1 »Release all debts at the end of every seven years.

2 »This is how you should release. Every man who has a loan to his neighbor shall release it. He shall not require it from his neighbor, or from his brother, because it is called Jehovah's release.

3 »You may collect from a foreigner, but your hand should release that debt which is yours with your brother.

4 »There should not be any poor people among you. Jehovah your God will certainly bless you in the land he is giving you as your own possession.

5 »He will bless you only if you listen carefully to Jehovah your God and faithfully obey all these commandments I give you today.

6 »Jehovah your God will bless you, as he promised. You will make loans to many nations. But you will not have to borrow from any of them. You will rule many nations. But no nation will ever rule over you.

7 »This is what you must do whenever there are poor Israelites in one of your cities in the land that Jehovah your God is giving you.

8 »Be generous to these poor people. Freely lend them as much as they need. Never be hardhearted and stingy with them.

9 »When the seventh year, the year when payments on debts are canceled, is near, you might be stingy toward poor Israelites and give them nothing. Be careful not to think these worthless thoughts. The poor will complain to Jehovah about you, and you will be condemned for your sin.

10 »Give the poor what they need, because then Jehovah will make you successful in everything you do.

11 »There will always be some Israelites who are poor and needy. That is why I am commanding you to be generous with them.

12 »If you buy Israelites your own brothers as slaves, you must set them free after six years.

13 »Do not send him away empty handed when you set him free.

14 »Supply him liberally from your flock and from your threshing floor and from your wine vat. Give to him as Jehovah your God has blessed you.

15 »Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and Jehovah your God redeemed you. Therefore I command you this today!

16 »If he says to you: I will not leave you. If it is because he loves you and your household, since he fares well with you,

17 then you shall take an awl and pierce it through his ear into the door. He will be your servant for a very long time. You should do likewise to your maidservant.

18 »It should not seem hard to you when you set him free. After all he has given you six years with double the service of a hired man. Jehovah your God will bless you in whatever you do.

19 »To Jehovah your God you shall consecrate all the firstborn males that are born of your herd and of your flock; you shall not work with the firstborn of your herd, nor shear the firstborn of your flock.

20 »You and your household shall eat it every year before Jehovah your God in the place Jehovah chooses.

21 »If it has any defect, such as lameness or blindness, or any serious defect, you shall not sacrifice it to Jehovah your God.

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

23 »Do not eat its blood! Pour it out on the ground like water.