| NET Bible | Berean Study Bible |
| 1At the end of every seven years you must declare a cancellation of debts. | 1At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts. |
| 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." | 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. |
| 3You may exact payment from a foreigner, but whatever your fellow Israelite owes you, you must remit. | 3You may collect something from a foreigner, but you must forgive whatever your brother owes you. |
| 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, | 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 you carefully obey him by keeping all these commandments that I am giving 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 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 8Instead, you must be sure to open your hand to him and generously lend him whatever he needs. | 8Instead, you are to open your hand to him and freely loan him whatever he needs. |
| 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. | 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 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 13If you set them free, you must not send them away empty-handed. | 13And when you release him, do not send him away empty-handed. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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, | 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, |
| 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). | 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. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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 and your household must eat them annually before the LORD your God in the place he chooses. | 20Each year you and your household are to eat it before the LORD your God in the place the LORD will choose. |
| 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. | 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 may eat it in your villages, whether you are ritually impure or clean, just as you would eat a gazelle or an ibex. | 22Eat it within your gates; both the ceremonially unclean and clean may eat it as they would a gazelle or a deer. |
| 23However, you must not eat its blood; you must pour it out on the ground like water. | 23But you must not eat the blood; pour it on the ground like water. |
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