| New International Version | New American Standard Bible 1995 |
| 1At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts. | 1"At the end of every seven years you shall grant a remission 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. | 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. |
| 3You may require payment from a foreigner, but you must cancel any debt your fellow Israelite owes you. | 3"From a foreigner you may exact it, but your hand shall release whatever of yours is with your brother. |
| 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, | 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, |
| 5if only you fully obey the LORD your God and are careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today. | 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. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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; |
| 8Rather, be openhanded and freely lend them whatever they need. | 8but you shall freely open your hand to him, and shall generously lend him sufficient for his need in whatever he lacks. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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.' |
| 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. | 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. |
| 13And when you release them, do not send them away empty-handed. | 13"When you set him free, you shall not send him away empty-handed. |
| 14Supply them liberally from your flock, your threshing floor and your winepress. Give to them as the LORD your God has blessed you. | 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. |
| 15Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you. That is why I give you this command today. | 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. |
| 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, | 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; |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 20Each year you and your family are to eat them in the presence of the LORD your God at the place he will choose. | 20"You and your household shall eat it every year before the LORD your God in the place which the LORD chooses. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 22"You shall eat it within your gates; the unclean and the clean alike may eat it, as a gazelle or a deer. |
| 23But you must not eat the blood; pour it out on the ground like water. | 23"Only you shall not eat its blood; you are to pour it out on the ground like water. |
| New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. | 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 |
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