| English Standard Version | Berean Study Bible |
| 1“At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release. | 1At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts. |
| 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. | 2This is the manner of remission: Every creditor shall cancel what he has loaned to his neighbor. He is not to collect anything from his neighbor or brother, because the LORD’s time of release has been proclaimed. |
| 3Of a foreigner you may exact it, but whatever of yours is with your brother your hand shall release. | 3You may collect something from a foreigner, but you must forgive whatever your brother owes you. |
| 4But there will be no poor among you; for the LORD will bless you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance to possess— | 4There will be no poor among you, however, because the LORD will surely bless you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance, |
| 5if only you will strictly obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all this commandment that I command you today. | 5if only you obey the LORD your God and are careful to follow all these commandments I am giving you today. |
| 6For the LORD your God will bless you, as he promised you, and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow, and you shall rule over many nations, but they shall not rule over you. | 6When the LORD your God blesses you as He has promised, you will lend to many nations but borrow from none; you will rule over many nations but be ruled by none. |
| 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, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, | 7If there is a poor man among your brothers within any of the gates in the land that the LORD your God is giving you, then you are not to harden your heart or shut your hand from your poor brother. |
| 8but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be. | 8Instead, you are to open your hand to him and freely loan him whatever he needs. |
| 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 eye look grudgingly on your poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he cry to the LORD against you, and you be guilty of sin. | 9Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought in your heart: “The seventh year, the year of release, is near,” so that you look upon your poor brother begrudgingly and give him nothing. He will cry out to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty of sin. |
| 10You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. | 10Give generously to him, and do not let your heart be grieved when you do so. And because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything to which you put your hand. |
| 11For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’ | 11For there will never cease to be poor in the land; that is why I am commanding you to open wide your hand to your brother and to the poor and needy in your land. |
| 12“If your brother, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you, he shall serve you six years, and in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you. | 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 let him go free from you, you shall not let him go empty-handed. | 13And when you release him, do not send him away empty-handed. |
| 14You shall furnish him liberally out of your flock, out of your threshing floor, and out of your winepress. As the LORD your God has blessed you, you shall give to him. | 14You are to furnish him liberally from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress. You shall give to him as the LORD your God has blessed you. |
| 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. | 15Remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you; that is why I am giving you this command today. |
| 16But if 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, | 16But if your servant says to you, ‘I do not want to leave you,’ because he loves you and your household and 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 forever. And to your female slave you shall do the same. | 17then take an awl and pierce it through his ear into the door, and he will become your servant for life. And treat your maidservant the same way. |
| 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. | 18Do not regard it as a hardship to set your servant free, because his six years of service were worth twice the wages of a hired hand. And the LORD your God will bless you in all you do. |
| 19“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. | 19You must set apart to the LORD your God every firstborn male produced by your herds and flocks. You are not to put the firstborn of your oxen to work, nor are you to shear the firstborn of your flock. |
| 20You shall eat it, you and your household, before the LORD your God year by year at the place that the LORD will choose. | 20Each year you and your household are to eat it before the LORD your God in the place the LORD will choose. |
| 21But 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. | 21But if an animal has a defect, is lame or blind, or has any serious flaw, you must not sacrifice it to the LORD your God. |
| 22You shall eat it within your towns. The unclean and the clean alike may eat it, as though it were a gazelle or a deer. | 22Eat it within your gates; both the ceremonially unclean and clean may eat it as they would a gazelle or a deer. |
| 23Only you shall not eat its blood; you shall pour it out on the ground like water. | 23But you must not eat the blood; pour it on the ground like water. |
| ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. | The Berean Bible (Berean Study Bible (BSB) © 2016, 2018 by Bible Hub and Berean.Bible. Used by Permission. All rights Reserved. |
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