Remission of Debt Every Seven Years

15 “^(A)At the end of every seven years you shall ^[a]grant a remission of debts. ² And this is the manner of remission: every creditor shall release what he has loaned to his neighbor; he shall not exact it of his neighbor and his brother because the remission from Yahweh has been proclaimed. ^3 (B)From a foreigner you may exact it, but your hand shall release whatever of yours is with your brother. ⁴ However, there will be no needy one among you, since ^(C)Yahweh will surely bless you in the land which Yahweh your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, ⁵ if only you listen obediently to the voice of Yahweh your God, to be careful to do all this commandment which I am commanding you today. ^6 (D)For Yahweh your God will bless you 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 needy one among you, one of your brothers, in any of your gates of the towns in your land which Yahweh your God is giving you, ^(F)you shall not harden your heart nor close your hand from your needy brother; ⁸ but ^(G)you shall freely open your hand to him and shall generously lend him sufficient for his need in whatever he lacks. ⁹ Beware lest there be a vile ^[b]thought in your heart, saying, ‘^(H)The seventh year, the year of the remission of debts, is near,’ and ^(I)your eye is hostile toward your needy brother, and you give him nothing; then he ^(J)may cry to Yahweh against you, and it will be a sin in you. ¹⁰ You shall generously give to him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him, because ^(K)for this thing Yahweh your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you send forth your hand to do. ^11 (L)For the needy will never cease to be ^[c]in the land; therefore I am commanding you, saying, ‘You shall freely open your hand to your brother, to your afflicted and needy in your land.’

¹² “^(M)If your brother, a Hebrew man or woman, is sold to you, then he shall serve you six years, but in the seventh year you shall ^[d]let him go to be free from you. ¹³ When you ^[e]let him go to be free from you, you shall not ^[f]let him go empty-handed. ¹⁴ You shall furnish him generously from your flock and from your threshing floor and from your wine vat; you shall give to him as Yahweh your God has blessed you. ¹⁵ And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and Yahweh your God redeemed you; therefore I am commanding you ^[g]this today. ¹⁶ And it will be that, ^(N)if he says to you, ‘I will not go out from you,’ because he loves you and your household, since he fares well with you; ¹⁷ then you shall take an awl and pierce it through his ear into the door, and he shall be your servant forever. Also you shall do likewise to your maidservant.

¹⁸ “It shall not seem hard in your sight when you ^[h]let him go to be free from you, for he has given you six years with ^[i]double the service of a hired man; so Yahweh your God will bless you in whatever you do.

¹⁹ “^(O)You shall set apart as holy to Yahweh your God all the firstborn males that are born of your herd and of 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 Yahweh your God in the place which Yahweh chooses. ^21 (Q)But if it has any defect, such as lameness or blindness, or any serious defect, you shall not sacrifice it to Yahweh 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.