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Deuteronomy 15
Christian Standard Bible

Debts Canceled

15 “At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts.(A) 2 This is how to cancel debt: Every creditor[a] is to cancel what he has lent his neighbor. He is not to collect anything from his neighbor or brother, because the Lord’s release of debts has been proclaimed. 3 You may collect something from a foreigner, but you must forgive whatever your brother owes you.

4 “There will be no poor among you, however, because the Lord is certain to bless you in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance(B)— 5 if only you obey the Lord your God and are careful to follow every one of these commands I am giving you today. 6 When the Lord your God blesses you as he has promised you, you will lend to many nations but not borrow; you will rule many nations, but they will not rule you.

Lending to the Poor

7 “If there is a poor person among you, one of your brothers within any of your city gates in the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother. 8 Instead, you are to open your hand to him and freely loan him enough for whatever need he has. 9 Be careful that there isn’t this wicked thought in your heart, ‘The seventh year, the year of canceling debts, is near,’ and you are stingy toward your poor brother and give him nothing. He will cry out to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty. 10 Give to him, and don’t have a stingy heart[b] when you give, and because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you do.[c] 11 For there will never cease to be poor people in the land;(C) that is why I am commanding you, ‘Open your hand willingly to your poor and needy brother in your land.’

Release of Slaves

12 “If your fellow Hebrew, a man or woman, is sold to you and serves you six years, you must set him free in the seventh year.(D) 13 When you set him free, do not send him away empty-handed. 14 Give generously to him from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress. You are to give him whatever the Lord your God has blessed you with. 15 Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed(E) you; that is why I am giving you this command today.(F) 16 But if your slave says to you, ‘I don’t want to leave you,’ because he loves you and your family, and is well off with you, 17 take an awl and pierce through his ear into the door, and he will become your slave for life. Also treat your female slave the same way. 18 Do not regard it as a hardship[d] when you set him free, because he worked for you six years—worth twice the wages of a hired worker. Then the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.(G)

Consecration of Firstborn Animals

19 “Consecrate to the Lord your God every firstborn male produced by your herd and flock.(H) You are not to put the firstborn of your oxen to work or shear the firstborn of your flock. 20 Each year you and your family are to eat it before the Lord your God in the place the Lord chooses. 21 But if there is a defect in the animal, if it is lame or blind or has any serious defect, you may not sacrifice it to the Lord your God. 22 Eat it within your city gates; both the unclean person and the clean may eat it, as though it were a gazelle or deer. 23 But you must not eat its blood; pour it on the ground like water.(I)

Footnotes

  1. 15:2 Lit owner of a loan of his hand
  2. 15:10 Lit and let not your heart be grudging
  3. 15:10 Lit you put your hand to
  4. 15:18 Lit Let it not be hard in your sight
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Deuteronomy 15
New English Translation

The Year of Debt Release

15 At the end of every seven years you must declare a cancellation of debts.[a] 2 This is the nature of the cancellation: Every creditor must remit what he has loaned to another person;[b] he must not force payment from his fellow Israelite,[c] for it is to be recognized as “the Lord’s cancellation of debts.” 3 You may exact payment from a foreigner, but whatever your fellow Israelite[d] owes you, you must remit. 4 However, there should not be any poor among you, for the Lord[e] will surely bless[f] you in the land that he[g] is giving you as an inheritance,[h] 5 if you carefully obey[i] him[j] by keeping[k] all these commandments that I am giving[l] you today. 6 For the Lord your God will bless you just as he has promised; you will lend to many nations but will not borrow from any, and you will rule over many nations but they will not rule over you.

The Spirit of Liberality

7 If a fellow Israelite[m] from one of your villages[n] in the land that the Lord your God is giving you should be poor, you must not harden your heart or be insensitive[o] to his impoverished condition.[p] 8 Instead, you must be sure to open your hand to him and generously lend[q] him whatever he needs.[r] 9 Be careful lest you entertain the wicked thought that the seventh year, the year of cancellation of debts, has almost arrived, and your attitude[s] be wrong toward your impoverished fellow Israelite[t] and you do not lend[u] him anything; he will cry out to the Lord against you, and you will be regarded as having sinned.[v] 10 You must by all means lend[w] to him and not be upset by doing it,[x] for because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you attempt. 11 There will never cease to be some poor people in the land; therefore, I am commanding you to make sure you open[y] your hand to your fellow Israelites[z] who are needy and poor in your land.

