Deuteronomy 15

1At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release.

1At the end of every seven years, you must cancel all debts.

2And this is the manner of the release: every creditor shall release that which he hath lent unto his neighbor; he shall not exact it of his neighbor and his brother; because Jehovah’s release hath been proclaimed.

2This is how the debt cancellation works: Every lender must cancel the loan they made to a fellow Israelite. They must not demand payment from their neighbor or relative, because the Lord’s time for canceling debts has been announced.

3Of a foreigner thou mayest exact it: but whatsoever of thine is with thy brother thy hand shall release.

3You may demand payment from a foreigner, but you must cancel any debt your fellow Israelite owes you.

4Howbeit there shall be no poor with thee (for Jehovah will surely bless thee in the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it),

4However, there should be no poor people among you, because the Lord will greatly bless you in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess as your own.

5if only thou diligently hearken unto the voice of Jehovah thy God, to observe to do all this commandment which I command thee this day.

5This will happen if you carefully obey the Lord your God and make sure to follow all these commands I am giving you today.

6For Jehovah thy God will bless thee, as he promised thee: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou shalt not borrow; and thou shalt rule over many nations, but they shall not rule over thee.

6For the Lord your God will bless you just as he promised. You will lend to many nations but will not need to borrow from them. You will rule over many nations, but none will rule over you.

7If there be with thee a poor man, one of thy brethren, within any of thy gates in thy land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thy heart, nor shut thy hand from thy poor brother;

7If there is a poor man among your relatives in any of the towns in the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be selfish or tight-fisted toward your poor brother.

8but thou shalt surely open thy hand unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need in that which he wanteth.

8Instead, be generous and lend him whatever he needs.

9Beware that there be not a base thought in thy heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou give him nought; and he cry unto Jehovah against thee, and it be sin unto thee.

9Be careful not to have this wicked thought in your heart: 'The seventh year, the year for canceling debts, is near.' Do not look resentfully at your poor brother and give him nothing. He might cry out to the Lord against you, and you would be guilty of sin.

10Thou shalt surely give him, and thy heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him; because that for this thing Jehovah thy God will bless thee in all thy work, and in all that thou puttest thy hand unto.

10Give generously to him and do so without a Grudging heart. Because of this, the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you do.

11For the poor will never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt surely open thy hand unto thy brother, to thy needy, and to thy poor, in thy land.

11There will always be poor people in the land. That is why I command you to be open-handed toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.

12If thy brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee, and serve thee six years; then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee.

12If a fellow Hebrew, man or woman, is sold to you and serves you for six years, you must set them free in the seventh year.

13And when thou lettest him go free from thee, thou shalt not let him go empty:

13When you set them free, do not send them away empty-handed.

14thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and out of thy threshing-floor, and out of thy winepress; as Jehovah thy God hath blessed thee thou shalt give unto him.

14Give to them generously from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress. Give to them in proportion to how the Lord your God has blessed you.

15And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and Jehovah thy God redeemed thee: therefore I command thee this thing to-day.

15Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God rescued you. That is why I am giving you this command today.

16And it shall be, if he say unto thee, I will not go out from thee; because he loveth thee and thy house, because he is well with thee;

16But if your servant says to you, 'I do not want to leave you,' because he loves you and your family and is well-off with you,

17then thou shalt take an awl, and thrust it through his ear unto the door, and he shall be thy servant for ever. And also unto thy maid-servant thou shalt do likewise.

17then take an awl and pierce it through his ear into the door. He will then be your servant for life. Do the same for your female servant.

18It shall not seem hard unto thee, when thou lettest him go free from thee; for to the double of the hire of a hireling hath he served thee six years: and Jehovah thy God will bless thee in all that thou doest.

18Do not consider it a hardship to set your servant free, because his six years of service were worth twice the wages of a hired hand. The Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.

19All the firstling males that are born of thy herd and of thy flock thou shalt sanctify unto Jehovah thy God: thou shalt do no work with the firstling of thy herd, nor shear the firstling of thy flock.

19Set apart for the Lord your God every firstborn male from your herds and flocks. Do not use the firstborn of your cattle for work, and do not shear the firstborn of your sheep.

20Thou shalt eat it before Jehovah thy God year by year in the place which Jehovah shall choose, thou and thy household.

20Each year, you and your family are to eat these animals in the presence of the Lord your God at the place he chooses.

21And if it have any blemish, as if it be lame or blind, any ill blemish whatsoever, thou shalt not sacrifice it unto Jehovah thy God.

21If an animal has a defect—if it is lame or blind or has any other serious flaw—you must not sacrifice it to the Lord your God.

22Thou shalt eat it within thy gates: the unclean and the clean shall eat it alike, as the gazelle, and as the hart.

22You may eat it in your own towns. Both the ceremonially unclean and the clean may eat it, just as if it were a gazelle or a deer.

23Only thou shalt not eat the blood thereof; thou shalt pour it out upon the ground as water.

23But you must not eat the blood; pour it out on the ground like water.