Deuteronomy 15

The Year of Release

1“At the end of every seven years you shall make a release. 2And this is the manner of the release: every creditor shall release what he has lent to his neighbor. He shall not press his neighbor or his brother, because the LORD’s release has been proclaimed. 3You may press a foreigner, but whatever of yours is with your brother your hand shall release.

There Should Be No Poor among You

4“Indeed, there should be no poor among you, for the LORD will surely bless you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, 5if only you diligently listen to the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all this commandment that I command you today. 6For the LORD your God will bless you as he spoke to you. You will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow. You will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you.

Open Your Hand to the Poor

7“If there is among you a poor person, one of your brothers, within one of your gates in your land that the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or close your hand against your poor brother. 8Rather, you shall surely open your hand to him and surely lend him enough for his need, whatever he lacks. 9Guard yourself, lest there be a worthless thought in your heart, saying, ‘The seventh year, the year of release, is near,’ and your eye be evil against your poor brother and you give him nothing. Then he may cry against you to the LORD, and it will be sin in you. 10You shall surely give to him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him, for because of this thing the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in all to which you put your hand. 11For the poor will never cease from the midst of the land. Therefore I command you, saying, ‘You shall surely open your hand to your brother, to your needy and to your poor in your land.’

Release Hebrew Servants in the Seventh Year

12“If your brother, a Hebrew man or Hebrew woman, is sold to you and serves you six years, then in the seventh year you shall send that person free from you. 13And when you send that person free from you, you shall not send him away empty-handed. 14You shall surely furnish him from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress. From that with which the LORD your God has blessed you, you shall give to him. 15You shall remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you. Therefore I command you this thing today. 16But if he says to you, ‘I will not go out from you,’ because he loves you and your household, because it is good for him with you, 17then you shall take an awl and put it through his ear into the door, and he shall be your servant permanently. You shall do likewise to your female servant. 18It shall not be difficult in your eyes when you send him free from you, for six years he has served you for twice the wages of a hired worker. And the LORD your God will bless you in all that you do.

Consecrate the Firstborn Males

19“Every firstborn male born in your herd or flock you shall consecrate to the LORD your God. You shall not work with the firstborn of your ox or shear the firstborn of your flock. 20Before the LORD your God you and your household shall eat it year by year in the place that the LORD will choose. 21But if there is a defect in it—lameness, blindness, or any serious defect—you shall not sacrifice it to the LORD your God. 22Within your gates you may eat it; the unclean and the clean alike may eat it, as the gazelle and the deer. 23Only you shall not eat its blood; you shall pour it out upon the ground like water.