Cancel Debts Every Seven Years
Study note
At the end of every seven years, all debts between Israelites were to be canceled. This was called the Lord's time of release. God promised that if they obeyed, there would be no poor among them and they would lend to many nations.
1 "Every seven years, you must forgive all debts. At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release.
2 Here is how it works: anyone who has loaned money to a neighbor must cancel that debt. Do not demand repayment from a fellow Israelite, because the Lord's time for forgiving debts has arrived. And this is the manner of the release: Every creditor that lendeth ought unto his neighbour shall release it; he shall not exact it of his neighbour, or of his brother; because it is called the LORD's release.
3 You can still collect debts from foreigners, but any debt owed by a fellow Israelite must be dropped. Of a foreigner thou mayest exact it again: but that which is thine with thy brother thine hand shall release;
4 There truly should not be any poor people among you. The Lord is going to bless you richly in the land he is giving you. Save when there shall be no poor among you; for the LORD shall greatly bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it:
5 This blessing will come if you carefully obey the Lord your God. Follow all the commands I give you today. Only if thou carefully hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all these commandments which I command thee this day.
6 The Lord your God will bless you as he has said. You will end up lending to many nations without needing to borrow from anyone. You will have influence over many nations, but none of them will have influence over you. For the LORD thy God blesseth thee, as he promised thee: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou shalt not borrow; and thou shalt reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over thee.
Be Generous to the Poor
Study note
Moses warned against a hard heart that refused to lend to a poor person just because the year of release was near. God commanded open-handed generosity and promised to bless those who gave freely. There would always be poor people in the land who needed help.
7 "An Israelite in any of your towns might fall on hard times. This is in the land the Lord your God gives you. Do not close your heart to them. Do not shut your hand. If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother:
8 Open your hand wide and lend them whatever they need. But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth.
9 Guard your heart against this selfish thought: 'The seventh year when debts are canceled is almost here,' and then refusing to help a poor neighbor. If you turn them away, they might call out to the Lord about you, and you will be held guilty. Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and he cry unto the LORD against thee, and it be sin unto thee.
10 Give freely to the poor without resentment. When you give generously, the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do and everything you put your hands to. Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him: because that for this thing the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto.
11 Poor people will always exist in your land. That is exactly why I am telling you to open your hands generously to fellow Israelites who are struggling and in need. For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.
Freeing Servants
Study note
If a fellow Israelite became a servant, they were to be freed after six years. They must not be sent away empty-handed but given generously from the flock, the threshing floor, and the winepress. If a servant chose to stay because they loved the household, a ceremony with an awl through the ear made the arrangement permanent.
12 "A fellow Israelite might become your servant. It could be a man or a woman. They work for you for six years. You must set them free in the seventh year. And if thy brother, an Hebrew man, or an Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee, and serve thee six years; then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee.
13 And when you let them go, do not send them away with nothing. And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty:
14 Load them up with gifts from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress. Share generously from the blessings the Lord your God has given you. Thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and out of thy floor, and out of thy winepress: of that wherewith the LORD thy God hath blessed thee thou shalt give unto him.
15 Never forget that you were once slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God bought your freedom. That is the reason behind this command. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the LORD thy God redeemed thee: therefore I command thee this thing to day.
16 But the servant might tell you, 'I don't want to leave you.' Maybe they truly love you and your family and have a good life with you. And it shall be, if he say unto thee, I will not go away from thee; because he loveth thee and thine house, because he is well with thee;
17 then take a sharp tool and push it through their earlobe against the door. After that, they will serve you for life. Apply this same rule for female servants. Then thou shalt take an awl, and thrust it through his ear unto the door, and he shall be thy servant for ever. And also unto thy maidservant thou shalt do likewise.
18 Do not think of it as a burden to free your servant. After all, they worked for you for six years at half the cost of hiring someone. And the Lord your God will bless everything you do. It shall not seem hard unto thee, when thou sendest him away free from thee; for he hath been worth a double hired servant to thee, in serving thee six years: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all that thou doest.
Firstborn Animals
Study note
Every firstborn male from the herds and flocks was to be set apart for the Lord. They could not be used for work or sheared. The family was to eat them before the Lord each year at the central place of worship. If the animal had a defect, it could be eaten at home but never sacrificed.
19 "Dedicate every firstborn male from your cattle and sheep to the Lord your God. Do not use a firstborn ox for plowing, and do not shear the wool from a firstborn sheep. All the firstling males that come of thy herd and of thy flock thou shalt sanctify unto the LORD thy God: thou shalt do no work with the firstling of thy bullock, nor shear the firstling of thy sheep.
20 Every year, you and your family should eat them in the Lord your God's presence at the location the Lord selects. Thou shalt eat it before the LORD thy God year by year in the place which the LORD shall choose, thou and thy household.
21 But the animal might have something wrong with it. It might be crippled, blind, or badly flawed. Do not offer it as a gift to the Lord your God. And if there be any blemish therein, as if it be lame, or blind, or have any ill blemish, thou shalt not sacrifice it unto the LORD thy God.
22 Eat it at home instead. Anyone can eat it, whether ceremonially clean or not, just like eating wild game. Thou shalt eat it within thy gates: the unclean and the clean person shall eat it alike, as the roebuck, and as the hart.
23 The only rule: do not eat its blood. Pour it out on the ground like water." Only thou shalt not eat the blood thereof; thou shalt pour it upon the ground as water.