Deuteronomy 15 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

Release for Debtors

(Exo 21:1–11; Lev 25:1–7 )

Deu 15:1“At the end of every seventh year you must cancel the debts of everyone who owes you money.

Deu 15:2This is how it must be done. Everyone must cancel the loans they have made to their fellow Israelites. They must not demand payment from their neighbors or relatives, for the LORD’s time of release has arrived.

Deu 15:3

Deu 15:3This release from debt, however, applies only to your fellow Israelites—not to the foreigners living among you.

Deu 15:4

Deu 15:4“There should be no poor among you, for the LORD your God will greatly bless you in the land he is giving you as a special possession.

Deu 15:5

Deu 15:5You will receive this blessing if you are careful to obey all the commands of the LORD your God that I am giving you today.

Deu 15:6

Deu 15:6The LORD your God will bless you as he has promised. You will lend money to many nations but will never need to borrow. You will rule many nations, but they will not rule over you.

Deu 15:7

Deu 15:7“But if there are any poor Israelites in your towns when you arrive in the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tightfisted toward them.

Deu 15:8

Deu 15:8Instead, be generous and lend them whatever they need.

Deu 15:9

Deu 15:9Do not be mean-spirited and refuse someone a loan because the year for canceling debts is close at hand. If you refuse to make the loan and the needy person cries out to the LORD, you will be considered guilty of sin.

Deu 15:10

Deu 15:10Give generously to the poor, not grudgingly, for the LORD your God will bless you in everything you do.

Deu 15:11

Deu 15:11There will always be some in the land who are poor. That is why I am commanding you to share freely with the poor and with other Israelites in need.

Release for Hebrew Slaves

Deu 15:12

Deu 15:12“If a fellow Hebrew sells himself or herself to be your servant[fn] and serves you for six years, in the seventh year you must set that servant free.

Deu 15:13

Deu 15:13“When you release a male servant, do not send him away empty-handed.

Deu 15:14

Deu 15:14Give him a generous farewell gift from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress. Share with him some of the bounty with which the LORD your God has blessed you.

Deu 15:15

Deu 15:15Remember that you were once slaves in the land of Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you! That is why I am giving you this command.

Deu 15:16

Deu 15:16“But suppose your servant says, ‘I will not leave you,’ because he loves you and your family, and he has done well with you.

Deu 15:17

Deu 15:17In that case, take an awl and push it through his earlobe into the door. After that, he will be your servant for life. And do the same for your female servants.

Deu 15:18

Deu 15:18“You must not consider it a hardship when you release your servants. Remember that for six years they have given you services worth double the wages of hired workers, and the LORD your God will bless you in all you do.

Sacrificing Firstborn Male Animals

Deu 15:19

Deu 15:19“You must set aside for the LORD your God all the firstborn males from your flocks and herds. Do not use the firstborn of your herds to work your fields, and do not shear the firstborn of your flocks.

Deu 15:20

Deu 15:20Instead, you and your family must eat these animals in the presence of the LORD your God each year at the place he chooses.

Deu 15:21

Deu 15:21But if this firstborn animal has any defect, such as lameness or blindness, or if anything else is wrong with it, you must not sacrifice it to the LORD your God.

Deu 15:22

Deu 15:22Instead, use it for food for your family in your hometown. Anyone, whether ceremonially clean or unclean, may eat it, just as anyone may eat a gazelle or deer.

Deu 15:23

Deu 15:23But you must not consume the blood. You must pour it out on the ground like water.

See the NLT Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

NLT Footnotes

(15:12)

Or If a Hebrew man or woman is sold to you.

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Deuteronomy Chapter 15 — Additional Translations:

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Deuteronomy 15 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

NLT Footnotes

Deuteronomy Chapter 15 — Additional Translations:

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