1Hvert syvende år skal I eftergive al gæld.2-3Enhver kreditor skal annullere gældsbeviset og eftergive den landsmand, som måtte skylde ham noget, men ikke den fremmede iblandt jer, for i det år løser Herren alle israelitter fra deres gældsforpligtelser.4-5Det bliver I ikke fattigere af, for Herren vil velsigne jer rigeligt i det land, han giver jer, hvis ellers I adlyder hans befalinger. Forudsætningen for hans velsignelse er, at I omhyggeligt adlyder de love, jeg pålægger jer i dag.6Så vil Herren velsigne jer, sådan som han har lovet, så I kan låne ud til andre og ikke selv have behov for at låne, og på den måde vil I blive herre over andre og ikke selv blive underlagt nogen.7Når I er kommet ind i landet, og nogen iblandt jer er fattig, må I ikke lukke hjertet og nægte at hjælpe de fattige.8Nej, I skal låne dem, hvad de har brug for.9Pas på, at I ikke afslår at låne nogen noget, blot fordi eftergivelsesåret nærmer sig. Gør I det, vil Herren høre de fattiges råb og betragte jeres afslag som en synd.10Nej, I skal låne de fattige, hvad de har brug for uden at beklage jer. Så vil Herren jeres Gud velsigne jeres arbejde og jeres ejendom.11Der vil altid være nogle, som er fattige iblandt jer. Derfor er denne befaling nødvendig. Del gavmildt ud til jeres landsmænd i nød.12Hvis nogle af jeres landsmænd arbejder som slaver for jer, skal I frigive dem efter det sjette år,13men send dem ikke tomhændet bort.14Giv dem rundhåndet nogle af jeres dyr og noget af jeres korn og vin i afskedsgave, så de får del i noget af den velsignelse, Herren har givet jer.15Husk, at I selv var slaver i Egypten, indtil Herren befriede jer. Det er baggrunden for denne befaling.16Hvis slaverne ikke ønsker frigivelse, fordi de er godt tilfredse med at arbejde som slaver, og fordi de er kommet til at holde af dig og din familie,17skal du tage en syl og stikke den gennem slavens øreflip og ind i døren som tegn på, at vedkommende skal være din slave på livstid. Dette gælder både for mandlige og kvindelige slaver.18Når du frigiver en slave, skal du ikke beklage dig over at miste en god arbejdskraft. Tænk på, at du trods alt i seks år har haft en medhjælp, der kostede dig under halvdelen af, hvad en almindelig daglejer koster. Da vil Herren, din Gud, velsigne dig i dit arbejde.
Regler om det førstefødte
19Af de kalve og lam, der fødes blandt jeres husdyr, skal I udtage de førstefødte handyr som en gave til Herren. I må ikke lade en førstefødt tyrekalv udføre arbejde, og I må ikke klippe et førstefødt får.20I og jeres familie skal spise dem for Herrens ansigt, når I hvert år drager til helligdommen.21Men hvis dyret har fysiske skavanker, hvis det er lamt, blindt, eller der er andet i vejen med det, må I ikke ofre det i helligdommen,22men spise det hjemme på almindelig vis, hvad enten I er rene eller urene.23Dog skal I hælde blodet ud på jorden, for det må I ikke spise.
1“At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release. (2.Mos 23,10; 3.Mos 25,2; 5.Mos 15,12; 5.Mos 31,10; Neh 10,31)2And this is the manner of the release: every creditor shall release what he has lent to his neighbor. He shall not exact it of his neighbor, his brother, because the Lord’s release has been proclaimed.3Of a foreigner you may exact it, but whatever of yours is with your brother your hand shall release. (5.Mos 23,20)4But there will be no poor among you; for the Lord will bless you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance to possess— (5.Mos 15,11; 5.Mos 28,8)5if only you will strictly obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all this commandment that I command you today. (5.Mos 28,1)6For the Lord your God will bless you, as he promised you, and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow, and you shall rule over many nations, but they shall not rule over you. (2.Mos 23,25; 5.Mos 7,13; 5.Mos 28,12; 5.Mos 28,13; 5.Mos 28,44; 1.Kong 4,21; 1.Kong 4,24; Ez 4,20; Ord 22,7)7“If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, (1.Joh 3,17)8but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be. (3.Mos 25,35; Matt 5,42; Luk 6,34)9Take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart and you say, ‘The seventh year, the year of release is near,’ and your eye look grudgingly[1] on your poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he cry to the Lord against you, and you be guilty of sin. (5.Mos 24,15; 5.Mos 28,54; 5.Mos 28,56; Ord 23,6; Ord 28,22; Matt 20,15; Matt 25,41)10You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. (5.Mos 14,29; Ord 28,27; 2.Kor 9,7)11For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’ (5.Mos 15,8; Matt 26,11; Mark 14,7; Joh 12,8)12“If your brother, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, is sold[2] to you, he shall serve you six years, and in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you. (2.Mos 21,2; 3.Mos 25,39; Jer 34,14)13And when you let him go free from you, you shall not let him go empty-handed.14You shall furnish him liberally out of your flock, out of your threshing floor, and out of your winepress. As the Lord your God has blessed you, you shall give to him. (5.Mos 8,18; 5.Mos 16,17)15You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this today. (5.Mos 5,15)16But if he says to you, ‘I will not go out from you,’ because he loves you and your household, since he is well-off with you, (2.Mos 21,5)17then you shall take an awl, and put it through his ear into the door, and he shall be your slave[3] forever. And to your female slave[4] you shall do the same.18It shall not seem hard to you when you let him go free from you, for at half the cost of a hired worker he has served you six years. So the Lord your God will bless you in all that you do.19“All the firstborn males that are born of your herd and flock you shall dedicate to the Lord your God. You shall do no work with the firstborn of your herd, nor shear the firstborn of your flock. (2.Mos 13,2)20You shall eat it, you and your household, before the Lord your God year by year at the place that the Lord will choose. (5.Mos 12,7; 5.Mos 14,23; 5.Mos 14,26)21But if it has any blemish, if it is lame or blind or has any serious blemish whatever, you shall not sacrifice it to the Lord your God. (3.Mos 22,20)22You shall eat it within your towns. The unclean and the clean alike may eat it, as though it were a gazelle or a deer. (5.Mos 12,15)23Only you shall not eat its blood; you shall pour it out on the ground like water. (3.Mos 3,17)