¹At the end of seven years you will hold a remission. ²And this is the nature of the remission. Every creditor who has lent to his neighbour will cancel the debt. He shall not exact payment from his neighbour or his brother, because the Lord's remission has been called. ³You may exact payment from a foreigner, but you shall cancel the debt of whatever your brother has of yours, ⁴to the end that there will be no poor among you, for the Lord will certainly bless you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to take possession of, ⁵but only if you diligently obey the Lord your God by ensuring to do this whole body of commandments with which I am commanding you today. ⁶For the Lord your God has blessed you, as he has spoken to you, and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow, so you shall rule many nations, but they shall not rule you. ⁷If any one of your brothers is poor in any one of your gates in your land which the Lord your God is giving you, you will not harden your heart, and you will not shut your hand to your poor brother. ⁸Rather, you will definitely open your hand to him, and you will definitely lend him sufficient for his need which he suffers. ⁹Be on your guard that there should be no thought in a base-minded heart of yours whereby you say, ‘The seventh year has come near, the year of the remission’ and your eye is ill-disposed towards your poor brother, and you do not give him anything, and he calls out to the Lord against you, and a sin will be counted against you. ¹⁰You will definitely give him what he needs; your heart will not be in bad grace when you give it to him, for it is on account of this matter that the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all your undertaking. ¹¹For there will never be a lack of poor in the midst of the land, which is why I am commanding you, saying, ‘You shall definitely open your hand to your brother, to your poor and to your needy in your land.’ ¹²If a Hebrew brother of yours, or a Hebrew woman is sold to you, and he serves you for six years, then in the seventh year you will let him go free from you, ¹³and when you let him go free from you, you shall not release him empty-handed. ¹⁴You will make a point of generously bestowing on him some of your flock and your threshing floor produce, and your wine vat produce. You will give him from what the Lord your God has blessed you with. ¹⁵And you will remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, but the Lord your God redeemed you, which is why I am commanding you this thing today. ¹⁶And it shall come to pass, if he says to you, ‘I shall not go away from you’ because he loves you and your house, because it was fine for him with you, ¹⁷then you will take an awl, and apply it to his ear and to the door, and he will be your permanent servant. And you will also do likewise in respect of your maidservant. ¹⁸It will not be hard in your sight when you let him go free from you, for it is replacement wages of a hired servant – he has served six years – and the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do. ¹⁹You shall sanctify to the Lord your God every male firstling that is given birth to among your cattle and your sheep. You shall not work with the firstborn of your oxen, and you shall not shear the firstborn of your sheep. ²⁰You will eat it before the Lord your God year by year in the place which the Lord chooses – you and your household. ²¹If it has any blemish – being lame or blind – any bad feature, you shall not sacrifice it to the Lord your God. ²²You – the unclean and the clean person alike – shall eat it within your gates, as with the gazelle or roebuck. ²³But you shall not consume its blood; you shall pour it on the ground like water.