Deuteronomy 15
15
The Sabbatical Year
1“At the end of #ch. 31:10; Neh. 10:31; [ver. 12; Ex. 23:10, 11; Lev. 25:2-4]every seven years you shall grant a release. 2And this is the manner of the release: every creditor shall release what he has lent to his neighbor. He shall not exact it of his neighbor, his brother, because the Lord’s release has been proclaimed. 3#[ch. 23:20]Of a foreigner you may exact it, but whatever of yours is with your brother your hand shall release. 4#[ver. 11] But there will be no poor among you; #ch. 28:8for the Lord will bless you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance to possess— 5#ch. 28:1if only you will strictly obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all this commandment that I command you today. 6For the Lord your God will bless you, #ch. 7:13; Ex. 23:25 as he promised you, and #ch. 28:12, 44 you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow, and #ch. 28:13; 1 Kgs. 4:21, 24; Ezra 4:20; [Prov. 22:7]you shall rule over many nations, but they shall not rule over you.
7“If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the Lord your God is giving you, #[1 John 3:17]you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, 8but #Lev. 25:35; [Matt. 5:42; Luke 6:34, 35]you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be. 9Take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart and you say, ‘The seventh year, the year of release is near,’ and your #ch. 28:54, 56; Prov. 23:6; 28:22; Matt. 20:15 eye look grudgingly#15:9 Or be evil; also verse 10 on your poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he #ch. 24:15 cry to the Lord against you, and #[Matt. 25:41, 42]you be guilty of sin. 10You shall give to him freely, and #[2 Cor. 9:7] your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because #Prov. 28:27; See ch. 14:29for this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. 11For #[Matt. 26:11; Mark 14:7; John 12:8] there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, #[See ver. 8 above]‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’
12 #
Ex. 21:2; Jer. 34:14; [Lev. 25:39-41] “If your brother, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, is sold#15:12 Or sells himself to you, he shall serve you six years, and in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you. 13And when you let him go free from you, you shall not let him go empty-handed. 14You shall furnish him liberally out of your flock, out of your threshing floor, and out of your winepress. #ch. 8:18; 16:17As the Lord your God has blessed you, you shall give to him. 15#See ch. 5:15You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this today. 16But #Ex. 21:5, 6if 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, 17then you shall take an awl, and put it through his ear into the door, and he shall be your slave#15:17 Or servant; the Hebrew term ‘ebed designates a range of social and economic roles (see Preface) forever. And to your female slave#15:17 Or servant you shall do the same. 18It shall not seem hard to you when you let him go free from you, for at half the cost of a hired worker he has served you six years. So the Lord your God will bless you in all that you do.
19 # See Ex. 13:2 “All the firstborn males that are born of your herd and flock you shall dedicate to the Lord your God. You shall do no work with the firstborn of your herd, nor shear the firstborn of your flock. 20#ch. 12:7; 14:23, 26You shall eat it, you and your household, before the Lord your God year by year at the place that the Lord will choose. 21#See Lev. 22:20But if it has any blemish, if it is lame or blind or has any serious blemish whatever, you shall not sacrifice it to the Lord your God. 22You shall eat it within your towns. #ch. 12:15The unclean and the clean alike may eat it, as though it were a gazelle or a deer. 23#See Lev. 3:17Only you shall not eat its blood; you shall pour it out on the ground like water.
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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Deuteronomy 15
15
Loans
(Leviticus 25.1-7)
Moses said:
1-2Every 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.#15.1,2 The LORD says…no longer ask for payment: Or “ ‘The LORD says loans do not need to be paid back this year.’ Then if you have loaned money to another Israelite, you cannot ask for payment until the next year.” 3This law applies only to loans you have made to other Israelites. Foreigners will still have to pay back what you have loaned them.
4-6No 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.
7After 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.#Lv 25.35. 8Instead, be kind and lend them what they need. 9Be 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. 10You should be happy to give the poor what they need, because then the LORD will make you successful in everything you do.
11There will always be some Israelites who are poor and needy. That's why I am commanding you to be generous with them.#Mt 26.11; Mk 14.7; Jn 12.8.
Setting slaves free
(Exodus 21.1-11)
Moses said to Israel:
12If any of you buy Israelites as slaves, you must set them free after six years.#Lv 25.39-46. 13And don't just tell them they are free to leave— 14give 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. 15I am commanding you to obey the LORD as a reminder that you were slaves in Egypt before he set you free. 16But 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.” 17Take the slave to the door of your house and push a sharp metal rod through one ear lobe and into the door. Such slaves will belong to you for life, whether they are men or women.
18Don'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.#15.18 six years…work: Or “six years of service, and it cost you no more than if you had hired someone to do the work”; or “six years of service, for what you would have had to pay a worker for two years”.
Firstborn animals
(Leviticus 27.26,27; Numbers 18.15-18)
Moses said to Israel:
19If the firstborn animal of a cow or sheep or goat is a male, it must be given to the LORD. Don't put firstborn cattle to work or cut wool from firstborn sheep.#Ex 13.12. 20Instead, each year you must take the firstborn of these animals to the place where the LORD your God chooses to be worshipped. You and your family will sacrifice them to the LORD and then eat them as part of a sacred meal.
21But if the animal is lame or blind or has something else wrong with it, you must not sacrifice it to the LORD your God. 22You 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. 23But you must never eat the blood of an animal—let it drain out on the ground.#Gn 9.4; Lv 7.26,27; 17.10-14; 19.26; Dt 12.16,23.
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