Deuteronomy 15:7–18

LENDING TO THE POOR

⁷“If there is a poor person among you, one of your brothers within any of your city gates in the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother. ⁸Instead, you are to open your hand to him and freely loan him enough for whatever need he has. ⁹Be careful that there isn’t this wicked thought in your heart, ‘The seventh year, the year of canceling debts, is near,’ and you are stingy toward your poor brother and give him nothing. He will cry out to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty. ¹⁰Give to him, and don’t have a stingy heart^A when you give, and because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you do.^{B 11}For there will never cease to be poor people in the land;^b that is why I am commanding you, ‘Open your hand willingly to your poor and needy brother in your land.’

RELEASE OF SLAVES

¹²“If your fellow Hebrew, a man or woman, is sold to you and serves you six years, you must set him free in the seventh year.^{c 13}When you set him free, do not send him away empty-handed. ¹⁴Give generously to him from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress. You are to give him whatever the Lord your God has blessed you with. ¹⁵Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed^d you; that is why I am giving you this command today.^{e 16}But if your slave says to you, ‘I don’t want to leave you,’ because he loves you and your family, and is well off with you, ¹⁷take an awl and pierce through his ear into the door, and he will become your slave for life. Also treat your female slave the same way. ¹⁸Do not regard it as a hardship^C when you set him free, because he worked for you six years—worth twice the wages of a hired worker. Then the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.^f