Deuteronomy 15

1At the end of every seven years you must grant a release.

2This is how the release is to be done: every creditor must release what he has lent to his neighbor. He must not demand payment from his neighbor, his fellow Israelite, because Yahweh’s release has been proclaimed.

3You may demand payment from a foreigner, but you must release whatever your fellow Israelite owes you.

4However, there will be no poor among you, for Yahweh will surely bless you in the land that Yahweh your God is giving you as an inheritance to take possession of,

5if only you carefully obey the voice of Yahweh your God, being careful to follow this whole commandment that I am giving you today.

6For Yahweh your God will bless you as he has 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.

7If there is a poor person among you, one of your fellow Israelites, in any of your towns in the land that Yahweh your God is giving you, do not harden your heart or close your hand against your needy fellow Israelite.

8Instead, open your hand wide to him and freely lend him enough for whatever he needs.

9Be careful that there is no wicked thought in your heart, such as, ‘The seventh year, the year of release, is near,’ so that you look with ill will on your needy fellow Israelite and give him nothing. He may cry out to Yahweh against you, and you will be guilty of sin.

10Give to him generously, and do not be grudging in your heart when you give to him, for because of this Yahweh your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you undertake.

11For there will never cease to be poor people in the land. That is why I command you: Open your hand wide to your fellow Israelites, to the poor and needy in your land.

12If a fellow Hebrew, a man or a woman, is sold to you and serves you six years, then in the seventh year you must set him free.

13And when you set him free, do not send him away empty-handed.

14Supply him generously from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress. Give to him as Yahweh your God has blessed you.

15Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and Yahweh your God redeemed you. That is why I am giving you this command today.

16But if he says to you, ‘I do not want to leave you,’ because he loves you and your household and is well off with you,

17then take an awl and pierce it through his ear into the door, and he will be your slave for life. Do the same for your female slave.

18Do not consider it a hardship to set him free, for his six years of service to you have been worth twice the wages of a hired worker. And Yahweh your God will bless you in everything you do.

19You must set apart for Yahweh your God every firstborn male born in your herds and flocks. Do not put the firstborn of your oxen to work, and do not shear the firstborn of your sheep.

20You and your household are to eat it before Yahweh your God year by year in the place that Yahweh will choose.

21But if it has a defect—if it is lame or blind or has any serious defect—you must not sacrifice it to Yahweh your God.

22Eat it within your towns. The unclean and the clean alike may eat it, as they would a gazelle or a deer.

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