Deuteronomy 15

1 In the seventh year thou shalt make a remission,

Every seven years thou shalt make a release.

2 Which shall be celebrated in this order. He to whom any thing is owing from his friend or neighbour or brother, cannot demand it again, because it is the year of remission of the Lord,

And this [is] the ordinance of the release: thou shalt remit every private debt which thy neighbour owes thee, and thou shalt not ask payment of it from thy brother; for it has been called a release to the Lord thy God.

3 Of the foreigner or stranger thou mayst exact it: of thy countryman and neighbour thou shalt not have power to demand it again.

Of a stranger thou shalt ask again whatsoever he has of thine, but to thy brother thou shalt remit his debt to thee.

4 And there shall be no poor nor beggar among you: that the Lord thy God may bless thee in the land which he will give thee in possession.

For [thus] there shall not be a poor person in the midst of thee, for the Lord thy God will surely bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God gives thee by inheritance, that thou shouldest inherit it.

5 Yet so if thou hear the voice of the Lord thy God, and keep all things that he hath ordained, and which I command thee this day, he will bless thee, as he hath promised.

And if ye shall indeed hearken to the voice of the Lord your God, to keep and do all these commandments, as many as I charge thee this day,

6 Thou shalt lend to many nations, and thou shalt borrow of no man. Thou shalt have dominion over very many nations, and no one shall have dominion over thee.

(for the Lord thy God has blessed thee in the way of which he spoke to thee, ) then thou shalt lend to many nations, but thou shalt not borrow; and thou shalt rule over many nations, but they shall not rule over thee.

7 If one of thy brethren that dwelleth within the gates of thy city in the land which the Lord thy God will give thee, come to poverty: thou shalt not harden thy heart, nor close thy hand,

And if there shall be in the midst of thee a poor [man] of thy brethren in one of thy cities in the land, which the Lord thy God gives thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, neither shalt thou by any means close up thine hand from thy brother who is in want.

8 But shalt open it to the poor man, thou shalt lend him, that which thou perceivest he hath need of.

Thou shalt surely open thine hands to him, and shalt lend to him as much as he wants according to his need.

9 Beware lest perhaps a wicked thought steal in upon thee, and thou say in thy heart: The seventh year of remission draweth nigh; and thou turn away thy eyes from thy poor brother, denying to lend him that which he asketh: lest he cry against thee to the Lord, and it become a sin unto thee.

Take heed to thyself that there be not a secret thing in thine heart, an iniquity, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, draws nigh; and thine eye shall be evil to thy brother that is in want, and thou shalt not give to him, and he shall cry against thee to the Lord, and there shall be great sin in thee.

10 But thou shalt give to him: neither shalt thou do any thing craftily in relieving his necessities: that the Lord thy God may bless thee at all times, and in all things to which thou shalt put thy hand.

Thou shalt surely give to him, and thou shalt lend him as much as he wants, according as he is in need; and thou shalt not grudge in thine heart as thou givest to him, because on this account the Lord thy God will bless thee in all thy works, and in all things on which thou shalt lay thine hand.

11 There will not be wanting poor in the land of thy habitation: therefore I command thee to open thy hand to thy needy and poor brother, that liveth in the land.

For the poor shall not fail off thy land, therefore I charge thee to do this thing, saying, Thou shalt surely open thine hands to thy poor brother, and to him that is distressed upon thy land.

12 When thy brother a Hebrew man, or Hebrew woman is sold to thee, and hath served thee six years, in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free:

And if thy brother [or sister], a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, be sold to thee, he shall serve thee six years, and in the seventh year thou shalt send him out free from thee.

13 And when thou sendest him out free, thou shalt not let him go away empty:

And when thou shalt send him out free from thee, thou shalt not send him out empty.

14 But shalt give him for his way out of thy flocks, and out of thy barnfloor, and thy winepress, wherewith the Lord thy God shall bless thee.

Thou shalt give him provision for the way from thy flock, and from thy corn, and from thy wine; as the Lord thy God has blessed thee, thou shalt give to him.

15 Remember that thou also wast a bondservant in the land of Egypt, and the Lord thy God made thee free, and therefore I now command thee this.

And thou shalt remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and the Lord thy God redeemed thee from thence; therefore I charge thee to do this thing.

16 But if he say: I will not depart: because he loveth thee, and thy house, and findeth that he is well with thee:

And if he should say to thee, I will not go out from thee, because he continues to love thee and thy house, because he is well with thee;

17 Thou shalt take an awl, and bore through his ear in the door of thy house, and he shall serve thee for ever: thou shalt do in like manner to thy womanservant also.

then thou shalt take an awl, and bore his ear through to the door, and he shall be thy servant for ever; and in like manner shalt thou do to thy maid-servant.

18 Turn not away thy eyes from them when thou makest them tree: because he hath served thee six years according to the wages of a hireling: that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the works that thou dost.

It shall not seem hard to thee when they are sent out free from thee, because [thy servant] has served thee six years according to the annual hire of a hireling; so the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all things whatsoever thou mayest do.

19 Of the firstlings, that come of thy herds and thy sheep, thou shalt sanctify to the Lord thy God whatsoever is of the male sex. Thou shalt not work with the firstling of a bullock, and thou shalt not shear the firstlings of thy sheep.

Every first-born that shall be born among thy kine and thy sheep, thou shalt sanctify the males to the Lord thy God; thou shalt not work with thy first-born calf, and thou shalt not shear the first-born of thy sheep.

20 In the sight of the Lord thy God shalt thou eat them every year, in the place that the Lord shall choose, thou and thy house.

Thou shalt eat it before the Lord year by year in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, thou and thy house.

21 But if it have a blemish, or be lame, or blind, or in any part disfigured or feeble, it shall not be sacrificed to the Lord thy God.

And if there be in it a blemish, if it be lame or blind, an evil blemish, thou shalt not sacrifice it to the Lord thy God.

22 But thou shalt eat it within the gates of thy city: the clean and the unclean shall eat them alike, as the roe and as the hart.

Thou shalt eat it in thy cities; the unclean in thee and the clean shall eat it in like manner, as the doe or the stag.

23 Only thou shalt take heed not to eat their blood, but pour it out on the earth as water.

Only ye shall not eat the blood; thou shalt pour it out on the earth as water.