15"At the end of every seventh year you must cancel the debts of everyone who owes you money.H7093H7651H8141H6213H80592This is how it must be done. Everyone must cancel the loans they have made to their fellow Israelites. They must not demand payment from their neighbors or relatives, for the LORD's time of release has arrived.H1697H8059H1167H4874H3027H5383H7453H8058H5065H7453H251H7121H3068H80593This release from debt, however, applies only to your fellow Israelites—not to the foreigners living among you.H5237H5065H251H3027H80584"There should be no poor among you, for the LORD your God will greatly bless you in the land he is giving you as a special possession.H657H34H3068H1288H1288H776H3068H430H5414H5159H34235You will receive this blessing if you are careful to obey all the commands of the LORD your God that I am giving you today.H8085H8085H6963H3068H430H8104H6213H4687H6680H31176The LORD your God will bless you as he has promised. You will lend money to many nations but will never need to borrow. You will rule many nations, but they will not rule over you.H3068H430H1288H1696H5670H7227H1471H5670H4910H7227H1471H49107"But if there are any poor Israelites in your towns when you arrive in the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tightfisted toward them.H34H259H251H259H8179H776H3068H430H5414H553H3824H7092H3027H34H2518Instead, be generous and lend them whatever they need.H6605H3027H6605H5670H5670H1767H4270H26379Do not be mean-spirited and refuse someone a loan because the year for canceling debts is close at hand. If you refuse to make the loan and the needy person cries out to the LORD, you will be considered guilty of sin.H8104H1697H1100H3824H559H7651H8141H8141H8059H7126H5869H7489H34H251H5414H7121H3068H239910Give generously to the poor, not grudgingly, for the LORD your God will bless you in everything you do.H5414H5414H3824H3415H5414H1558H1697H3068H430H1288H4639H4916H302711There will always be some in the land who are poor. That is why I am commanding you to share freely with the poor and with other Israelites in need.H34H2308H7130H776H6680H559H6605H3027H6605H251H6041H34H776
Release for Hebrew Slaves
12"If a fellow Hebrew sells himself or herself to be your servant and serves you for six years, in the seventh year you must set that servant free.H251H5680H5680H4376H5647H8337H8141H7637H8141H7971H267013"When you release a male servant, do not send him away empty-handed.H7971H2670H7971H738714Give him a generous farewell gift from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress. Share with him some of the bounty with which the LORD your God has blessed you.H6059H6059H6629H1637H3342H3068H430H1288H541415Remember that you were once slaves in the land of Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you! That is why I am giving you this command.H2142H5650H776H4714H3068H430H6299H6680H1697H311716"But suppose your servant says, 'I will not leave you,' because he loves you and your family, and he has done well with you.H559H3318H157H1004H289517In that case, take an awl and push it through his earlobe into the door. After that, he will be your servant for life. And do the same for your female servants.H3947H4836H5414H241H1817H5650H5769H519H621318"You must not consider it a hardship when you release your servants. Remember that for six years they have given you services worth double the wages of hired workers, and the LORD your God will bless you in all you do.H7185H5869H7971H2670H7939H4932H7916H5647H8337H8141H3068H430H1288H6213
Sacrificing Firstborn Male Animals
19"You must set aside for the LORD your God all the firstborn males from your flocks and herds. Do not use the firstborn of your herds to work your fields, and do not shear the firstborn of your flocks.H1060H2145H3205H1241H6629H6942H3068H430H5647H1060H7794H1494H1060H662920Instead, you and your family must eat these animals in the presence of the LORD your God each year at the place he chooses.H398H6440H3068H430H8141H8141H4725H3068H977H100421But if this firstborn animal has any defect, such as lameness or blindness, or if anything else is wrong with it, you must not sacrifice it to the LORD your God.H3971H6455H5787H7451H3971H2076H3068H43022Instead, use it for food for your family in your hometown. Anyone, whether ceremonially clean or unclean, may eat it, just as anyone may eat a gazelle or deer.H398H8179H2931H2889H3162H6643H35423But you must not consume the blood. You must pour it out on the ground like water.H398H1818H8210H776H4325
Deuteronomy 16
Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread
16"In honor of the LORD your God, celebrate the Passover each year in the early spring, in the month of Abib, for that was the month in which the LORD your God brought you out of Egypt by night.H8104H2320H24H6213H6453H3068H430H2320H24H3068H430H3318H4714H39152Your Passover sacrifice may be from either the flock or the herd, and it must be sacrificed to the LORD your God at the designated place of worship—the place he chooses for his name to be honored.H2076H6453H3068H430H6629H1241H4725H3068H977H7931H80343Eat it with bread made without yeast. For seven days the bread you eat must be made without yeast, as when you escaped from Egypt in such a hurry. Eat this bread—the bread of suffering—so that as long as you live you will remember the day you departed from Egypt.H398H2557H7651H3117H398H4682H3899H6040H3318H776H4714H2649H2142H3117H3318H776H4714H3117H24164Let no yeast be found in any house throughout your land for those seven days. And when you sacrifice the Passover lamb on the evening of the first