Debts Released after Seven Years
Deuteronomy 15, verse 1. “At the end of every seven years you shall grant a remission of debts. Deuteronomy 15, verse 2. So the order of the remission is as follows: every debt your neighbor owes you, you shall remit; you shall not demand it back from your brother, because a remission is proclaimed for the Lord your God. Deuteronomy 15, verse 3. You may demand it back from a foreigner, but you shall grant remission of your brother's debt, Deuteronomy 15, verse 4. except when there may be no poor among you; for the Lord your God will greatly bless you in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance— Deuteronomy 15, verse 5. only if you carefully obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe with care all these commandments I command you today. Deuteronomy 15, verse 6. For the Lord your God blessed you in the manner He told you; you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow; you shall rule over many nations, but they shall not rule over you.
Care for the Poor
Deuteronomy 15, verse 7. “If there is among you a poor man of your brethren within any of the cities in your land the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart, nor shut your hand from your poor brother; Deuteronomy 15, verse 8. but you shall surely open your hands to him and willingly lend him sufficient for his need, whatever he needs. Deuteronomy 15, verse 9. Beware lest there be a hidden thought in your heart, a transgression of the law, saying, ‘The seventh year, the year of remission, is at hand,’ and your eye be evil against your poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he cry out to the Lord against you, and it be a great sin among you. Deuteronomy 15, verse 10. You shall surely give him and loan him as much as he needs, and your heart should not be grieved when you give to him, because for this thing the Lord your God will bless you in all your works and in everything to which you put your hand. Deuteronomy 15, verse 11. For the poor will never cease from the land; therefore, I command you to do this word which says, ‘You shall surely open your hands to your brother, to your poor and needy in your land.’
Bondservants
Deuteronomy 15, verse 12. “If your brother, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you and serves you six years, then in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you. Deuteronomy 15, verse 13. But when you send him away free from you, you shall not let him go away empty-handed; Deuteronomy 15, verse 14. you shall supply him liberally from your sheep, wheat, and winepress. From what the Lord has blessed you with you shall give to him. Deuteronomy 15, verse 15. For you shall remember you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you from that place; therefore, I command you this thing. Deuteronomy 15, verse 16. But if he says to you, ‘I will not go away from you,’ because he loves you and your house, because he is well off with you, Deuteronomy 15, verse 17. then you shall take a small awl and pierce his ear at the door, and he shall be your servant forever. Also to your female servant you shall do likewise. Deuteronomy 15, verse 18. It shall not seem hard to you when you send him away free from you; for he has worked the yearly wage of a hired servant in serving you six years. Then the Lord your God will bless you in all you do.
Firstborn Animals
Deuteronomy 15, verse 19. “All the firstborn males that come from your oxen and sheep you shall sanctify to the Lord your God; you shall do no work with the firstborn young bull, nor shear the firstborn of your sheep. Deuteronomy 15, verse 20. You and your household shall eat it before the Lord year by year in the place the Lord your God chooses. Deuteronomy 15, verse 21. But if there is a defect in it, if it is lame or blind or has any serious defect, you shall not sacrifice it to the Lord your God. Deuteronomy 15, verse 22. You may eat it within your cities; the unclean and the clean person alike may eat it, as if it were a gazelle or a deer. Deuteronomy 15, verse 23. Only you shall not eat its blood; you shall pour it on the ground like water.