|
Chapter 15 |
| 1 | At the end of
every seven years thou shalt make a release. |
|
2 | And this is the manner of
the release: Every creditor that lendeth ought unto his neighbor shall release
it; he shall not exact it of his neighbor, or of his brother; because it is
called the LORD's release. |
|
3 | Of a foreigner thou mayest exact it
again: but that which is thine with thy brother thine hand shall release;
|
| 4 | Save when there shall be no poor among you; for the LORD shall greatly
bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to
possess it: |
| 5
| Only if thou carefully hearken unto the voice of the LORD
thy God, to observe to do all these commandments which I command thee this
day. |
| 6 |
For the LORD thy God blesseth thee, as he promised thee: and
thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou shalt not borrow; and thou shalt
reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over thee. |
| 7 | If
there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in
thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart,
nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother: |
|
8 | But thou shalt open thine
hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that
which he wanteth. |
|
9 | Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked
heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye
be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and he cry unto
the LORD against thee, and it be sin unto thee. |
| 10 | Thou shalt
surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto
him: because that for this thing the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thy
works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto. |
| 11 | For the poor
shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt
open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy
land. |
| 12 |
And if thy brother, an Hebrew man, or an Hebrew woman, be sold
unto thee, and serve thee six years; then in the seventh year thou shalt let
him go free from thee. |
| 13 | And when thou sendest him out free from
thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty: |
|
14 | Thou shalt furnish him
liberally out of thy flock, and out of thy floor, and out of thy winepress: of
that wherewith the LORD thy God hath blessed thee thou shalt give unto
him. |
| 15 |
And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land
of Egypt, and the LORD thy God redeemed thee: therefore I command thee this
thing to day. |
|
16 | And it shall be, if he say unto thee, I will not go
away from thee; because he loveth thee and thine house, because he is well with
thee; |
| 17 |
Then thou shalt take an awl, and thrust it through his ear
unto the door, and he shall be thy servant for ever. And also unto thy
maidservant thou shalt do likewise. |
| 18 | It shall not seem hard unto
thee, when thou sendest him away free from thee; for he hath been worth a
double hired servant to thee, in serving thee six years: and the LORD thy God
shall bless thee in all that thou doest. |
|
19 | All the firstling males
that come of thy herd and of thy flock thou shalt sanctify unto the LORD thy
God: thou shalt do no work with the firstling of thy bullock, nor shear the
firstling of thy sheep. |
| 20 | Thou shalt eat it before the LORD thy God
year by year in the place which the LORD shall choose, thou and thy
household. |
| 21
| And if there be any blemish therein, as if it be lame, or
blind, or have any ill blemish, thou shalt not sacrifice it unto the LORD thy
God. |
| 22 |
Thou shalt eat it within thy gates: the unclean and the clean
person shall eat it alike, as the roebuck, and as the hart. |
| 23 | Only
thou shalt not eat the blood thereof; thou shalt pour it upon the ground as
water. |
