Deuteronomy 15

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

²And this is the form of the release: Every creditor who has lent anything to his neighbor shall release it; he shall not require it of his neighbor or his brother, because it is called the Lord

³Of a foreigner you may require it; but you shall give up your claim to what is owed by your brother,

⁴except when there may be no poor among you; for the Lord

⁵only if you carefully obey the voice of the Lord

⁶For the Lord

⁷“If there is among you a poor man of your brethren, within any of the gates in your land which the Lord

⁸but you shall open your hand wide to him and willingly lend him sufficient for his need, whatever he needs.

⁹Beware lest there be a wicked thought in your heart, saying, ‘The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand,’ and your eye be evil against your poor brother and you give him nothing, and he cry out to the Lord

¹⁰You shall surely give to him, and your heart should not be grieved when you give to him, because for this thing the Lord

¹¹For the poor will never cease from the land; therefore I command you, saying, ‘You shall open your hand wide to your brother, to your poor and your needy, in your land.’

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.

¹³And when you send him away free from you, you shall not let him go away empty-handed;

¹⁴you shall supply him liberally from your flock, from your threshing floor, and from your winepress. From what the Lord

¹⁵You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord

¹⁶And if it happens that he says to you, ‘I will not go away from you,’ because he loves you and your house, since he prospers with you,

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

¹⁸It shall not seem hard to you when you send him away free from you; for he has been worth a double hired servant in serving you six years. Then the Lord

¹⁹“All the firstborn males that come from your herd and your flock you shall sanctify to the Lord

²⁰You and your household shall eat it before the Lord

²¹But 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

²²You may eat it within your gates; the unclean and the clean person alike may eat it, as if it were a gazelle or a deer.

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