The Seventh Year
(Exodus 23:10–13; Leviticus 25:1–7)

1At the end of seven years you shall grant a release. 2And this is the form of the release: Every owner of a loan shall release his hand of that he has lent to his neighbor; he shall not require it of his neighbor or his brother, because it is called a release unto YHWH. 3Of a foreigner you may require it, and that which is owed by your brother your hand shall release.

4The end is, however, that there shall be among you no poor, for YHWH will greatly bless you in the land that YHWH your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess— 5only if you listen carefully to the voice of YHWH your God, with care to observe all this command that I command you today. 6For YHWH your God will bless you as He has spoken to you, and you shall lend to many nations, and you shall not borrow; and you shall reign over many nations, and over you they shall not reign.

Generosity in Lending and Giving
(Matthew 6:1–4)

7If there is among you a poor man of one of your brothers within one of the gates in your land that YHWH your God is giving to you, you shall not strengthen† your heart and not shut your hand from your poor brother. 8But you shall surely open your hand to him, and you shall freely loan him what is sufficient for his need, whatever is lacking unto him.

9Beware for yourself, lest there be a wicked thought in your heart, saying, “The seventh year is near, the year of release,” and your eye is evil against your poor brother, and you give to him nothing, and he cries out against you to YHWH, and it becomes sin among you.

10You shall give generously to him, and your heart should not be grieved when you give to him, because for this thing YHWH your God will bless you in all your works and in all the sending out of your hand. 11For the poor will never cease from the land; upon thus I command you, saying that you shall open wide your hand to your brother, to your poor, and to your needy in your land.

Hebrew Servants
(Exodus 21:1–11)

12If your brother is sold to you,† a Hebrew or a Hebrewess, and he has served you six years, in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you.

13And when you send him away free from you, you must not send him emptily. 14You shall generously furnish him from your flock, and from your threshing floor, and from your winepress; that with which YHWH your God has blessed you, you shall give to him. 15And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and YHWH your God redeemed you. Upon thus I command you this thing today.

16And it shall come to pass that if he says to you, ‘I will not go away from you,’ because he loves you and your house, since it is good to him with you, 17then you shall take an awl and thrust it through his ear and to the door, and he shall be your servant forever; and to your maidservant you shall do likewise.

18It shall not seem hard in your eyes when you send him away free from you, for he has been worth double of a hireling in serving you six years; and YHWH your God will bless you in all that you do.

Firstborn Animals
(Exodus 13:1–16)

19All the firstborn that come from your herd and your flock—the male—you shall sanctify to YHWH your God. You shall not do work with the firstborn of your herd, nor shear the firstborn of your flock. 20Before the face of YHWH your God you shall eat it year by year in the place that YHWH chooses—You and your house.

21But if there is in it a blemish—lameness or blindness, any serious blemish—you shall not sacrifice it to YHWH your God. 22Within your gates you may eat it, the unclean and the clean alike, as a gazelle or a deer. 23Only its blood you shall not eat; you shall pour it on the ground like water.