| New American Standard Bible 1995 | NET Bible |
| 1"At the end of every seven years you shall grant a remission of debts. | 1At the end of every seven years you must declare a cancellation of debts. |
| 2"This is the manner of remission: every creditor shall release what he has loaned to his neighbor; he shall not exact it of his neighbor and his brother, because the LORD'S remission has been proclaimed. | 2This is the nature of the cancellation: Every creditor must remit what he has loaned to another person; he must not force payment from his fellow Israelite, for it is to be recognized as "the LORD's cancellation of debts." |
| 3"From a foreigner you may exact it, but your hand shall release whatever of yours is with your brother. | 3You may exact payment from a foreigner, but whatever your fellow Israelite owes you, you must remit. |
| 4"However, there will be no poor among you, since the LORD will surely bless you in the land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, | 4However, there should not be any poor among you, for the LORD will surely bless you in the land that he is giving you as an inheritance, |
| 5if only you listen obediently to the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all this commandment which I am commanding you today. | 5if you carefully obey him by keeping all these commandments that I am giving you today. |
| 6"For the LORD your God will bless you 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. | 6For the LORD your God will bless you just as he has promised; you will lend to many nations but will not borrow from any, and you will rule over many nations but they will not rule over you. |
| 7"If there is a poor man with you, one of your brothers, in any of your towns in your land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand from your poor brother; | 7If a fellow Israelite from one of your villages in the land that the LORD your God is giving you should be poor, you must not harden your heart or be insensitive to his impoverished condition. |
| 8but you shall freely open your hand to him, and shall generously lend him sufficient for his need in whatever he lacks. | 8Instead, you must be sure to open your hand to him and generously lend him whatever he needs. |
| 9"Beware that there is no base thought in your heart, saying, 'The seventh year, the year of remission, is near,' and your eye is hostile toward your poor brother, and you give him nothing; then he may cry to the LORD against you, and it will be a sin in you. | 9Be careful lest you entertain the wicked thought that the seventh year, the year of cancellation of debts, has almost arrived, and your attitude be wrong toward your impoverished fellow Israelite and you do not lend him anything; he will cry out to the LORD against you and you will be regarded as having sinned. |
| 10"You shall generously give to him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him, because for this thing the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in all your undertakings. | 10You must by all means lend to him and not be upset by doing it, for because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you attempt. |
| 11"For the poor will never cease to be in the land; therefore I command you, saying, 'You shall freely open your hand to your brother, to your needy and poor in your land.' | 11There will never cease to be some poor people in the land; therefore, I am commanding you to make sure you open your hand to your fellow Israelites who are needy and poor in your land. |
| 12"If your kinsman, a Hebrew man or woman, is sold to you, then he shall serve you six years, but in the seventh year you shall set him free. | 12If your fellow Hebrew--whether male or female--is sold to you and serves you for six years, then in the seventh year you must let that servant go free. |
| 13"When you set him free, you shall not send him away empty-handed. | 13If you set them free, you must not send them away empty-handed. |
| 14"You shall furnish him liberally from your flock and from your threshing floor and from your wine vat; you shall give to him as the LORD your God has blessed you. | 14You must supply them generously from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress--as the LORD your God has blessed you, you must give to them. |
| 15"You 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 a slave in the land of Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you; therefore, I am commanding you to do this thing today. |
| 16"It shall come about if he says to you, 'I will not go out from you,' because he loves you and your household, since he fares well with you; | 16However, if the servant says to you, "I do not want to leave you," because he loves you and your household, since he is well off with you, |
| 17then you shall take an awl and pierce it through his ear into the door, and he shall be your servant forever. Also you shall do likewise to your maidservant. | 17you shall take an awl and pierce a hole through his ear to the door. Then he will become your servant permanently (this applies to your female servant as well). |
| 18"It shall not seem hard to you when you set him free, for he has given you six years with double the service of a hired man; so the LORD your God will bless you in whatever you do. | 18You should not consider it difficult to let him go free, for he will have served you for six years, twice the time of a hired worker; the LORD your God will bless you in everything you do. |
| 19"You shall consecrate to the LORD your God 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. | 19You must set apart for the LORD your God every firstborn male born to your herds and flocks. You must not work the firstborn of your bulls or shear the firstborn of your flocks. |
| 20"You and your household shall eat it every year before the LORD your God in the place which the LORD chooses. | 20You and your household must eat them annually before the LORD your God in the place he chooses. |
| 21"But if it has any defect, such as lameness or blindness, or any serious defect, you shall not sacrifice it to the LORD your God. | 21If they have any kind of blemish--lameness, blindness, or anything else--you may not offer them as a sacrifice to the LORD your God. |
| 22"You shall eat it within your gates; the unclean and the clean alike may eat it, as a gazelle or a deer. | 22You may eat it in your villages, whether you are ritually impure or clean, just as you would eat a gazelle or an ibex. |
| 23"Only you shall not eat its blood; you are to pour it out on the ground like water. | 23However, you must not eat its blood; you must pour it out on the ground like water. |
| New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org | NET Bible copyright © 1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. //netbible.com. Used by permission. All rights reserved. |
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