Debts Canceled Every Seven Years^(A)

15 “At the end of ^(B)every seven years you shall grant a ^[a]release of debts. ² And this is the form of the release: Every creditor who has lent anything to his neighbor shall ^[b]release it; he shall not ^[c]require it of his neighbor or his brother, because it is called the Lord’s release. ³ Of a foreigner you may require it; but you shall give up your claim to what is owed by your brother, ⁴ except when there may be no poor among you; for the Lord will greatly ^(C)bless you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance— ⁵ only if you carefully obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe with care all these commandments which I command you today. ⁶ For the Lord your God will bless you just as He promised you; ^(D)you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow; you shall reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over you.

Generosity to the Poor

⁷ “If there is among you a poor man of your brethren, within any of the ^[d]gates in your land which the Lord your God is giving you, ^(E)you shall not harden your heart nor shut your hand from your poor brother, ⁸ but ^(F)you shall ^[e]open your hand wide to him and willingly lend him sufficient for his need, whatever he needs. ⁹ Beware lest there be a wicked thought in your heart, saying, ‘The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand,’ and your ^(G)eye be evil against your poor brother and you give him nothing, and ^(H)he cry out to the Lord against you, and ^(I)it become sin among you. ¹⁰ You shall surely give to him, and ^(J)your heart should not be grieved when you give to him, because ^(K)for this thing the Lord your God will bless you in all your works and in all to which you put your hand. ¹¹ For ^(L)the poor will never cease from the land; therefore I command you, saying, ‘You shall ^[f]open your hand wide to your brother, to your poor and your needy, in your land.’

The Law Concerning Bondservants

^12 (M)“If your brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, is ^(N)sold to you and serves you six years, then in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you. ¹³ And when you ^[g]send him away free from you, you shall not let him go away empty-handed; ¹⁴ you shall supply him liberally from your flock, from your threshing floor, and from your winepress. From what the Lord your God has ^(O)blessed you with, you shall give to him. ^15 (P)You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this thing today. ¹⁶ And ^(Q)if it happens that he says to you, ‘I will not go away from you,’ because he loves you and your house, since he prospers with you, ¹⁷ then you shall take an awl and thrust it through his ear to the door, and he shall be your servant forever. Also to your female servant you shall do likewise. ¹⁸ It shall not seem hard to you when you send him away free from you; for he has been worth ^(R)a double hired servant in serving you six years. Then the Lord your God will bless you in all that you do.

The Law Concerning Firstborn Animals

^19 (S)“All the firstborn males that come from your herd and your flock you shall ^[h]sanctify to the Lord your God; you shall do no work with the firstborn of your herd, nor shear the firstborn of your flock. ^20 (T)You and your household shall eat it before the Lord your God year by year in the place which the Lord chooses. ^21 (U)But if there is a defect in it, if it is lame or blind or has any serious defect, you shall not sacrifice it to the Lord your God. ²² You may eat it within your gates; ^(V)the unclean and the clean person alike may eat it, as if it were a gazelle or a deer. ²³ Only you shall not eat its blood; you shall pour it on the ground like water.

The Passover Reviewed^(W)

16 “Observe the ^(X)month of Abib, and keep the Passover to the Lord your God, for ^(Y)in the month of Abib the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night. ² Therefore you shall sacrifice the Passover to the Lord your God, from the flock and ^(Z)the herd, in the ^(AA)place where the Lord chooses to put His name. ³ You shall eat no leavened bread with it; ^(AB)seven days you shall eat unleavened bread with it, that is, the bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste), that you may ^(AC)remember the day in which you came out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life. ^4 (AD)And no leaven shall be seen among you in all your territory for seven days, nor shall any of the meat which you sacrifice the first day at twilight remain overnight until ^(AE)morning.

⁵ “You may not sacrifice the Passover within any of your gates which the Lord your God gives you; ⁶ but at the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide, there you shall sacrifice the Passover ^(AF)at twilight, at the going down of the sun, at the time you came out of Egypt. ⁷ And you shall roast and eat it ^(AG)in the place which the Lord your God chooses, and in the morning you shall turn and go to your tents. ⁸ Six days you shall eat unleavened bread, and ^(AH)on the seventh day there shall be a ^[i]sacred assembly to the Lord your God. You shall do no work on it.

