Deuteronomy 15
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Laws concerning the Sabbatical Year
15 “Every seventh year you shall grant a remission of debts.(A) 2 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. 3 Of a foreigner you may exact it, but you must remit your claim on whatever any member of your community owes you. 4 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, 5 if only you will obey the Lord your God by diligently observing this entire commandment that I command you today.(B) 6 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)
7 “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) 8 You should rather open your hand, willingly lending enough to meet the need, whatever it may be.(E) 9 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)
Deuteronomy 15
Evangelical Heritage Version
The Sabbatical Year
15 At the end of seven years grant a release.[a]
2 This is how the release is to be done: Every creditor is to release[b] what he has loaned to his neighbor. He must not exact it from his neighbor or from his brother Israelite, because the Lord’s release has been proclaimed. 3 You may exact it from a foreigner, but your hand is to release whatever your brother Israelite owes you.[c]
4 However, there should be no poor people among you, because the Lord will greatly bless you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance for you to possess, 5 if you obey the voice of the Lord your God by carefully carrying out all of this command that I am giving you today. 6 For the Lord your God will bless you, just as he has promised you, and you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow; you will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you.
7 However, if there is a poor person among you, any one of your fellow Israelites within the gates of your towns in the land that the Lord your God is giving you, do not harden your heart and shut your hand against your poor brother. 8 Rather, open up your hand to him and freely lend him enough of whatever he needs for himself. 9 Be careful that you do not harbor this wicked thought: Year seven, the year of release, is near! So as a result you have a harsh attitude toward your poor brother and do not give him anything. Then he will cry out to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty of sin. 10 Give freely to him, and do not feel resentful about giving to him, because on account of your giving, the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and whatever you put your hand to. 11 Since there will never cease to be poor people in the land, I command you, open up your hand to your brother in your land, to the afflicted and the poor among you.
The Release of Servants
12 If your brother, that is, a Hebrew man or woman, sells himself to you, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year you are to set him free. 13 When you set him free, do not send him out empty-handed. 14 Provide for him generously from your flock and from your threshing floor and from your winepress. Give to him from the blessings that the Lord your God has given to you. 15 You should remember that you yourself were a slave in the land of Egypt, but the Lord your God redeemed you. Therefore I am commanding this procedure to you today.
16 But he might say to you, “I don’t want to leave you,” because he loves you and your household, and he is well off with you. 17 In that case you are to take an awl and bore through his ear into the door, and he will be a slave to you permanently. Do the same in the case of your female slave. 18 When you do set a servant free, it should not seem like a hardship to you, because for six years he has earned for you double the income that a hired worker would. The Lord your God will bless you in everything that you do.
The Firstborn
19 Set apart for the Lord your God every firstborn male from your herd and your flock. Do not work the firstborn of your oxen, and do not shear the firstborn of your flock. 20 You and your household are to eat the firstborn in the presence of the Lord each year, in the place that the Lord will choose. 21 But if it has a defect (if it is lame or blind, or if it has any other serious defect), you must not sacrifice it to the Lord your God. 22 You may eat it within the gates of your towns. The unclean and the clean person alike may eat it, as you would a gazelle or a deer. 23 But you must not eat its blood. You are to pour it out on the ground like water.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 15:1 That is, a remission of debt
- Deuteronomy 15:2 Or forgive
- Deuteronomy 15:3 It is not certain if the creditor is to forgive the debt permanently or to suspend repayment during the year in which there is no harvest.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.