²This is how it is to be done. All who have lent money to a fellow-Israelite are to cancel the debt; they must not try to collect the money; the Lord himself has declared the debt cancelled. ³You may collect what a foreigner owes you, but you must not collect what any of your own people owe you.

⁴“The Lord your God will bless you in the land that he is giving you. Not one of your people will be poor ⁵if you obey him and carefully observe everything that I command you today. ⁶The Lord will bless you, as he has promised. You will lend money to many nations, but you will not have to borrow from any; you will have control over many nations, but no nation will have control over you.

⁷^*“If in any of the towns in the land that the Lord your God is giving you there is a fellow-Israelite in need, then do not be selfish and refuse to help him. ⁸^*Instead, be generous and lend him as much as he needs. ⁹Do not refuse to lend him something, just because the year when debts are cancelled is near. Do not let such an evil thought enter your mind. If you refuse to make the loan, he will cry out to the Lord against you, and you will be held guilty.

Read in Logos

Cross references

*15.7, 8: Lv 25:35
*15.7, 8: Lv 25:35