Keraia
Pentateuch

Deuteronomy 15

The Seventh Year

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

1At the end of seven years you shall grant a release.

2This is the manner of remission: Every creditor shall cancel what he has loaned to his neighbor. He is not to collect anything from his neighbor or brother, because the LORD’s time of release has been proclaimed.

2And this is the form of the release: Every owner of a loan shall release his hand of that he has lent to his neighbor; he shall not require it of his neighbor or his brother, because it is called a release unto YHWH.

3You may collect something from a foreigner, but you must forgive whatever your brother owes you.

3Of a foreigner you may require it, and that which is owed by your brother your hand shall release.

4There will be no poor among you, however, because the LORD will surely bless you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance,

4The end is, however, that there shall be among you no poor, for YHWH will greatly bless you in the land that YHWH your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess—

5if only you obey the LORD your God and are careful to follow all these commandments I am giving you today.

5only if you listen carefully to the voice of YHWH your God, with care to observe all this command that I command you today.

6When the LORD your God blesses you as He has promised, you will lend to many nations but borrow from none; you will rule over many nations but be ruled by none.

6For YHWH your God will bless you as He has spoken to you, and you shall lend to many nations, and you shall not borrow; and you shall reign over many nations, and over you they shall not reign.

Generosity in Lending and Giving

7If there is a poor man among your brothers within any of the gates in the land that the LORD your God is giving you, then you are not to harden your heart or shut your hand from your poor brother.

7If there is among you a poor man of one of your brothers within one of the gates in your land that YHWH your God is giving to you, you shall not strengthen your heart and not shut your hand from your poor brother.

8Instead, you are to open your hand to him and freely loan him whatever he needs.

8But you shall surely open your hand to him, and you shall freely loan him what is sufficient for his need, whatever is lacking unto him.

9Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought in your heart: “The seventh year, the year of release, is near,” so that you look upon your poor brother begrudgingly and give him nothing. He will cry out to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty of sin.

9Beware for yourself, lest there be a wicked thought in your heart, saying, “The seventh year is near, the year of release,” and your eye is evil against your poor brother, and you give to him nothing, and he cries out against you to YHWH, and it becomes sin among you.

10Give generously to him, and do not let your heart be grieved when you do so. And because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything to which you put your hand.

10You shall give generously to him, and your heart should not be grieved when you give to him, because for this thing YHWH your God will bless you in all your works and in all the sending out of your hand.

11For there will never cease to be poor in the land; that is why I am commanding you to open wide your hand to your brother and to the poor and needy in your land.

11For the poor will never cease from the midst of the land; upon thus I command you, saying that you shall open wide your hand to your brother, to your poor, and to your needy in your land.

Hebrew Servants

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

12If your brother is sold to you, a Hebrew or a Hebrewess, and he has served you six years, in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you.

13And when you release him, do not send him away empty-handed.

13And when you send him away free from you, you must not send him emptily.

14You are to furnish him liberally from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress. You shall give to him as the LORD your God has blessed you.

14You shall generously furnish him from your flock, and from your threshing floor, and from your winepress; that with which YHWH your God has blessed you, you shall give to him.

15Remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you; that is why I am giving you this command today.

15And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and YHWH your God redeemed you. Upon thus I command you this thing today.

16But if your servant says to you, ‘I do not want to leave you,’ because he loves you and your household and is well off with you,

16And it shall come to pass that if he says to you, ‘I will not go away from you,’ because he loves you and your house, since it is good to him with you,

17then take an awl and pierce it through his ear into the door, and he will become your servant for life. And treat your maidservant the same way.

17then you shall take an awl and thrust it through his ear and to the door, and he shall be your servant forever; and to your maidservant you shall do likewise.

18Do not regard it as a hardship to set your servant free, because his six years of service were worth twice the wages of a hired hand. And the LORD your God will bless you in all you do.

18It shall not seem hard in your eyes when you send him away free from you, for he has been worth double of a hireling in serving you six years; and YHWH your God will bless you in all that you do.

Firstborn Animals

19You must set apart to the LORD your God every firstborn male produced by your herds and flocks. You are not to put the firstborn of your oxen to work, nor are you to shear the firstborn of your flock.

19All the firstborn that come from your herd and your flock—the male—you shall sanctify to YHWH your God. You shall not do work with the firstborn of your herd, nor shear the firstborn of your flock.

20Each year you and your household are to eat it before the LORD your God in the place the LORD will choose.

20Before the face of YHWH your God you shall eat it year by year in the place that YHWH chooses—You and your house.

21But if an animal has a defect, is lame or blind, or has any serious flaw, you must not sacrifice it to the LORD your God.

21But if there is in it a blemish—lameness or blindness, any serious blemish—you shall not sacrifice it to YHWH your God.

22Eat it within your gates; both the ceremonially unclean and clean may eat it as they would a gazelle or a deer.

22Within your gates you may eat it, the unclean and the clean alike, as a gazelle or a deer.

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

23Only its blood you shall not eat; you shall pour it on the ground like water.