The Seventh Year (Exodus 23:10–13; Leviticus 25:1–7)
1 RV At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release. BSB BSB: At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts.
2 RV And this is the manner of the release: every creditor shall release that which he hath lent unto his neighbour; he shall not exact it of his neighbour and his brother; because the LORD’S release hath been proclaimed. BSB BSB: This is the manner of remission: Every creditor shall cancel what he has loaned to his neighbor. He is not to collect anything from his neighbor or brother, because the LORD’s time of release has been proclaimed.
3 RV Of a foreigner thou mayest exact it: but whatsoever of thine is with thy brother thine hand shall release. BSB BSB: You may collect something from a foreigner, but you must forgive whatever your brother owes you.
4 RV Howbeit there shall be no poor with thee; (for the LORD will surely bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it;) BSB BSB: There will be no poor among you, however, because the LORD will surely bless you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance,
5 RV if only thou diligently hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all this commandment which I command thee this day. BSB BSB: if only you obey the LORD your God and are careful to follow all these commandments I am giving you today.
6 RV For the LORD thy God will bless thee, as he promised thee: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou shalt not borrow; and thou shalt rule over many nations, but they shall not rule over thee. BSB BSB: When the LORD your God blesses you as He has promised, you will lend to many nations but borrow from none; you will rule over many nations but be ruled by none.
Generosity in Lending and Giving (Matthew 6:1–4)
7 RV If there be with thee a poor man, one of thy brethren, within any of thy gates in thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother: BSB BSB: If there is a poor man among your brothers within any of the gates in the land that the LORD your God is giving you, then you are not to harden your heart or shut your hand from your poor brother.
8 RV but thou shalt surely open thine hand unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need in that which he wanteth. BSB BSB: Instead, you are to open your hand to him and freely loan him whatever he needs.
9 RV Beware that there be not a base thought in thine heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou give him nought; and he cry unto the LORD against thee, and it be sin unto thee. BSB BSB: Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought in your heart: “The seventh year, the year of release, is near,” so that you look upon your poor brother begrudgingly and give him nothing. He will cry out to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty of sin.
10 RV Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him: because that for this thing the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thy work, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto. BSB BSB: Give generously to him, and do not let your heart be grieved when you do so. And because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything to which you put your hand.
11 RV For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt surely open thine hand unto thy brother, to thy needy, and to thy poor, in thy land. BSB BSB: For there will never cease to be poor in the land; that is why I am commanding you to open wide your hand to your brother and to the poor and needy in your land.
Hebrew Servants (Exodus 21:1–11)
13 RV And when thou lettest him go free from thee, thou shalt not let him go empty: BSB BSB: And when you release him, do not send him away empty-handed.
14 RV thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and out of thy threshing-floor, and out of thy winepress: as the LORD thy God hath blessed thee thou shalt give unto him. BSB BSB: You are to furnish him liberally from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress. You shall give to him as the LORD your God has blessed you.
15 RV And thou 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 today. BSB BSB: Remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you; that is why I am giving you this command today.
16 RV And it shall be, if he say unto thee, I will not go out from thee; because he loveth thee and thine house, because he is well with thee; BSB BSB: But if your servant says to you, ‘I do not want to leave you,’ because he loves you and your household and is well off with you,
17 RV then thou shalt take an awl, 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. BSB BSB: then take an awl and pierce it through his ear into the door, and he will become your servant for life. And treat your maidservant the same way.
18 RV It shall not seem hard unto thee, when thou lettest him go free from thee; for to the double of the hire of an hireling hath he served thee six years: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all that thou doest. BSB BSB: Do not regard it as a hardship to set your servant free, because his six years of service were worth twice the wages of a hired hand. And the LORD your God will bless you in all you do.
Firstborn Animals (Exodus 13:1–16)
19 RV All the firstling males that are born of thy herd and of thy flock thou shalt sanctify unto the LORD thy God: thou shalt do no work with the firstling of thine ox, nor shear the firstling of thy flock. BSB BSB: You must set apart to the LORD your God every firstborn male produced by your herds and flocks. You are not to put the firstborn of your oxen to work, nor are you to shear the firstborn of your flock.
20 RV Thou shalt eat it before the LORD thy God year by year in the place which the LORD shall choose, thou and thy household. BSB BSB: Each year you and your household are to eat it before the LORD your God in the place the LORD will choose.
21 RV And if it have any blemish, as if it be lame or blind, any ill blemish whatsoever, thou shalt not sacrifice it unto the LORD thy God. BSB BSB: But if an animal has a defect, is lame or blind, or has any serious flaw, you must not sacrifice it to the LORD your God.
22 RV Thou shalt eat it within thy gates: the unclean and the clean shall eat it alike, as the gazelle, and as the hart. BSB BSB: Eat it within your gates; both the ceremonially unclean and clean may eat it as they would a gazelle or a deer.
23 RV Only thou shalt not eat the blood thereof; thou shalt pour it out upon the ground as water. BSB BSB: But you must not eat the blood; pour it on the ground like water.
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