| NET Bible | New International Version |
| 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 how it is to be done: Every creditor shall cancel any loan they have made to a fellow Israelite. They shall not require payment from anyone among their own people, because the LORD's time for canceling debts has been proclaimed. |
| 3You may exact payment from a foreigner, but whatever your fellow Israelite owes you, you must remit. | 3You may require payment from a foreigner, but you must cancel any debt your fellow Israelite 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, | 4However, there need be no poor people among you, for in the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you, |
| 5if you carefully obey him by keeping all these commandments that I am giving you today. | 5if only you fully obey the LORD your God and are careful to follow all these commands 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. | 6For the LORD your God will bless you as he has promised, and you will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. You will rule over many nations but none will rule over you. |
| 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 anyone is poor among your fellow Israelites in any of the towns of the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward them. |
| 8Instead, you must be sure to open your hand to him and generously lend him whatever he needs. | 8Rather, be openhanded and freely lend them whatever they need. |
| 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: "The seventh year, the year for canceling debts, is near," so that you do not show ill will toward the needy among your fellow Israelites and give them nothing. They may then appeal to the LORD against you, and you will be found 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 them and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. |
| 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. | 11There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are 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 any of your people--Hebrew men or women--sell themselves to you and serve you six years, in the seventh year you must let them go free. |
| 13If you set them free, you must not send them away empty-handed. | 13And when you release them, do not send them 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. | 14Supply them liberally from your flock, your threshing floor and your winepress. Give to them 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 Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you. That is why I give 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 family 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 push it through his earlobe into the door, and he will become your servant for life. Do the same for your female servant. |
| 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 consider it a hardship to set your servant free, because their service to you these six years has been worth twice as much as that of a hired hand. And the LORD your God will bless you in everything 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. | 19Set apart for the LORD your God every firstborn male of your herds and flocks. Do not put the firstborn of your cows to work, and do not shear the firstborn of your sheep. |
| 20You and your household must eat them annually before the LORD your God in the place he chooses. | 20Each year you and your family are to eat them in the presence of the LORD your God at the place he 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. | 21If 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. | 22You are to eat it in your own towns. Both the ceremonially unclean and the clean may eat it, as if it were gazelle or 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 out on the ground like water. |
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