| New King James Version | NET Bible |
| 1“At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release of debts. | 1At the end of every seven years you must declare a cancellation of debts. |
| 2And this is the form of the release: Every creditor who has lent anything to his neighbor shall release it; he shall not require it of his neighbor or his brother, because it is called the LORD’s release. | 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." |
| 3Of a foreigner you may require it; but you shall give up your claim to what is owed by your brother, | 3You may exact payment from a foreigner, but whatever your fellow Israelite owes you, you must remit. |
| 4except when there may be no poor among you; for the LORD will greatly bless you in the land which the LORD your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance— | 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, |
| 5only if you carefully obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe with care all these commandments which I command you today. | 5if you carefully obey him by keeping all these commandments that I am giving you today. |
| 6For the LORD your God will bless you just as He promised you; you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow; you shall reign over many nations, but they shall not reign 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 among you a poor man of your brethren, within any of the gates in your land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart nor shut 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 open your hand wide to him and willingly lend him sufficient for his need, whatever he needs. | 8Instead, you must be sure to open your hand to him and generously lend him whatever he needs. |
| 9Beware lest there be a wicked thought in your heart, saying, ‘The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand,’ and your eye be evil against your poor brother and you give him nothing, and he cry out to the LORD against you, and it become sin among 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. |
| 10You shall surely give to him, and your heart should not be grieved when you give to him, because for this thing the LORD your God will bless you in all your works and in all to which you put your hand. | 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. |
| 11For the poor will never cease from the land; therefore I command you, saying, ‘You shall open your hand wide to your brother, to your poor and your needy, 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 brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you and serves you six years, then in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you. | 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. |
| 13And when you send him away free from you, you shall not let him go away empty-handed; | 13If you set them free, you must not send them away empty-handed. |
| 14you shall supply him liberally from your flock, from your threshing floor, and from your winepress. From what the LORD your God has blessed you with, you shall give to him. | 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. |
| 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 thing 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. |
| 16And if it happens that he says to you, ‘I will not go away from you,’ because he loves you and your house, since he prospers 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 thrust it through his ear to the door, and he shall be your servant forever. Also to your female servant you shall do likewise. | 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). |
| 18It shall not seem hard to you when you send him away free from you; for he has been worth a double hired servant in serving you six years. Then the LORD your God will bless you in all that 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“All the firstborn males that come from your herd and your flock you shall sanctify 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 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. |
| 20You and your household shall eat it before the LORD your God year by year 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. |
| 21But if there is a defect in it, if it is lame or blind or has 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. |
| 22You may eat it within your gates; the unclean and the clean person alike may eat it, as if it were 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. |
| 23Only you shall not eat its blood; you shall pour it on the ground like water. | 23However, you must not eat its blood; you must pour it out on the ground like water. |
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