised you, you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow; you will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you.(C)

“If there is among you anyone in need, a member of your community in any of your towns within the land that the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted toward your needy neighbor.(D) You should rather open your hand, willingly lending enough to meet the need, whatever it may be.(E) Be careful that you do not entertain a mean thought, thinking, ‘The seventh year, the year of remission, is near,’ and therefore view your needy neighbor with hostility and give nothing; your neighbor[b] might cry to the Lord against you, and you would incur guilt.(F) 10 Give liberally and be ungrudging when you do so, for on this account the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake.(G) 11 Since there will never cease to be some in need on the earth, I therefore command you, ‘Open your hand to the poor and needy neighbor in your land.’(H)

12 “If a member of your community, whether a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, is sold[c] to you and works for you six years, in the seventh year you shall set that person free.(I) 13 And when you send a male slave[d] out from you a free person, you shall not send him out empty-handed. 14 Provide for him liberally out of your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress, thus giving to him some of the bounty with which the Lord your God has blessed you. 15 Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you; for this reason I lay this command upon you today.(J) 16 But if he says to you, ‘I will not go out from you,’ because he loves you and your household, since he is well off with you,(K) 17 then you shall take an awl and thrust it through his earlobe into the door, and he shall be your slave forever.

“You shall do the same with regard to your female slave.

18 “Do not consider it a hardship when you send them out from you free persons, because for six years they have given you services worth the wages of hired laborers, and the Lord your God will bless you in all that you do.

The Firstborn of Livestock

19 “Every firstling male born of your herd and flock you shall consecrate to the Lord your God; you shall not do work with your firstling ox nor shear the firstling of your flock.(L) 20 You shall eat it, you together with your household, in the presence of the Lord your God year by year at the place that the Lord will choose.(M) 21 But if it has any defect—any serious defect, such as lameness or blindness—you shall not sacrifice it to the Lord your God;(N) 22 within your towns you may eat it, the unclean and the clean alike, as you would a gazelle or deer.(O) 23 Its blood, however, you must not eat; you shall pour it out on the ground like water.(P)

Footnotes

  1. 15.2 Q ms: MT adds of a neighbor who is a member of the community
  2. 15.9 Heb he
  3. 15.12 Or sells himself or herself
  4. 15.13 Heb him

15 At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release.

And this is the manner of the release: Every creditor that lendeth ought unto 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.

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

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:

Only if thou carefully hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all these commandments which I command thee this day.

For the Lord thy God blesseth thee, as he promised thee: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou shalt not borrow; and thou shalt reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over thee.

If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother:

But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth.

Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and he cry unto the Lord against thee, and it be sin unto thee.

10 Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him: because that for this thing the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto.

11 For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.

12 And if thy brother, an Hebrew man, or an Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee, and serve thee six years; then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee.

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

14 Thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and out of thy floor, and out of thy winepress: of that wherewith the Lord thy God hath blessed thee thou shalt give unto him.

15 And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the Lord thy God redeemed thee: therefore I command thee this thing to day.

16 And it shall be, if he say unto thee, I will not go away from thee; because he loveth thee and thine house, because he is well with thee;

17 Then thou shalt take an aul, and thrust it through his ear unto the door, and he shall be thy servant for ever. And also unto thy maidservant thou shalt do likewise.

18 It shall not seem hard unto thee, when thou sendest him away free from thee; for he hath been worth a double hired servant to thee, in serving thee six years: and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all that thou doest.

19 All the firstling males that come of thy herd and of thy flock thou shalt sanctify unto the Lord thy God: thou shalt do no work with the firstling of thy bullock, nor shear the firstling of thy 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.

21 And if there be any blemish therein, as if it be lame, or blind, or have any ill blemish, thou shalt not sacrifice it unto the Lord thy 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.

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