Deuteronomy 15

Deuteronomy 15

Laws concerning the Sabbatical Year

1“Every seventh year you shall grant a remission of debts.[#Deut 31.10]

2And this is the manner of the remission: every creditor shall remit the claim that is held against a neighbor, not exacting it, because the Lord ’s remission has been proclaimed.[#15.2 Q ms: MT adds of a neighbor who is a member of the community]

3Of a foreigner you may exact it, but you must remit your claim on whatever any member of your community owes you.

4There will, however, be no one in need among you, because the Lord is sure to bless you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you as a possession to occupy,

5if only you will obey the Lord your God by diligently observing this entire commandment that I command you today.[#Deut 28.1]

6When the Lord your God has blessed you, as he promised 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.[#Deut 28.12, 13]

7“If there is among you anyone in need, a member of your community in any of your towns within the land that the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted toward your needy neighbor.[#1 Jn 3.17]

8You should rather open your hand, willingly lending enough to meet the need, whatever it may be.[#Lev 25.35]

9Be careful that you do not entertain a mean thought, thinking, ‘The seventh year, the year of remission, is near,’ and therefore view your needy neighbor with hostility and give nothing; your neighbor might cry to the Lord against you, and you would incur guilt.[#v 1; Deut 24.15; #15.9 Heb he]

10Give liberally and be ungrudging when you do so, for on this account the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake.[#Deut 24.19; 2 Cor 9.5, 7]

11Since there will never cease to be some in need on the earth, I therefore command you, ‘Open your hand to the poor and needy neighbor in your land.’[#Mt 26.11; Mk 14.7; Jn 12.8]

12“If a member of your community, whether a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you and works for you six years, in the seventh year you shall set that person free.[#Ex 21.2; Lev 25.39; #15.12 Or sells himself or herself]

13And when you send a male slave out from you a free person, you shall not send him out empty-handed.[#15.13 Heb him]

14Provide for him liberally out of your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress, thus giving to him some of the bounty with which the Lord your God has blessed you.

15Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you; for this reason I lay this command upon you today.[#Deut 5.15; 16.12]

16But if he says to you, ‘I will not go out from you,’ because he loves you and your household, since he is well off with you,[#Ex 21.5, 6]

17then you shall take an awl and thrust it through his earlobe into the door, and he shall be your slave forever.

“You shall do the same with regard to your female slave.

18“Do not consider it a hardship when you send them out from you free persons, because for six years they have given you services worth the wages of hired laborers, and the Lord your God will bless you in all that you do.

The Firstborn of Livestock

19“Every firstling male born of your herd and flock you shall consecrate to the Lord your God; you shall not do work with your firstling ox nor shear the firstling of your flock.[#Ex 13.2]

20You shall eat it, you together with your household, in the presence of the Lord your God year by year at the place that the Lord will choose.[#Deut 12.5–7, 17]

21But if it has any defect—any serious defect, such as lameness or blindness—you shall not sacrifice it to the Lord your God;[#Lev 22.19–25]

22within your towns you may eat it, the unclean and the clean alike, as you would a gazelle or deer.[#Deut 12.15, 22]

23Its blood, however, you must not eat; you shall pour it out on the ground like water.[#Deut 12.16]

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, copyright © 2021 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Published by: National Council of the Churches of Christ