Release of Debt Slaves

12 If your fellow Hebrew[aa]—whether male or female[ab]—is sold to you and serves you for six years, then in the seventh year you must let that servant[ac] go free.[ad] 13 If you set them free, you must not send them away empty-handed. 14 You must supply them generously[ae] from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress—as the Lord your God has blessed you, you must give to them. 15 Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore, I am commanding you to do this thing today. 16 However, if the servant[af] says to you, “I do not want to leave[ag] you,” because he loves you and your household, since he is well off with you, 17 you shall take an awl and pierce a hole through his ear to the door.[ah] Then he will become your servant permanently (this applies to your female servant as well). 18 You should not consider it difficult to let him go free, for he will have served you for six years, twice[ai] the time of a hired worker; the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.

Giving God the Best

19 You must set apart[aj] for the Lord your God every firstborn male born to your herds and flocks. You must not work the firstborn of your bulls or shear the firstborn of your flocks. 20 You and your household must eat them annually before the Lord your God in the place he[ak] chooses. 21 If one of them has any kind of blemish—lameness, blindness, or anything else[al]—you may not offer it as a sacrifice to the Lord your God. 22 You may eat it in your villages,[am] whether you are ritually impure or clean,[an] just as you would eat a gazelle or an ibex. 23 However, you must not eat its blood; you must pour it out on the ground like water.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 15:1 tn The Hebrew term שְׁמִטִּת (shemittat), a derivative of the verb שָׁמַט (shamat, “to release; to relinquish”), refers to the cancellation of the debt and even pledges for the debt of a borrower by his creditor. This could be a full and final remission or, more likely, one for the seventh year only. See R. Wakely, NIDOTTE 4:155-60. Here the words “of debts” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied. Cf. NAB “a relaxation of debts”; NASB, NRSV “a remission of debts.”
  2. Deuteronomy 15:2 tn Heb “his neighbor,” used idiomatically to refer to another person.
  3. Deuteronomy 15:2 tn Heb “his neighbor and his brother.” The words “his brother” may be a scribal gloss identifying “his neighbor” (on this idiom, see the preceding note) as a fellow Israelite (cf. v. 3). In this case the conjunction before “his brother” does not introduce a second category, but rather has the force of “that is.”
  4. Deuteronomy 15:3 tn Heb “your brother.”
  5. Deuteronomy 15:4 tc After the phrase “the Lord” many mss and versions add “your God” to complete the usual full epithet.
  6. Deuteronomy 15:4 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “surely.” Note however, that the use is rhetorical, for the next verse attaches a condition.
  7. Deuteronomy 15:4 tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.
  8. Deuteronomy 15:4 tn The Hebrew text includes “to possess.”
  9. Deuteronomy 15:5 tn Heb “if listening you listen to the voice of.” The infinitive absolute is used for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “carefully.” The idiom “listen to the voice” means “obey.”
  10. Deuteronomy 15:5 tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 15:4.
  11. Deuteronomy 15:5 tn Heb “by being careful to do.”
  12. Deuteronomy 15:5 tn Heb “commanding” (so NASB); NAB “which I enjoin you today.”
  13. Deuteronomy 15:7 tn Heb “one of your brothers” (so NASB); NAB “one of your kinsmen”; NRSV “a member of your community.” See the note at v. 2.
  14. Deuteronomy 15:7 tn Heb “gates.”
  15. Deuteronomy 15:7 tn Heb “withdraw your hand.” Cf. NIV “hardhearted or tightfisted” (NRSV and NLT similar).
  16. Deuteronomy 15:7 tn Heb “from your needy brother.”
