Deuteronomy 15
Chapter 15
Release for Debtors
1 “At the end of every seventh year you must cancel the debts of everyone who owes you money.2 This is how it must be done. Everyone must cancel the loans they have made to their fellow Israelites. They must not demand payment from their neighbors or relatives, for the LORD’s time of release has arrived.
3 This release from debt, however, applies only to your fellow Israelites—not to the foreigners living among you.
4 “There should be no poor among you, for the LORD your God will greatly bless you in the land he is giving you as a special possession.5 You will receive this blessing if you are careful to obey all the commands of the LORD your God that I am giving you today.
6 The LORD your God will bless you as he has promised. You will lend money to many nations but will never need to borrow. You will rule many nations, but they will not rule over you.
7 “But if there are any poor Israelites in your towns when you arrive in the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tightfisted toward them.8 Instead, be generous and lend them whatever they need.9 Do not be mean-spirited and refuse someone a loan because the year for canceling debts is close at hand. If you refuse to make the loan and the needy person cries out to the LORD, you will be considered guilty of sin.10 Give generously to the poor, not grudgingly, for the LORD your God will bless you in everything you do.
11 There will always be some in the land who are poor. That is why I am commanding you to share freely with the poor and with other Israelites in need.
Release for Hebrew Slaves
12 “If a fellow Hebrew sells himself or herself to be your servantt and serves you for six years, in the seventh year you must set that servant free.
13 “When you release a male servant, do not send him away empty-handed.14 Give him a generous farewell gift from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress. Share with him some of the bounty with which the LORD your God has blessed you.
15 Remember that you were once slaves in the land of Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you! That is why I am giving you this command.
16 “But suppose your servant says, ‘I will not leave you,’ because he loves you and your family, and he has done well with you.
17 In that case, take an awl and push it through his earlobe into the door. After that, he will be your servant for life. And do the same for your female servants.
18 “You must not consider it a hardship when you release your servants. Remember that for six years they have given you services worth double the wages of hired workers, and the LORD your God will bless you in all you do.
Sacrificing Firstborn Male Animals
19 “You must set aside for the LORD your God all the firstborn males from your flocks and herds. Do not use the firstborn of your herds to work your fields, and do not shear the firstborn of your flocks.20 Instead, you and your family must eat these animals in the presence of the LORD your God each year at the place he chooses.21 But if this firstborn animal has any defect, such as lameness or blindness, or if anything else is wrong with it, you must not sacrifice it to the LORD your God.22 Instead, use it for food for your family in your hometown. Anyone, whether ceremonially clean or unclean, may eat it, just as anyone may eat a gazelle or deer.
23 But you must not consume the blood. You must pour it out on the ground like water.
DEUTERONOMY 15
Loans
(Leviticus 25.1-7)
Moses said:
1-2 Every seven years you must announce, “The [Lord] says loans do not need to be paid back.” Then if you have loaned money to another Israelite, you can no longer ask for payment.t
3 This law applies only to loans you have made to other Israelites. Foreigners will still have to pay back what you have loaned them.
4-6 No one in Israel should ever be poor. The [Lord] your God is giving you this land, and he has promised to make you very successful, if you obey his laws and teachings that I'm giving you today. You will lend money to many nations, but you won't have to borrow. You will rule many nations, but they won't rule you.
7 t After the [Lord] your God gives land to each of you, there may be poor Israelites in the town where you live. If there are, then don't be mean and selfish with your money. 8 Instead, be kind and lend them what they need. 9 Be careful! Don't say to yourself, “Soon it will be the seventh year, and then I won't be able to get my money back.” It would be horrible for you to think that way and to be so selfish that you refuse to help the poor. They are your relatives, and if you don't help them, they may ask the [Lord] to decide whether you have done wrong. And he will say that you are guilty.
10 You should be happy to give the poor what they need, because then the [Lord] will make you successful in everything you do.
11 t There will always be some Israelites who are poor and needy. That's why I am commanding you to be generous with them.Setting Slaves Free
(Exodus 21.1-11)
Moses said to Israel:
12 t If any of you buy Israelites as slaves, you must set them free after six years. 13 And don't just tell them they are free to leave— 14 give them sheep and goats and a good supply of grain and wine. The more the [Lord] has given you, the more you should give them. 15 I am commanding you to obey the [Lord] as a reminder that you were slaves in Egypt before he set you free. 16 But one of your slaves may say, “I love you and your family, and I would be better off staying with you, so please don't make me leave.”
17 Take the slave to the door of your house and push a sharp metal rod through one earlobe and into the door. Such slaves will belong to you for life, whether they are men or women.
18 Don't complain when you have to set a slave free. After all, you got six years of service at half the cost of hiring someone to do the work.tFirst-Born Animals
(Leviticus 27.26,27; Numbers 18.15-18)
Moses said to Israel:
19 t If the first-born animal of a cow or sheep or goat is a male, it must be given to the [Lord]. Don't put first-born cattle to work or cut wool from first-born sheep.
20 Instead, each year you must take the first-born of these animals to the place where the [Lord] your God chooses to be worshiped. You and your family will sacrifice them to the [Lord] and then eat them as part of a sacred meal.
21 But if the animal is lame or blind or has something else wrong with it, you must not sacrifice it to the [Lord] your God. 22 You can butcher it where you live, and eat it just like the meat of a deer or gazelle that you kill while hunting. Even those people who are unclean and unfit for worship can have some. 23 t But you must never eat the blood of an animal—let it drain out on the ground.
