LEB - Deuteronomy - 15

15:1  “At the end of seven years you shall grant a remission of debt.

15:2  And this is the manner of the remission of debt: every ⌞creditor⌟ shall remit his claim that he holds against his neighbor, and he shall not exact payment from his brother because there a remission of debt has been proclaimed unto Yahweh.

15:3  With respect to the foreigner you may exact payment, but ⌞you must remit⌟ what shall be owed to you with respect to your brother.

15:4  Nevertheless, there shall not be among you a poor person, because Yahweh will certainly bless you in the land that Yahweh your God is giving to you as an inheritance, to take possession of it.

15:5  If only you listen well to the voice of Yahweh your God ⌞by observing diligently⌟ all of these commandments that I am commanding you ⌞today⌟.

15:6  When Yahweh your God has blessed you, just as he ⌞promised⌟ to you, then you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow from them, and you will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you.

15:7  If there is a poor person among you from among one of your brothers in one of your ⌞towns⌟ that Yahweh your God is giving to you, you shall not harden your heart, and you shall not shut your hand toward ⌞your brother who is poor⌟.

15:8  But you shall certainly open your hand for him, and ⌞you shall willingly lend⌟ to him enough to meet his need, ⌞whatever it is⌟.

15:9  ⌞Take care⌟ so that there will not be ⌞a thought of wickedness⌟ in your heart, ⌞saying⌟, ‘The seventh year, the year of the remission of debt is near,’ ⌞and you view your needy neighbor with hostility⌟, and so you do not give to him, and he might cry out against you to Yahweh, and ⌞you would incur guilt against yourself⌟.

15:10  By all means you must give to him, and ⌞you must not be discontented⌟ at your giving to him, because on account of this very thing, Yahweh your God will bless you in all your work and ⌞in all that you undertake⌟.

15:11  For the poor will not cease to be ⌞among you⌟ in the land; therefore I am commanding you, ⌞saying⌟, ‘You shall willingly open your hand to your brother, to your needy and to your poor that are in your land.’

15:12  If your relative who is a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman is sold to you, and he or she has served you six years, then in the seventh year you shall send that person out ⌞free⌟.

15:13  And when you send him out free from you, you shall not send him away empty-handed.

15:14  You shall generously supply him from among your flocks and from your threshing floor and from your press; according to that with which Yahweh your God has blessed you, you shall give to him.

15:15  And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and Yahweh your God redeemed you; therefore I am commanding you thus ⌞today⌟.

15:16  And then if it will happen that he says to you, ‘⌞I do not want to go out⌟ from you,’ because he loves you and your family, because it is good for him to be with you;

15:17  then you shall take an awl, and you shall thrust it through his earlobe and into the door, and he shall be to you ⌞a slave forever⌟; and you shall also do likewise for your slave woman.

15:18  It shall not be hard in your eyes ⌞when you send him forth free⌟, because for six years he has served you worth twice the wage of a hired worker; and Yahweh your God will bless you ⌞in whatever you will do⌟.

15:19  “Every firstling male that is born of your herd and of your flock you shall consecrate to Yahweh your God; you shall not do work with the firstling of your ox, and you shall not shear the firstling of your flock.

15:20  Rather ⌞before Yahweh⌟ your God you shall eat it year by year at the place Yahweh will choose, you and your household.

15:21  But if there is a physical defect in it, such as lameness or blindness, any serious defect, you shall not sacrifice it to Yahweh your God.

15:22  In your ⌞towns⌟ you shall eat it, the unclean and the clean together may eat it, just as they eat the gazelle and as they eat the deer.

15:23  But you shall not eat its blood; you shall pour it on the ground like water.”