Deuteronomy 15:7–18

⁷If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not ^gharden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother: ^8hBut thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth. ⁹Beware that there be not a ^†thought in thy ^†wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine ⁱeye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and ^khe cry unto the Lord against thee, and ^lit be sin unto thee. ¹⁰Thou shalt surely give him, and ^mthine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him: because that ⁿfor this thing the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all ^othat thou puttest thine hand unto. ¹¹For ^pthe poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, ^qThou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.

¹²And ^rif thy brother, an Hebrew man, or an Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee, and serve thee six years; then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee. ¹³And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty: ¹⁴Thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and out of thy floor, and out of thy winepress: of that wherewith the Lord thy God hath ^sblessed thee thou shalt give unto him. ¹⁵And ^tthou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the Lord thy God redeemed thee: therefore I command thee this thing to day. ¹⁶And it shall be, ^uif he say unto thee, I will not go away from thee; because he loveth thee and thine house, because he is well with thee; ¹⁷Then thou shalt take an aul, and thrust it through his ear unto the door, and he shall be thy servant for ever. And also unto thy maidservant thou shalt do likewise. ¹⁸It shall not seem hard unto thee, when thou sendest him away free from thee; for he hath been worth a double ^whired servant to thee, in serving thee six years: and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all that thou doest.