Deuteronomy

Law on the Forgiveness of Debts

Every seven years, you shall pardon debts.

You shall do this in the following manner: the creditor shall pardon any debt of his neighbor or brother and stop exacting it of him because the Lord’s pardon has been proclaimed.

You may demand that a foreigner repay his debts, but you shall pardon your brother’s debt.

However, you should have no poor in your midst, for the Lord will give you prosperity in the land you have conquered.

If you listen to the voice of the Lord, your God, and obey all that he has commanded you, which I now remind you of, he will bless you as he promised.

You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow; you shall drive away many nations, and they shall not have dominion over you.

If there is anybody poor among your brothers, who live in your cities in the land that the Lord gives you, do not harden your heart or close your hand,

but be open-handed and lend him all that he needs.

Be careful not to harbor these perverse thoughts in your heart: “The seventh year, the year of pardon, is near,” so you look coldly at your poor brother and lend him nothing. He may cry to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty.

When you give anything, give it willingly, and the Lord, your God, will bless you for this in all your work and all that you undertake.

The poor will not disappear from this land. Therefore, I give you this commandment: You must be open-handed to your brother, the needy, and the poor in your land.

Law on Slaves

If your fellow Hebrew, a man or a woman, sells himself to you as a slave, he shall serve you for six years, and in the seventh, you shall set him free.

When you set him free, do not let him go empty-handed,

but give him something from your flock, from your store of wheat and wine, something from the good things that the Lord has blessed you with.

Remember that you, too, were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord, your God, has given you freedom. Because of this, I give you this commandment.

But if your slave says: “I do not want to leave,” because he loves you and your household and knows that he will be well off with you,

you shall then take an awl and thrust it through his ear into the door of your house, and he will serve you forever. You shall do likewise with your maidservant.

Do not think it hard on you to give him freedom because, for six years, you have gained twice as much from him as from a hired servant.

Consecration of the Firstborn

You shall consecrate to the Lord all the male firstlings born of your cattle or sheep. You shall not use the firstling of your cattle for work, nor shear the firstling of your sheep.

You shall eat them year after year in the presence of the Lord with all your family in the place the Lord has chosen.

You shall not sacrifice an animal to the Lord if it has any defect, if it is lame or blind,

but shall eat it in your house; the clean and the unclean may eat of it, as you would eat a gazelle or a deer.

Only take care that you do not eat the blood; you shall pour it out on the ground like water.