7 “If there is aa poor man with you, one of your brothers, in any of your 1towns in your land which the Lord your God is giving you, byou shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand from your poor brother;

8 but ayou shall freely open your hand to him, and shall generously lend him sufficient for his need in whatever he lacks.

9 “Beware that there is no base 1thought in your heart, saying, ‘aThe seventh year, the year of remission, is near,’ and byour eye is hostile toward your poor brother, and you give him nothing; then he cmay cry to the Lord against you, and it will be a sin in you.

10 “You shall generously give to him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him, because afor this thing the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all 1your undertakings.

11 “aFor the poor will never cease to be 1in the land; therefore I command you, saying, ‘You shall freely open your hand to your brother, to your needy and poor in your land.’

12 “aIf your 1kinsman, a Hebrew man or woman, is sold to you, then he shall serve you six years, but in the seventh year you shall set him 2free.

13 “When you set him 1free, you shall not send him away empty-handed.

14 “You shall furnish him liberally from your flock and from your threshing floor and from your wine vat; you shall give to him as the Lord your God has blessed you.

15 “You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore I command you 1this today.

16 “It shall come about aif he says to you, ‘I will not go out from you,’ because he loves you and your household, since he fares well with you;

17 then you shall take an awl and pierce it through his ear into the door, and he shall be your servant forever. Also you shall do likewise to your maidservant.

18 “It shall not seem hard to you when you set him 1free, for he has given you six years with 2double the service of a hired man; so the Lord your God will bless you in whatever you do.

19 “aYou shall consecrate to the Lord your God all the firstborn males that are born of your herd and of your flock; you shall not work with the firstborn of your herd, nor shear the firstborn of your flock.

20 “aYou and your household shall eat it every year before the Lord your God in the place which the Lord chooses.

21 “aBut if it has any 1defect, such as lameness or blindness, or any serious 1defect, you shall not sacrifice it to the Lord your God.

22 “You shall eat it within your gates; athe unclean and the clean alike may eat it, as aa gazelle or a deer.

23 “Only ayou shall not eat its blood; you are to pour it out on the ground like water.

Chapter 16

The Feasts of Passover, of Weeks, and of Booths

1 “Observe athe month of Abib and 1bcelebrate the Passover to the Lord your God, for in the month of Abib the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night.

2 “You shall sacrifice the Passover to the Lord your God from the flock and the herd, in the place where the Lord chooses to establish His name.

3 “aYou shall not eat leavened bread with it; seven days you shall eat with it unleavened bread, the bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste), so that you may remember ball the days of your life the day when you came out of the land of Egypt.

4 “For seven days no leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory, and anone of the flesh which you sacrifice on the evening of the first day shall remain overnight until morning.

5 “You are not allowed to sacrifice the Passover in any of your 1towns which the Lord your God is giving you;

6 but aat the place where the Lord your God chooses to establish His name, you shall sacrifice the Passover in the evening at sunset, at the time that you came out of Egypt.

7 “You shall acook and eat it in the place which the Lord your God chooses. In the morning you are to return to your tents.

8 “Six days you shall eat unleavened bread, and aon the seventh day there shall be ba solemn assembly to the Lord your God; you shall do no work on it.

9 “aYou shall count seven weeks for yourself; you shall begin to count seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain.

10 “Then you shall 1celebrate the Feast of Weeks to the Lord your God with a tribute of a freewill offering of your hand, which you shall give just as the Lord your God blesses you;

11 and you shall arejoice before the Lord your God, you and your son and your daughter and your male and female servants and bthe Levite who is in your 1town, and cthe stranger and the 2orphan and the widow who are in your midst, in the place where the Lord your God chooses to establish His name.

12 “aYou shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and you shall be careful to observe these statutes.