1 At the end {mikets: completion point} of seven years you shall institute a release {šəmiṭṭāh: remission of debts}.
2 And this is the matter of the release: Every creditor {baʿal masheh: lender} shall release what he has lent to his neighbor; he shall not exact it from his neighbor—his brother—because a release has been proclaimed for the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Restorer}.
3 You may exact payment from the foreigner {nokhri: outsider}; but whatever is yours from your brother {ach: kin}, you shall release with your own hand.
4 Nevertheless, there will not be a poor one {evyon: destitute person} among you, for the LORD {YHWH, Blessing Giver} will surely bless you in the land which the LORD your God is giving to you as an inheritance to possess.
5 Only if you truly listen to the voice of the LORD your God {YHWH Eloheicha, Covenant Upholder}, to keep and to do all this commandment {mitzvah: binding instruction} which I command you today.
6 For the LORD your God {YHWH Eloheicha, Faithful Promise-Keeper} has blessed you just as He promised {diber: authoritative promise} to you. You will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow; you will rule over many nations, and they will not rule over you.
7 If there is among you a poor person {evyon: one in need} from one of your brothers in any of your towns in your land that the LORD your God {YHWH Elohekha, Covenant Provider} is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother.
8 But you shall surely {patoach: emphatic command} open your hand to him and shall surely lend him enough for his need {machsoro: deficiency}, whatever he may lack.
9 Beware for yourself, lest there be a worthless matter {davar: harmful attitude} in your heart, saying, “The seventh year, the year of release draws near,” and your eye is evil toward your needy brother, and you do not give him anything, and he calls out against you to the LORD {YHWH, Righteous Judge}, and it becomes sin in you.
10 You must surely give to him, and your heart {levav: inner will and mind} shall not be grieved when you give to him, because of this the LORD your God {YHWH Eloheikha, Gracious Rewarder} will bless you in all your work and in all the undertakings of your hand.
11 For the poor will never cease from the midst of the land {eretz: territory}; therefore I command you to open your hand {yad: gesture of provision} to your brother, to the poor, and to the needy in your land.
12 If your brother the Hebrew man or the Hebrew woman is sold to you, he shall serve you six years, and in the seventh year you shall send him away free {ḥofshi: released from servitude} from you {mēʿimmekha: indicates separation}.
13 And when you release {teshallchenu: send forth with intent} him as a free person from your presence, you must not send him away empty-handed {reikam: without provision}.
14 You shall surely supply {ha’anek: abundant provision} to him from your flock and from your threshing floor and from your winepress. That which the LORD your God {YHWH Elohekha, Generous Provider} has blessed you with, you shall give to him.
15 And you shall remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God {YHWH Eloheicha, Redeemer and Deliverer} redeemed you; therefore I command you this matter {davar: covenant instruction} today.
16 And it shall be if he says to you, “I will not go out from you” because he loves you and your house {beit: household} since it is good {tov: favorable circumstance} for him with you.
17 And you shall take the awl {martzea: pointed tool}, pierce it through his ear into the door, and he shall be your servant forever. And you shall do the same for your maidservant {amah: female bondservant}.
18 It must not be hard in your eyes when you send him away free {chofshi: released from servitude}, for he has served you six years—worth double the wage of a hired worker; and the LORD your God {YHWH Eloheikha, Generous Rewarder} will bless you in all that you do.
19 Every firstborn {bekhor: primary offspring} male born in your herd and in your flock you shall set apart for the LORD your God {YHWH Eloheikha, Covenant Redeemer}. You must not work with the firstborn of your ox or shear the firstborn of your sheep.
20 In the presence of the LORD your God {YHWH Eloheikha, Covenant Provider}, you shall eat it year by year {shanah: recurring cycle} in the place that the LORD will choose, you and your household.
21 But if there is in it a defect {mum: disqualifying blemish}—lame or blind or any bad defect—you must not sacrifice it to the LORD your God {YHWH Eloheikha, Covenant Lawgiver}.
22 In your gates {sha'ar: town area}, you shall eat it; the unclean and the clean, together {yakhdav: inclusive cooperation}, as the gazelle and as the deer.
23 You shall not eat the blood {dam: lifeblood}; you shall pour it out on the ground {haaretz: open soil} like water.