15:1 At the end of every seven years you must undertake¹ a remission.² 15:2 And this is the nature of the remission: Every creditor³ must remit what he has lent to his neighbor; he must not force payment of his neighbor or brother for it is to be recognized⁴ as “the LORD’s remission.” 15:3 You may exact payment of a foreigner, but whatever of your possessions⁵ your brother has you⁶ must remit. 15:4 However, there should not be any poor among you, for the LORD⁷ will surely bless you in the land that he⁸ is giving you as an inheritance,⁹ 15:5 if you listen carefully to him¹⁰ to keep scrupulously this whole commandment that I am giving to¹¹ you today. 15:6 For the LORD your God will bless you just as he said; you will lend generously¹² to the nations but you will not borrow and you will rule over many nations but they will not dominate you.

15:7 If there should be a poor brother from one of your villages¹³ in the land that the LORD your God is giving you, you must not harden your heart nor keep a clenched fist¹⁴ regarding your poor brother. 15:8 Instead, you must open your hand to him and lend him indeed whatever he needs.¹⁵ 15:9 Be careful lest you entertain the wicked thought that the seventh year, the year of remission, has come and your attitude¹⁶ be wrong toward your poor brother and you do not give to him; he will cry out to the LORD against you and it will be regarded as a sin.¹⁷ 15:10 You must by all means give to him and not be upset by doing it,¹⁸ for because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in all you attempt.¹⁹ 15:11 The poor will never cease from the land; therefore, I am instructing²⁰ you that you make sure you open your hand to your brother, your needy, and the²¹ poor in your land.

15:12 If your brother or sister Hebrew²² be sold to you and serve you for six years, then on the seventh you must let them²³ go free.²⁴ 15:13 If you set them free, you must not send them away empty. 15:14 You must supply them generously from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress; as the LORD your God has blessed you, you must give to them. 15:15 Never forget²⁵ that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you; therefore, I am commanding to do this thing today. 15:16 If however he should say to you, “I will not leave²⁶ you,” because he loves you and your household, it having been good for him to be with you, 15:17 you shall take an awl and drill a hole through²⁷ his ear to the door²⁸ and he will become your slave forever—this applies to your female slave as well. 15:18 You should not consider it difficult²⁹ to let him go free for he will have served you for six years, twice³⁰ the time of a hired worker; the LORD your God will thus bless you in everything you do.

15:19 Every firstborn male born of your herds and flocks you must set apart³¹ to the LORD your God. You must not work the firstborn of your bulls nor shear the firstborn of your flocks. 15:20 You must annually eat them³² before the LORD your God in the place he shall choose, you and your household. 15:21 If they have any kind of blemish—lameness, blindness, or anything else³³—you may not offer them as sacrifice to him.³⁴ 15:22 You may eat it in your villages,³⁵ the unclean and clean³⁶ alike, whether gazelle or antelope. 15:23 However, you may not eat its blood; you must pour it out on the ground like water.