The Sabbatical Year

15 “^(A)At the end of every seven years you shall ^[a]grant a release of debts. ² 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 Lord’s release has been proclaimed. ^3 (B)From a foreigner you may require it, but your hand shall ^[b]forgive whatever of yours is with your brother. ⁴ 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, ⁵ 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. ^6 (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.

⁷ “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; ⁸ but ^(G)you shall fully open your hand to him, and generously lend him enough for his need in whatever he lacks. ⁹ 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.

Choosing of the Seven

6 Now ^[a]at this time, as the ^(A)disciples were ^(B)increasing in number, a complaint developed on the part of the ^[b](C)Hellenistic Jews against the native ^(D)Hebrews, because their ^(E)widows were being overlooked in ^(F)the daily serving of food. ² So the twelve summoned the ^[c]congregation of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables. ³ Instead, ^(G)brothers and sisters, select from among you seven men of good reputation, ^(H)full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task. ⁴ But we will ^(I)devote ourselves to prayer and to the ^[d]ministry of the word.” ⁵ The ^[e]announcement found approval with the whole ^[f]congregation; and they chose ^(J)Stephen, a man ^(K)full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and ^(L)Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and ^[g]Nicolas, a ^[h](M)proselyte from ^(N)Antioch. ⁶ And they brought these men before the apostles; and after ^(O)praying, they ^(P)laid their hands on them.

^7 (Q)The word of God kept spreading; and ^(R)the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to ^(S)the faith.

⁸ And Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great ^(T)wonders and ^[i]signs among the people. ⁹ But some men from what was called the Synagogue of the Freedmen, including both ^(U)Cyrenians and ^(V)Alexandrians, and some from ^(W)Cilicia and ^[j](X)Asia, rose up and argued with Stephen. ¹⁰ But they were unable to ^[k]cope with his wisdom and the Spirit by whom he was speaking. ¹¹ Then they secretly induced men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” ¹² And they stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes, and they ^(Y)came up to him and dragged him away, and brought him ^[l]before ^(Z)the ^[m]Council. ¹³ They put forward ^(AA)false witnesses who said, “This man does not stop ^[n]speaking against this ^(AB)holy place and the Law; ¹⁴ for we have heard him say that ^(AC)this Nazarene, Jesus, will destroy this place and change ^(AD)the customs which Moses handed down to us.” ¹⁵ And all who were sitting in the ^[o](AE)Council stared at him, and they saw his face, which was like the face of an angel.