Douay-Rheims Catholic Bible RHE
New Revised Standard NRS
1 In the seventh year thou shalt make a remission,
1
Every seventh year you shall grant a remission of debts.
2 Which shall be celebrated in this order. He to whom any thing is owing from his friend or neighbour or brother, cannot demand it again, because it is the year of remission of the Lord.
2
And this is the manner of the remission: every creditor shall remit the claim that is held against a neighbor, not exacting it of a neighbor who is a member of the community, because the Lord's remission has been proclaimed.
3 Of the foreigner or stranger thou mayst exact it: of thy countryman and neighbour thou shalt not have power to demand it again.
3
Of a foreigner you may exact it, but you must remit your claim on whatever any member of your community owes you.
4 And there shall be no poor nor beggar among you: that the Lord thy God may bless thee in the land which he will give thee in possession.
4
There will, however, be no one in need among you, because the Lord is sure to bless you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you as a possession to occupy,
5 Yet so if thou hear the voice of the Lord thy God, and keep all things that he hath ordained, and which I command thee this day, he will bless thee, as he hath promised.
5
if only you will obey the Lord your God by diligently observing this entire commandment that I command you today.
6 Thou shalt lend to many nations, and thou shalt borrow of no man. Thou shalt have dominion over very many nations, and no one shall have dominion over thee.
6
When the Lord your God has blessed you, as he promised you, you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow; you will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you.
7 If one of thy brethren that dwelleth within thy gates of thy city in the land which the Lord thy God will give thee, come to poverty: thou shalt not harden thy heart, nor close thy hand,
7
If there is among you anyone in need, a member of your community in any of your towns within the land that the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted toward your needy neighbor.
8 But shalt open it to the poor man, thou shalt lend him, that which thou perceivest he hath need of.
8
You should rather open your hand, willingly lending enough to meet the need, whatever it may be.
9 Beware lest perhaps a wicked thought steal in upon thee, and thou say in thy heart: The seventh year of remission draweth nigh; and thou turn away thy eyes from thy poor brother, denying to lend him that which he asketh: lest he cry against thee to the Lord, and it become a sin unto thee.
9
Be careful that you do not entertain a mean thought, thinking, "The seventh year, the year of remission, is near," and therefore view your needy neighbor with hostility and give nothing; your neighbor might cry to the Lord against you, and you would incur guilt.
10 But thou shalt give to him: neither shalt thou do any thing craftily in relieving his necessities: that the Lord thy God may bless thee at all times, and in all things to which thou shalt put thy hand.
10
Give liberally and be ungrudging when you do so, for on this account the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake.
11 There will not be wanting poor in the land of thy habitation: therefore I command thee to open thy hand to thy needy and poor brother, that liveth in the land.
11
Since there will never cease to be some in need on the earth, I therefore command you, "Open your hand to the poor and needy neighbor in your land."
12 When thy brother a Hebrew man, or Hebrew woman is sold to thee, and hath served thee six years, in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free:
12
If a member of your community, whether a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you and works for you six years, in the seventh year you shall set that person free.
13 And when thou sendest him out free, thou shalt not let him go away empty:
13
And when you send a male slave out from you a free person, you shall not send him out empty-handed.
14 But shall give him for his way out of thy flocks, and out of thy barnfloor, and thy winepress, wherewith the Lord thy God shall bless thee.
14
Provide liberally out of your flock, your threshing floor, and your wine press, thus giving to him some of the bounty with which the Lord your God has blessed you.
15 Remember that thou also wast a bondservant in the land of Egypt, and the Lord thy God made thee free, and therefore I now command thee this.
15
Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you; for this reason I lay this command upon you today.
16 But if he say: I will not depart: because he loveth thee, and thy house, and findeth that he is well with thee:
16
But 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,
17 Thou shalt take an awl, and bore through his ear in the door of thy house, and he shall serve thee for ever: thou shalt do in like manner to thy womanservant also.
17
then you shall take an awl and thrust it through his earlobe into the door, and he shall be your slave forever. You shall do the same with regard to your female slave.
18 Turn not away thy eyes from them when thou makest them free: because he hath served thee six years according to the wages of a hireling: that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the works that thou dost.
18
Do not consider it a hardship when you send them out from you free persons, because for six years they have given you services worth the wages of hired laborers; and the Lord your God will bless you in all that you do.
19 Of the firstlings, that come of thy herds and thy sheep, thou shalt sanctify to the Lord thy God whatsoever is of the male sex. Thou shalt not work with the firstling of a bullock, and thou shalt not shear the firstlings of thy sheep.
19
Every firstling male born of your herd and flock you shall consecrate to the Lord your God; you shall not do work with your firstling ox nor shear the firstling of your flock.
20 In the sight of the Lord thy God shalt thou eat them every year, in the place that the Lord shall choose, thou and thy house.
20
You shall eat it, you together with your household, in the presence of the Lord your God year by year at the place that the Lord will choose.
21 But if it have a blemish, or be lame, or blind, or in any part disfigured or feeble, it shall not be sacrificed to the Lord thy God.
21
But if it has any defect—any serious defect, such as lameness or blindness—you shall not sacrifice it to the Lord your God;
22 But thou shalt eat it within the gates of thy city: the clean and the unclean shall eat them alike, as the roe and as the hart.
22
within your towns you may eat it, the unclean and the clean alike, as you would a gazelle or deer.
23 Only thou shalt take heed not to eat their blood, but pour it out on the earth as water.
23
Its blood, however, you must not eat; you shall pour it out on the ground like water.
The Douay-Rheims Bible is in the public domain.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.