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The Sabbatical Year

¹ "^(C1)At the end of every seven years you shall ^(F1)grant a release of debts.² "And this is the regulation for the release of debts: every creditor is to forgive what he has loaned to his neighbor; he shall not require it of his neighbor and his brother, because the LORD'S release has been proclaimed.³ "^(C1)From a foreigner you may require it, but your hand shall ^(F1)forgive whatever of yours is with your brother.⁴ "However, there will be no poor among you, since ^(C1)the LORD will certainly bless you in the land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess,⁵ if only you listen obediently to the voice of the LORD your God, to ^(F1)follow carefully all this commandment which I am commanding you today.⁶ "^(C1)For the LORD your God will have blessed you just as He has promised you, and you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow; and you will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you.

⁷ "If there is ^(C1)a poor person among you, one of your brothers, in any of your ^(F1)towns in your land which the LORD your God is giving you, ^(C2)you shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand from your poor brother;⁸ but ^(C1)you shall fully open your hand to him, and generously lend him enough for his need in whatever he lacks.⁹ "Be careful that there is no mean-spirited ^(F1)thought in your heart, ^(F2)such as, '^(C1)The seventh year, the year of release of debts, is near,' and ^(C2)your eye is malicious toward your poor brother, and you give him nothing; then he ^(C3)may cry out to the LORD against you, and it will be a sin in you.¹⁰ "You shall generously give to him, and your heart shall not be ^(F1)grudging when you give to him, because ^(C1)for this thing the LORD your God will bless you in all your work, and in all ^(F2)your undertakings.¹¹ "^(C1)For the poor will not cease ^(F1)to exist in the land; therefore I am commanding you, saying, 'You shall fully open your hand to your brother, to your needy and poor in your land.'

¹² "^(C1)If your fellow countryman, a Hebrew man or woman, is sold to you, then he shall serve you for six years, but in the seventh year you shall set him ^(F1)free.¹³ "And when you set him ^(F1)free, you shall not send him away empty-handed.¹⁴ "You shall give generously to him from your flock, your threshing floor, and from your wine vat; you shall give to him as the LORD your God has blessed you.¹⁵ "And you are to remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you; therefore I am commanding ^(F1)this of you today.¹⁶ "But it shall come about, ^(C1)if he says to you, 'I will not leave you,' because he loves you and your household, since he is doing well with you,¹⁷ then you shall take an ^(F1)awl and pierce it through his ear into the door, and he shall be your servant permanently. You shall also do the same to your female slave.

¹⁸ "It shall not seem difficult for you when you set him ^(F1)free, because he has given you six years with double the ^(F2)service of a hired worker; so the LORD your God will bless you in whatever you do.

¹⁹ "^(C1)You shall consecrate to the LORD your God all the firstborn males that are born in your herd and in your flock; you shall not work with the firstborn of your herd, nor shear the firstborn of your flock.²⁰ "^(C1)You and your household shall eat it every year before the LORD your God in the place which the LORD chooses.²¹ "^(C1)But if it has any impairment, such as a limp, or blindness, or any serious impairment, you shall not sacrifice it to the LORD your God.²² "You shall eat it within your gates; ^(C1)the unclean and the clean alike may eat it, as ^(C1)a gazelle or a deer.²³ "Only ^(C1)you shall not eat its blood; you are to pour it out on the ground like water.