The Year for Canceling Debts^(A)

15 At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts.^{(B) 2} 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. ³ You may require payment from a foreigner,^(C) but you must cancel any debt your fellow Israelite owes you. ⁴ 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, ⁵ if only you fully obey the Lord your God and are careful to follow^(E) all these commands I am giving you today. ⁶ 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)

⁷ 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. ⁸ Rather, be openhanded^(I) and freely lend them whatever they need. ⁹ 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)

17 Do not sacrifice to the Lord your God an ox or a sheep that has any defect^(A) or flaw in it, for that would be detestable^(B) to him.^(C)

² If a man or woman living among you in one of the towns the Lord gives you is found doing evil in the eyes of the Lord your God in violation of his covenant,^{(D) 3} and contrary to my command^(E) has worshiped other gods,^(F) bowing down to them or to the sun^(G) or the moon or the stars in the sky,^{(H) 4} and this has been brought to your attention, then you must investigate it thoroughly. If it is true^(I) and it has been proved that this detestable thing has been done in Israel,^{(J) 5} take the man or woman who has done this evil deed to your city gate and stone that person to death.^{(K) 6} On the testimony of two or three witnesses a person is to be put to death, but no one is to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness.^{(L) 7} The hands of the witnesses must be the first in putting that person to death,^(M) and then the hands of all the people.^(N) You must purge the evil^(O) from among you.

Law Courts

⁸ If cases come before your courts that are too difficult for you to judge^(P)—whether bloodshed, lawsuits or assaults^(Q)—take them to the place the Lord your God will choose.^{(R) 9} Go to the Levitical^(S) priests and to the judge^(T) who is in office at that time. Inquire of them and they will give you the verdict.^{(U) 10} You must act according to the decisions they give you at the place the Lord will choose. Be careful to do everything they instruct you to do. ¹¹ Act according to whatever they teach you and the decisions they give you. Do not turn aside from what they tell you, to the right or to the left.^{(V) 12} Anyone who shows contempt^(W) for the judge or for the priest who stands ministering^(X) there to the Lord your God is to be put to death.^(Y) You must purge the evil from Israel.^{(Z) 13} All the people will hear and be afraid, and will not be contemptuous again.^(AA)

The King

¹⁴ When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you and have taken possession^(AB) of it and settled in it,^(AC) and you say, “Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,”^{(AD) 15} be sure to appoint^(AE) over you a king the Lord your God chooses. He must be from among your fellow Israelites.^(AF) Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not an Israelite. ¹⁶ The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses^(AG) for himself^(AH) or make the people return to Egypt^(AI) to get more of them,^(AJ) for the Lord has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.”^{(AK) 17} He must not take many wives,^(AL) or his heart will be led astray.^(AM) He must not accumulate^(AN) large amounts of silver and gold.^(AO)

¹⁸ When he takes the throne^(AP) of his kingdom, he is to write^(AQ) for himself on a scroll a copy^(AR) of this law, taken from that of the Levitical priests. ¹⁹ It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life^(AS) so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees^{(AT) 20} and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the law^(AU) to the right or to the left.^(AV) Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.^(AW)