Deuteronomy 15
1 “At the end of every seven years, you must (cancel all debts/tell people who owe you money that they do not need to pay it back).
You are to cancel debts the end of every seven years.
2 Do it like this: Each of you who has lent money to a fellow Israeli must cancel that debt. You must not insist that he pay it back. You must do that because Yahweh has declared that the debts must be canceled [every seven years].
This is the way the it will work: If you provided a loan to someone you must cancel it. You are not allowed to collect anything from another Israelite, because the Lord's time of debt cancelation has been announced.
3 [During that year] you may require foreigners [who live among you] to pay what they owe you, but you must not try to require that any fellow Israeli pay you what he owes you.
You are allowed to collect payments from a foreigner, but you must cancel whatever your fellow Israelite owes you.
4 Yahweh our God will bless you in the land that he is giving to you. If you obey Yahweh our God and obey all the commandments that I am giving to you today, there will not be any poor people among you.
However, you shouldn't have poor people among you, for the Lord will really bless you in the country that the Lord your God is giving you to own.
You just need to make sure you obey the Lord your God, and that you're careful to follow all these commandments I'm giving you today.
6 Yahweh our God will bless you like he has promised to do, and you will [be able to] lend money to people of other people-groups, but you will not [need to] borrow from any of them. You will control [the finances of] many people-groups, but they will not control your [finances].
The Lord your God is going to bless you as he promised. You will lend money to many nations but you won't need to borrow from any of them; you will rule over many nations but you won't be ruled by them.
7 “In the towns that Yahweh our God is giving to you, if there are any Israelis who are poor, do not be selfish [IDM] and refuse [IDM] to help them.
If there are Israelites who are poor in any of your towns in the country the Lord your God is giving you, then you must not be unfeeling or miserly towards them.
8 Instead, be generous [IDM] and lend to them the money that they need.
On the contrary. You should be generous to them, and lend them whatever they need.
9 Be sure that you do not say to yourself, ‘The year when debts will be canceled is near, [so I do not want to lend anyone any money now, because he will not need to pay it back when that year comes].’ It would be evil to even think that. If you act in an unfriendly way toward a needy fellow Israeli, and give him nothing, he will cry out to Yahweh about you, and [Yahweh will say that] you have sinned [by not helping that person].
Make sure you don't think evil thoughts like, “The seventh year is coming up when debts will be canceled,” so that you look down on the poor with a sneer and refuse to give them anything. They will complain to the Lord about you, and you will be found guilty of sin.
10 Give freely to poor people and give generously [IDM].
Give and give again to them, and don't feel irritated when you give. When you give generously the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you decide to do.
11 If you do that, Yahweh will bless you in everything that you do. There will always be some poor people in your land, so I command you to give generously to poor [DOU] people.”
You will always have those who are poor and in need among you, so that's why I'm telling you to give generously to them.
12 “If any of your fellow Israeli men or women sell themselves to one of you [to become your slave], you must free them after they have worked for you for six years. When the seventh year comes, you must free them.
If a Hebrew, one of your own people, whether man or woman, sells themselves to you as a slave and works for you for six years, you have to free them in the seventh year.
13 When you free them, do not allow them to go (empty-handed/without giving them anything).
And when you free them, don't send them away with nothing.
14 Give to them generously from the things with which Yahweh has blessed you—sheep, grain, and wine.
Give them plenty of gifts: animals from your flocks, grain from your threshing floor, and wine from your winepress. Give to them as generously as the Lord your God has blessed you.
15 Do not forget that your ancestors were once slaves in Egypt, and Yahweh our God freed them. That is the reason that I am now commanding you to do this.
Don't forget that you were once slaves in Egypt, and the Lord your God set you free. That's why I'm giving you this command today.
16 “But one of your slaves may say, ‘I do not want to leave you.’ He loves you and your family, because you have treated him well.
However, if your male slave tells you, “I don't want to leave you,” because he loves you and your family and is better off staying with you,
17 If he says that, take him to the door of your house and, [while he stands against the doorway], pierce one of his earlobes with (an awl/a sharp pointed tool). That will indicate that he will be your slave for the rest of his life. Do the same thing to any female slave [who does not want to leave you].
then use a metal tool to pierce his ear against the door, and he will be your slave for life. Do the same for your female slave.
18 “Do not complain when you are required to free your slaves. [Keep in mind that] they served you for six years, and you paid them only half as much as you pay the servants that you hire. [If you free them, ] Yahweh our God will bless you in everything that you do.”
Don't see it as a problem to free your slave, because your slave's six years of service to you was worth twice what you would have paid to hire someone. The Lord your God will bless you in everything you do for acting in this way.
19 “(Set aside for/Dedicate to) Yahweh our God the firstborn male animals from your cattle and sheep. Do not force them to do any work for you, and do not (shear/cut off) the wool [of the firstborn animals to sell the wool].
You are to separate out to give the Lord your God all the firstborn males of your herds and flocks. You must not have the firstborn of your cattle work, and don't shear the firstborn of your sheep.
20 You and your family may [kill them and] eat their meat in the presence of Yahweh at the place that Yahweh chooses [for you to worship him].
Every year you and your family are to eat these animals that have been sacrificed in the presence of the Lord your God in the place that the Lord will choose.
21 But if the animals have any defects, if they are lame or blind, or if they have any other serious defect, you must not sacrifice them to Yahweh our God.
However, if an animal has some defect or is lame or blind, in fact if it has any serious defect at all, you are not to sacrifice it to the Lord your God.
22 You may [kill and] eat [the meat of those animals] at your homes. Those who have done things that cause them to become unacceptable to God and those who have not done such things are permitted to eat that meat, just like anyone is permitted to eat the meat of a deer or an antelope.
Eat it at home. All of you, whether you're ceremonially clean or not, can it eat it just like you would eat a gazelle or a deer,
23 But you must not eat any of the blood; you must drain all the blood on the ground [when you kill those animals].”
but you are not to eat the blood—pour that out on the ground.