The Feast of Weeks Reviewed^(AI)

⁹ “You shall count seven weeks for yourself; begin to count the seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the grain. ¹⁰ Then you shall keep the ^(AJ)Feast of Weeks to the Lord your God with the tribute of a freewill offering from your hand, which you shall give ^(AK)as the Lord your God blesses you. ^11 (AL)You shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite who is within your gates, the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are among you, at the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide. ^12 (AM)And you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and you shall be careful to observe these statutes.

The Feast of Tabernacles Reviewed^(AN)

^13 (AO)“You shall observe the Feast of Tabernacles seven days, when you have gathered from your threshing floor and from your winepress. ¹⁴ And ^(AP)you shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant and the Levite, the stranger and the fatherless and the widow, who are within your ^[j]gates. ^15 (AQ)Seven days you shall keep a sacred feast to the Lord your God in the place which the Lord chooses, because the Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you surely rejoice.

^16 (AR)“Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God in the place which He chooses: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Tabernacles; and ^(AS)they shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed. ¹⁷ Every man shall give as he is able, ^(AT)according to the blessing of the Lord your God which He has given you.

Justice Must Be Administered

¹⁸ “You shall appoint ^(AU)judges and officers in all your ^[k]gates, which the Lord your God gives you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with just judgment. ^19 (AV)You shall not pervert justice; ^(AW)you shall not ^[l]show partiality, ^(AX)nor take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and ^[m]twists the words of the righteous. ²⁰ You shall follow what is altogether just, that you may ^(AY)live and inherit the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

^21 (AZ)“You shall not plant for yourself any tree, as a ^[n]wooden image, near the altar which you build for yourself to the Lord your God. ^22 (BA)You shall not set up a sacred pillar, which the Lord your God hates.

John the Baptist Prepares the Way^(A)

3 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, ^(B)Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, ^2 [a]while ^(C)Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to ^(D)John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. ^3 (E)And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance ^(F)for the remission of sins, ⁴ as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying:

John Preaches to the People^(I)

⁷ Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, ^(J)“Brood^[b] of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ⁸ Therefore bear fruits ^(K)worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. ⁹ And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore ^(L)every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

¹⁰ So the people asked him, saying, ^(M)“What shall we do then?”

¹¹ He answered and said to them, ^(N)“He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, ^(O)let him do likewise.”

¹² Then ^(P)tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?”

¹³ And he said to them, ^(Q)“Collect no more than what is appointed for you.”

¹⁴ Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, “And what shall we do?”

So he said to them, “Do not ^[c]intimidate anyone ^(R)or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages.”

¹⁵ Now as the people were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ or not, ¹⁶ John answered, saying to all, ^(S)“I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will ^(T)baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁷ His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and ^(U)gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.”

¹⁸ And with many other exhortations he preached to the people. ^19 (V)But Herod the tetrarch, being rebuked by him concerning Herodias, his ^[d]brother Philip’s wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, ²⁰ also added this, above all, that he shut John up in prison.

John Baptizes Jesus^(W)

²¹ When all the people were baptized, ^(X)it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. ²² And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am ^(Y)well pleased.”

The Genealogy of Jesus Christ^(Z)

²³ Now Jesus Himself began His ministry at ^(AA)about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) ^(AB)the son of Joseph, the son of Heli, ²⁴ the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Janna, the son of Joseph, ²⁵ the son of Mattathiah, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, ²⁶ the son of Maath, the son of Mattathiah, the son of Semei, the son of Joseph, the son of Judah, ²⁷ the son of Joannas, the son of Rhesa, the son of ^(AC)Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri, ²⁸ the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmodam, the son of Er, ²⁹ the son of Jose, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, ³⁰ the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonan, the son of Eliakim, ³¹ the son of Melea, the son of Menan, the son of Mattathah, the son of ^(AD)Nathan, ^(AE)the son of David, ^32 (AF)the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon, the son of Nahshon, ³³ the son of Amminadab, the son of Ram, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, ³⁴ the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, ^(AG)the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, ³⁵ the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, ^36 (AH)the son of Cainan, the son of ^(AI)Arphaxad, ^(AJ)the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, ³⁷ the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalalel, the son of Cainan, ³⁸ the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, ^(AK)the son of God.