  17. Deuteronomy 15:8 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute before both verbs. The translation indicates the emphasis with the words “be sure to” and “generously,” respectively.
  18. Deuteronomy 15:8 tn Heb “whatever his need that he needs for himself.” This redundant expression has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  19. Deuteronomy 15:9 tn Heb “your eye.”
  20. Deuteronomy 15:9 tn Heb “your needy brother.”
  21. Deuteronomy 15:9 tn Heb “give” (likewise in v. 10).
  22. Deuteronomy 15:9 tn Heb “it will be a sin to you.”
  23. Deuteronomy 15:10 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “by all means.”
  24. Deuteronomy 15:10 tc Heb “your heart must not be grieved in giving to him.” The LXX and Orig add, “you shall surely lend to him sufficient for his need,” a suggestion based on the same basic idea in v. 8. Such slavish adherence to stock phrases is without warrant in most cases, and certainly here.
  25. Deuteronomy 15:11 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “make sure.”
  26. Deuteronomy 15:11 tn Heb “your brother.”
  27. Deuteronomy 15:12 sn Elsewhere in the OT, the Israelites are called “Hebrews” (עִבְרִי, ʿivri) by outsiders, rarely by themselves (cf. Gen 14:13; 39:14, 17; 41:12; Exod 1:15, 16, 19; 2:6, 7, 11, 13; 1 Sam 4:6; Jonah 1:9). Thus, here and in the parallel passage in Exod 21:2-6 the term עִבְרִי may designate non-Israelites, specifically a people well-known throughout the ancient Near East as ʾapiru or habiru. They lived a rather vagabond lifestyle, frequently hiring themselves out as laborers or mercenary soldiers. While accounting nicely for the surprising use of the term here in an Israelite law code, the suggestion has against it the unlikelihood that a set of laws would address such a marginal people so specifically (as opposed to simply calling them aliens or the like). More likely עִבְרִי is chosen as a term to remind Israel that when they were “Hebrews,” that is, when they were in Egypt, they were slaves. Now that they are free they must not keep their fellow Israelites in economic bondage. See v. 15.
  28. Deuteronomy 15:12 tn Heb “your brother, a Hebrew (male) or Hebrew (female).”
  29. Deuteronomy 15:12 tn Heb “him.” The singular pronoun occurs throughout the passage.
  30. Deuteronomy 15:12 tn The Hebrew text includes “from you.”
  31. Deuteronomy 15:14 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “generously.”
  32. Deuteronomy 15:16 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the indentured servant introduced in v. 12) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  33. Deuteronomy 15:16 tn Heb “go out from.” The imperfect verbal form indicates the desire of the subject here.
  34. Deuteronomy 15:17 sn When the bondslave’s ear was drilled through to the door, the door in question was that of the master’s house. In effect, the bondslave is declaring his undying and lifelong loyalty to his creditor. The scar (or even hole) in the earlobe would testify to the community that the slave had surrendered independence and personal rights. This may be what Paul had in mind when he said “I bear on my body the marks of Jesus” (Gal 6:17).
  35. Deuteronomy 15:18 tn The Hebrew term מִשְׁנֶה (mishneh, “twice”) could mean “equivalent to” (cf. NRSV) or, more likely, “double” (cf. NAB, NIV, NLT). The idea is that a hired worker would put in only so many hours per day whereas a bondslave was available around the clock.
  36. Deuteronomy 15:19 tn Heb “sanctify” (תַּקְדִּישׁ, taqdish), that is, put to use on behalf of the Lord.
  37. Deuteronomy 15:20 tn Heb “the Lord.” The translation uses a pronoun for stylistic reasons. See note on “he” in 15:4.
  38. Deuteronomy 15:21 tn Heb “any evil blemish”; NASB “any (+ other NAB, TEV) serious defect.”
  39. Deuteronomy 15:22 tn Heb “in your gates.”
  40. Deuteronomy 15:22 tc The LXX adds ἐν σοί (en soi, “among you”) to make clear that the antecedent is the people and not the animals. That is, the people, whether ritually purified or not, may eat such defective animals.
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