| New International Version | English Standard Version |
| 1At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts. | 1“At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release. |
| 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. | 2And this is the manner of the release: every creditor shall release what he has lent to his neighbor. He shall not exact it of his neighbor, his brother, because the LORD’s release has been proclaimed. |
| 3You may require payment from a foreigner, but you must cancel any debt your fellow Israelite owes you. | 3Of a foreigner you may exact it, but whatever of yours is with your brother your hand shall release. |
| 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, | 4But there will be no poor among you; for the LORD will bless you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you for 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 will strictly obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all this commandment that I command 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. | 6For the LORD your God will bless you, as he promised you, and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow, and you shall rule over many nations, but they shall 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 among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, |
| 8Rather, be openhanded and freely lend them whatever they need. | 8but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be. |
| 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. | 9Take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart and you say, ‘The seventh year, the year of release is near,’ and your eye look grudgingly on your poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he cry to the LORD against you, and you be guilty of sin. |
| 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. | 10You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. |
| 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. | 11For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the 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 brother, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you, he shall serve you six years, and in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you. |
| 13And when you release them, do not send them away empty-handed. | 13And when you let him go free from you, you shall not let him go 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. | 14You shall furnish him liberally out of your flock, out of your threshing floor, and out of your winepress. As the LORD your God has blessed you, you shall give to him. |
| 15Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you. That is why I give you this command today. | 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 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, | 16But if he says to you, ‘I will not go out from you,’ because he loves you and your household, since he is well-off 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 put it through his ear into the door, and he shall be your slave forever. And to your female slave you shall do the same. |
| 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. | 18It shall not seem hard to you when you let him go free from you, for at half the cost of a hired worker he has served you six years. So the LORD your God will bless you in all that 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“All the firstborn males that are born of your herd and flock you shall dedicate to the LORD your God. You shall do no 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. | 20You shall eat it, you and your household, before the LORD your God year by year at the place that the LORD will choose. |
| 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. | 21But if it has any blemish, if it is lame or blind or has any serious blemish whatever, 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. | 22You shall eat it within your towns. The unclean and the clean alike may eat it, as though it were a gazelle or a deer. |
| 23But you must not eat the blood; pour it out on the ground like water. | 23Only you shall not eat its blood; you shall 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. | ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. |
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