Deuteronomy 15 - 16

Remission of Debt Every Seven Years

“At the end of every seven years you shall grant a remission of debts. 2 And this is the manner of remission: every creditor shall release what he has loaned to his neighbor; he shall not exact it of his neighbor and his brother because the remission from Yahweh has been proclaimed. 3 From a foreigner you may exact it, but your hand shall release whatever of yours is with your brother. 4 However, there will be no needy one among you, since Yahweh will surely bless you in the land which Yahweh your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, 5 if only you listen obediently to the voice of Yahweh your God, to be careful to do all this commandment which I am commanding you today. 6 For Yahweh your God will bless you as He has promised you, and you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow; and you will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you. 7 “If there is a needy one among you, one of your brothers, in any of your gates of the towns in your land which Yahweh your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart nor close your hand from your needy brother; 8 but you shall freely open your hand to him and shall generously lend him sufficient for his need in whatever he lacks. 9 Beware lest there be a vile thought in your heart, saying, ‘The seventh year, the year of the remission of debts, is near,’ and your eye is hostile toward your needy brother, and you give him nothing; then he may cry to Yahweh 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 for this thing Yahweh your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you send forth your hand to do. 11 For the needy will never cease to be in the land; therefore I am commanding you, saying, ‘You shall freely open your hand to your brother, to your afflicted and needy in your land.’ 12 “If your brother, a Hebrew man or woman, is sold to you, then he shall serve you six years, but in the seventh year you shall let him go to be free from you. 13 When you let him go to be free from you, you shall not let him go empty-handed. 14 You shall furnish him generously from your flock and from your threshing floor and from your wine vat; you shall give to him as Yahweh your God has blessed you. 15 And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and Yahweh your God redeemed you; therefore I am commanding you this today. 16 And it will be that, if 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 in your sight when you let him go to be free from you, for he has given you six years with double the service of a hired man; so Yahweh your God will bless you in whatever you do. 19 “You shall set apart as holy to Yahweh 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 You and your household shall eat it every year before Yahweh your God in the place which Yahweh chooses. 21 But if it has any defect, such as lameness or blindness, or any serious defect, you shall not sacrifice it to Yahweh your God. 22 You shall eat it within your gates; the unclean and the clean alike may eat it, as a gazelle or a deer. 23 Only you shall not eat its blood; you are to pour it out on the ground like water.

The Passover

“Keep the month of Abib and celebrate the Passover to Yahweh your God, for in the month of Abib Yahweh your God brought you out of Egypt by night. 2 And you shall sacrifice the Passover to Yahweh your God from the flock and the herd, in the place where Yahweh chooses for His name to dwell. 3 You 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 the day when you came out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life. 4 For seven days no leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory, and none 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 gates of the towns which Yahweh your God is giving you; 6 but at the place where Yahweh your God chooses for His name to dwell, there you shall sacrifice the Passover in the evening at sunset, at the appointed time that you came out of Egypt. 7 And you shall cook and eat it in the place which Yahweh your God chooses. In the morning you are to return to your tents. 8 Six days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a solemn assembly to Yahweh your God; you shall do no work on it.

The Feast of Weeks

9 “You 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 celebrate the Feast of Weeks to Yahweh your God with a tribute of a freewill offering of your hand, which you shall give just as Yahweh your God blesses you; 11 and you shall be glad before Yahweh your God, you and your son and your daughter and your male and female slaves and the Levite who is within your gates and the sojourner and the orphan and the widow who are in your midst, in the place where Yahweh your God chooses for His name to dwell. 12 And you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and you shall be careful to observe these statutes.

The Feast of Booths

13 “You shall celebrate the Feast of Booths seven days after you have gathered in from your threshing floor and your wine vat; 14 and you shall be glad in your feast, you and your son and your daughter and your male and female slaves and the Levite and the sojourner and the orphan and the widow who are within your gates. 15 Seven days you shall celebrate a feast to Yahweh your God in the place which Yahweh chooses, because Yahweh your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you will be altogether glad. 16 “Three times in a year all your males shall appear before Yahweh your God in the place which He chooses, at the Feast of Unleavened Bread and at the Feast of Weeks and at the Feast of Booths, and they shall not appear before Yahweh empty-handed. 17 Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of Yahweh your God which He has given you.

Do Not Distort Justice

18 “You shall appoint for yourself judges and officers in all your gates of the towns which Yahweh your God is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. 19 You shall not distort justice; you shall not be partial, and you shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts the words of the righteous. 20 Righteousness! Righteousness, you shall pursue, that you may live and possess the land which Yahweh your God is giving you. 21 “You shall not plant for yourself an Asherah of any kind of tree beside the altar of Yahweh your God, which you shall make for yourself. 22 And you shall not set up for yourself a sacred pillar which Yahweh your God hates.