Deuteronomy 15:9-19

9 Be thou ware lest peradventure [a] wicked thought creep (in) privily to thee, and thou say in thine heart, The seventh year of remission, (or of forgiveness,) nigheth; and thou turn away thine eyes from thy poor brother, and thou wilt not give to him the loan that he asketh (for); lest he cry against thee to the Lord, and it be made to thee into sin (lest he cry to the Lord against thee, and thou be judged to be guilty of sin).
10 But thou shalt give to him, and thou shalt not do anything falsely in relieving his needs, that thy Lord God bless thee in all time, and in all things to which thou shalt put to thine hand. (But thou shalt give to him, and thou shalt not do anything falsely when relieving his need, so that the Lord thy God shall bless thee for all time, and in all the things to which thou shalt put thy hand.)
11 Poor men shall not fail (to be) in the land of thy dwelling; therefore I command to thee, that thou open thy hand to thy brother needy (and) poor, that live with thee in the land. (There shall always be poor people in the land of thy dwelling; and so I command thee, that thou open thy hands to thy brothers and sisters who be needy and poor, who live with thee in the land.)
12 When thy brother, an Hebrew man, either an Hebrew woman, is sold to thee, and hath served thee six years, in the seventh year thou shalt deliver him free (in the seventh year thou shalt set them free).
13 And thou shalt not suffer him (to) go away from thee void, to whom thou hast given freedom; (And when thou shalt set them free, thou shalt not allow them to go away empty-handed from thee;)
14 but thou shalt give him lifelode in the way, of thy flocks, and of thy cornfloor, and of thy presser, in which thy Lord God hath blessed thee. (but thou shalt give them sustenance for the way, out of thy flocks, and from thy threshing floor, and thy winepress, yea, out of all in which the Lord thy God hath blessed thee.)
15 Have thou mind that also thou servedest in the land of Egypt, and thy Lord God delivered thee, and therefore I command now (this) to thee. (Remember that thou were slaves in the land of Egypt, and the Lord thy God set thee free, and so now I command this to thee.)
16 But if he say, I will not go out, for he loveth thee, and thine house(hold), and he feeleth that it is well to him with thee, (But if thy slave saith, I will not leave thee, for I love thee, and thy family, and he feeleth that it is good for him to be with thee,)
17 thou shalt take an awl, and thou shalt pierce (it through) his ear in(to) the door of thine house, and (then) he shall serve thee till into the world; also thou shalt do in like manner to an handmaid (and thou shalt treat a slave-girl in the same manner).
18 Thou shalt not turn away from them thine eyes, when thou shalt deliver them free, for by the hire of an hired man they served thee by six years; that thy Lord God bless thee, in all the works which thou doest. (Thou shalt not turn away thine eyes from them, when thou shalt set them free, for they have served thee for six years at half the cost, or at half the wages, of a hired servant; and then the Lord thy God shall bless thee, in all the works which thou doest.)
19 Of the first engendered things that be born in thy droves, and in thy sheep, whatever is of male kind, thou shalt hallow to thy Lord God (Of the first-born of thy herds, and of thy sheep, whatever is male, thou shalt dedicate to the Lord thy God). Thou shalt not work with the first engendered thing of oxen, and thou shalt not shear the first engendered things of sheep.

Deuteronomy 15:9-19 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 15

This chapter treats of a release of debts every seventh year, to which a blessing is promised if attended to, De 15:1-6, which seventh year of release should not hinder lending to a poor man in distress, even though it was nigh at hand, De 15:7-11 and of letting servants go free, whether manservant or maidservant, at the end of six years' servitude, De 15:12-15 but if unwilling to go, and desirous of staying, must have his ear bored through with an awl, and serve to the year of jubilee, De 15:16-18 and of sanctifying and eating the firstlings of the herd and flock where the Lord directs, De 15:19-23.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.