Deuteronomy 15

NEW AMERICAN BIBLE	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 "At the end of every seven-year period you shall have a relaxation of debts,	1 “In the seventh year, you shall perform a remission,
2 which shall be observed as follows. Every creditor shall relax his claim on what he has loaned his neighbor; he must not press his neighbor, his kinsman, because a relaxation in honor of the LORD has been proclaimed.	2 which shall be celebrated according to this order. Anyone to whom anything is owed, by his friend or neighbor or brother, will not be able to request its return, because it is the year of remission of the Lord.
3 You may press a foreigner, but you shall relax the claim on your kinsman for what is yours.	3 From the sojourner and the new arrival, you may require its return. From your fellow countryman and neighbor, you will not have the power to request its return.
4 Nay, more! since the LORD, your God, will bless you abundantly in the land he will give you to occupy as your heritage, there should be no one of you in need.	4 And there shall not be anyone indigent or begging among you, so that the Lord your God may bless you in the land which he will deliver to you as a possession.
5 If you but heed the voice of the LORD, your God, and carefully observe all these commandments which I enjoin on you today,	5 But only if you heed the voice of the Lord your God, and keep to all that he has ordered, that which I am entrusting to you this day, will he bless you, just as he has promised.
6 you will lend to many nations, and borrow from none; you will rule over many nations, and none will rule over you, since the LORD, your God, will bless you as he promised.	6 You shall lend money to many nations, and you yourselves shall borrow in return from no one. You shall rule over very many nations, and no one shall rule over you.
7 If one of your kinsmen in any community is in need in the land which the LORD, your God, is giving you, you shall not harden your heart nor close your hand to him in his need.	7 If one of your brothers, who dwells within the gates of your city, in the land which the Lord your God will give to you, falls into poverty, you shall not harden your heart, nor tighten your hand.
8 Instead, you shall open your hand to him and freely lend him enough to meet his need.	8 Instead, you shall open your hand to the poor, and you shall lend to him whatever you perceive him to need.
9 Be on your guard lest, entertaining the mean thought that the seventh year, the year of relaxation, is near, you grudge help to your needy kinsman and give him nothing; else he will cry to the LORD against you and you will be held guilty.	9 Take care, lest perhaps an impious thought might creep within you, and you might say in your heart: ‘The seventh year of remission approaches.’ And so you might turn your eyes away from your poor brother, unwilling to lend to him what he has asked. If so, then he may cry out against you to the Lord, and it will be a sin for you.
10 When you give to him, give freely and not with ill will; for the LORD, your God, will bless you for this in all your works and undertakings.	10 Instead, you shall give to him. Neither shall you do anything craftily while assisting him in his needs, so that the Lord your God may bless you, at all times and in all things to which you will put your hand.
11 The needy will never be lacking in the land; that is why I command you to open your hand to your poor and needy kinsman in your country.	11 The poor will not be absent from the land of your habitation. For this reason, I instruct you to open your hand to your indigent and poor brother, who lives among you in the land.
12 "If your kinsman, a Hebrew man or woman, sells himself to you, he is to serve you for six years, but in the seventh year you shall dismiss him from your service, a free man.	12 When your brother, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, has been sold to you, and has served you for six years, in the seventh year you shall set him free.
13 When you do so, you shall not send him away empty-handed,	13 And when you grant his freedom, you shall by no means permit him to go away empty.
14 but shall weight him down with gifts from your flock and threshing floor and wine press, in proportion to the blessing the LORD, your God, has bestowed on you.	14 Instead, you shall give to him, for his journey, from your flocks and threshing floor and winepress, with which the Lord your God has blessed you.
15 For remember that you too were once slaves in the land of Egypt, and the LORD, your God, ransomed you. That is why I am giving you this command today.	15 Remember that you yourself also served in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God set you free. And therefore, I now command this of you.
16 If, however, he tells you that he does not wish to leave you, because he is devoted to you and your household, since he fares well with you,	16 But if he will say, ‘I am not willing to depart,’ because he loves you and your household, and because he feels that it would be good for him to stay with you,
17 you shall take an awl and thrust it through his ear into the door, and he shall then be your slave forever. Your female slave, also, you shall treat in the same way.	17 then you shall take an awl and pierce his ear, at the door of your house. And he shall serve you even forever. You shall also act similarly toward your woman servant.
18 You must not be reluctant to let your slave go free, since the service he has given you for six years was worth twice a hired man's salary; then also the LORD, your God, will bless you in everything you do.	18 You should not avert your eyes from them when you set them free, because he has served you for six years, in a manner deserving of the pay of a hired hand. So may the Lord your God bless you in all the works that you do.
19 "You shall consecrate to the LORD, your God, all the male firstlings of your herd and of your flock. You shall not work the firstlings of your cattle, nor shear the firstlings of your flock.	19 Of the firstborn, those born from your herds and sheep, you shall sanctify to the Lord your God whatever is of the male sex. You shall not put the firstborn of the oxen to work, nor shall you shear the firstborn of the sheep.
20 Year after year you and your family shall eat them before the LORD, your God, in the place he chooses.	20 In the sight of the Lord your God, you shall eat these, each year, in the place which the Lord will choose, you and your household.
21 If, however, a firstling is lame or blind or has any other serious defect, you shall not sacrifice it to the LORD, your God,	21 But if it has a blemish, or is lame, or is blind, or if it is in any part deformed or debilitated, it shall not be immolated to the Lord your God.
22 but in your own communities you may eat it, the unclean and the clean eating it alike, as you would a gazelle or a deer.	22 Instead, you shall eat it within the gates of your city. The clean as well as the unclean alike shall feed on these, such as the roe deer and the stag.
23 Only, you shall not partake of its blood, which must be poured out on the ground like water.	23 This alone shall you observe: that you do not eat their blood, but pour it upon the ground like water.”