day, do not let any of the meat remain until the next morning.H7603H7200H1366H7651H3117H1320H2076H7223H3117H6153H3885H12425"You may not sacrifice the Passover in just any of the towns that the LORD your God is giving you.H3201H2076H6453H259H8179H3068H430H54146You must offer it only at the designated place of worship—the place the LORD your God chooses for his name to be honored. Sacrifice it there in the evening as the sun goes down on the anniversary of your exodus from Egypt.H4725H3068H430H977H7931H8034H2076H6453H6153H935H8121H4150H3318H47147Roast the lamb and eat it in the place the LORD your God chooses. Then you may go back to your tents the next morning.H1310H398H4725H3068H430H977H6437H1242H1980H1688For the next six days you may not eat any bread made with yeast. On the seventh day proclaim another holy day in honor of the LORD your God, and no work may be done on that day.H8337H3117H398H4682H7637H3117H6116H3068H430H6213H4399
The Festival of Harvest
9"Count off seven weeks from when you first begin to cut the grain at the time of harvest.H7651H7620H5608H2490H5608H7651H7620H2490H2770H705410Then celebrate the Festival of Harvest to honor the LORD your God. Bring him a voluntary offering in proportion to the blessings you have received from him.H6213H2282H7620H3068H430H4530H5071H3027H5414H3068H430H128811This is a time to celebrate before the LORD your God at the designated place of worship he will choose for his name to be honored. Celebrate with your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, the Levites from your towns, and the foreigners, orphans, and widows who live among you.H8055H6440H3068H430H1121H1323H5650H519H3881H8179H1616H3490H490H7130H4725H3068H430H977H7931H803412Remember that you were once slaves in Egypt, so be careful to obey all these decrees.H2142H5650H4714H8104H6213H2706
The Festival of Shelters
13"You must observe the Festival of Shelters for seven days at the end of the harvest season, after the grain has been threshed and the grapes have been pressed.H6213H2282H5521H7651H3117H622H1637H334214This festival will be a happy time of celebrating with your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows from your towns.H8055H2282H1121H1323H5650H519H3881H1616H3490H490H817915For seven days you must celebrate this festival to honor the LORD your God at the place he chooses, for it is he who blesses you with bountiful harvests and gives you success in all your work. This festival will be a time of great joy for all.H7651H3117H2287H3068H430H4725H3068H977H3068H430H1288H8393H4639H3027H805616"Each year every man in Israel must celebrate these three festivals: the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Harvest, and the Festival of Shelters. On each of these occasions, all men must appear before the LORD your God at the place he chooses, but they must not appear before the LORD without a gift for him.H7969H6471H8141H2138H7200H6440H3068H430H4725H977H2282H4682H2282H7620H2282H5521H7200H6440H3068H738717All must give as they are able, according to the blessings given to them by the LORD your God.H376H4979H3027H1293H3068H430H5414
Justice for the People
18"Appoint judges and officials for yourselves from each of your tribes in all the towns the LORD your God is giving you. They must judge the people fairly.H8199H7860H5414H8179H3068H430H5414H7626H8199H5971H6664H494119You must never twist justice or show partiality. Never accept a bribe, for bribes blind the eyes of the wise and corrupt the decisions of the godly.H5186H4941H5234H6440H3947H7810H7810H5786H5869H2450H5557H1697H666220Let true justice prevail, so you may live and occupy the land that the LORD your God is giving you.H6664H6664H7291H2421H3423H776H3068H430H541421"You must never set up a wooden Asherah pole beside the altar you build for the LORD your God.H5193H842H6086H681H4196H3068H430H621322And never set up sacred pillars for worship, for the LORD your God hates them.H6965H4676H3068H430H8130
Psalms 58
58[For the choir director: A psalm of David, to be sung to the tune “Do Not Destroy!”] Justice—do you rulers know the meaning of the word? Do you judge the people fairly?H5329H516H4387H1732H552H1696H6664H482H8199H4339H1121H1202No! You plot injustice in your hearts. You spread violence throughout the land.H3820H6466H5766H6424H2555H3027H7763These wicked people are born sinners; even from birth they have lied and gone their own way.H7563H2114H7358H8582H990H1696H35774They spit venom like deadly snakes; they are like cobras that refuse to listen,H2534H1823H2534H5175H2795H6620H331H2415ignoring the tunes of the snake charmers, no matter how skillfully they play.H8085H6963H3907H2266H2267H24496Break off their fangs, O God! Smash the jaws of these lions, O Lord!H2040H8127H430H6310H5422H4459H3715H30687May they disappear like water into thirsty ground. Make their weapons useless in their hands.H3988H4325H1980H1869H2671H41358May they be like snails that dissolve into slime, like a stillborn child who will never see the sun.H7642H8557H1980H5309H802H2372H81219God will sweep them away, both young and old, faster than a pot heats over burning thorns.H5518H995H329H8175H2416H274010The godly will rejoice when they see injustice avenged. They will wash their feet in the blood of the wicked.H6662H8055H2372H5359H7364H6471H1818H756311Then at last everyone will say, “There truly is a reward for those who live for God; surely there is a God who judges justly here on earth.”H120H559H6529H6662H3426H430H8199H776
Dublin, OH
and serves you for six years, in the seventh year you must set that servant free.H251
