Debts Canceled Every Seven Years^(A)

15 “At the end of ^(B)every seven years you shall grant a ^[a]release of debts. ² And this is the form of the release: Every creditor who has lent anything to his neighbor shall ^[b]release it; he shall not ^[c]require it of his neighbor or his brother, because it is called the Lord’s release. ³ Of a foreigner you may require it; but you shall give up your claim to what is owed by your brother, ⁴ except when there may be no poor among you; for the Lord will greatly ^(C)bless you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance— ⁵ only if you carefully obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe with care all these commandments which I command you today. ⁶ For the Lord your God will bless you just as He promised you; ^(D)you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow; you shall reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over you.

Generosity to the Poor

⁷ “If there is among you a poor man of your brethren, within any of the ^[d]gates in your land which the Lord your God is giving you, ^(E)you shall not harden your heart nor shut your hand from your poor brother, ⁸ but ^(F)you shall ^[e]open your hand wide to him and willingly lend him sufficient for his need, whatever he needs. ⁹ Beware lest there be a wicked thought in your heart, saying, ‘The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand,’ and your ^(G)eye be evil against your poor brother and you give him nothing, and ^(H)he cry out to the Lord against you, and ^(I)it become sin among you. ¹⁰ You shall surely give to him, and ^(J)your heart should not be grieved when you give to him, because ^(K)for this thing the Lord your God will bless you in all your works and in all to which you put your hand. ¹¹ For ^(L)the poor will never cease from the land; therefore I command you, saying, ‘You shall ^[f]open your hand wide to your brother, to your poor and your needy, in your land.’

The Law Concerning Bondservants

^12 (M)“If your brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, is ^(N)sold to you and serves you six years, then in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you. ¹³ And when you ^[g]send him away free from you, you shall not let him go away empty-handed; ¹⁴ you shall supply him liberally from your flock, from your threshing floor, and from your winepress. From what the Lord your God has ^(O)blessed you with, you shall give to him. ^15 (P)You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this thing today. ¹⁶ And ^(Q)if it happens that he says to you, ‘I will not go away from you,’ because he loves you and your house, since he prospers with you, ¹⁷ then you shall take an awl and thrust it through his ear to the door, and he shall be your servant forever. Also to your female servant you shall do likewise. ¹⁸ It shall not seem hard to you when you send him away free from you; for he has been worth ^(R)a double hired servant in serving you six years. Then the Lord your God will bless you in all that you do.

The Law Concerning Firstborn Animals

^19 (S)“All the firstborn males that come from your herd and your flock you shall ^[h]sanctify to the Lord your God; you shall do no work with the firstborn of your herd, nor shear the firstborn of your flock. ^20 (T)You and your household shall eat it before the Lord your God year by year in the place which the Lord chooses. ^21 (U)But if there is a defect in it, if it is lame or blind or has any serious defect, you shall not sacrifice it to the Lord your God. ²² You may eat it within your gates; ^(V)the unclean and the clean person alike may eat it, as if it were a gazelle or a deer. ²³ Only you shall not eat its blood; you shall pour it on the ground like water.

Joshua the New Leader of Israel^(A)

31 Then Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel. ² And he said to them: “I ^(B)am one hundred and twenty years old today. I can no longer ^(C)go out and come in. Also the Lord has said to me, ^(D)‘You shall not cross over this Jordan.’ ³ The Lord your God ^(E)Himself crosses over before you; He will destroy these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess them. ^(F)Joshua himself crosses over before you, just ^(G)as the Lord has said. ^4 (H)And the Lord will do to them ^(I)as He did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites and their land, when He destroyed them. ^5 (J)The Lord will give them over to you, that you may do to them according to every commandment which I have commanded you. ^6 (K)Be strong and of good courage, ^(L)do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, ^(M)He is the One who goes with you. ^(N)He will not leave you nor forsake you.”

⁷ Then Moses called Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, ^(O)“Be strong and of good courage, for you must go with this people to the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall cause them to inherit it. ⁸ And the Lord, ^(P)He is the One who goes before you. ^(Q)He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.”

The Law to Be Read Every Seven Years

⁹ So Moses wrote this law ^(R)and delivered it to the priests, the sons of Levi, ^(S)who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel. ¹⁰ And Moses commanded them, saying: “At the end of every seven years, at the appointed time in the ^(T)year of release, ^(U)at the Feast of Tabernacles, ¹¹ when all Israel comes to ^(V)appear before the Lord your God in the ^(W)place which He chooses, ^(X)you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. ^12 (Y)Gather the people together, men and women and little ones, and the stranger who is within your gates, that they may hear and that they may learn to fear the Lord your God and carefully observe all the words of this law, ¹³ and that their children, ^(Z)who have not known it, ^(AA)may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the land which you cross the Jordan to possess.”

Prediction of Israel’s Rebellion

¹⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, ^(AB)“Behold, the days approach when you must die; call Joshua, and present yourselves in the tabernacle of meeting, that ^(AC)I may ^[a]inaugurate him.”

So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in the tabernacle of meeting. ¹⁵ Now ^(AD)the Lord appeared at the tabernacle in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood above the door of the tabernacle.

¹⁶ And the Lord said to Moses: “Behold, you will ^[b]rest with your fathers; and this people will ^(AE)rise and ^(AF)play the harlot with the gods of the foreigners of the land, where they go to be among them, and they will ^(AG)forsake Me and ^(AH)break My covenant which I have made with them. ¹⁷ Then My anger shall be ^(AI)aroused against them in that day, and ^(AJ)I will forsake them, and I will ^(AK)hide My face from them, and they shall be ^[c]devoured. And many evils and troubles shall befall them, so that they will say in that day, ^(AL)‘Have not these evils come upon us because our God is ^(AM)not among us?’ ¹⁸ And ^(AN)I will surely hide My face in that day because of all the evil which they have done, in that they have turned to other gods.

¹⁹ “Now therefore, write down this song for yourselves, and teach it to the children of Israel; put it in their mouths, that this song may be ^(AO)a witness for Me against the children of Israel. ²⁰ When I have brought them to the land flowing with milk and honey, of which I swore to their fathers, and they have eaten and filled themselves ^(AP)and grown fat, ^(AQ)then they will turn to other gods and serve them; and they will provoke Me and break My covenant. ²¹ Then it shall be, ^(AR)when many evils and troubles have come upon them, that this song will testify against them as a witness; for it will not be forgotten in the mouths of their descendants, for ^(AS)I know the inclination ^(AT)of their behavior today, even before I have brought them to the land of which I swore to give them.”

²² Therefore Moses wrote this song the same day, and taught it to the children of Israel. ^23 (AU)Then He inaugurated Joshua the son of Nun, and said, ^(AV)“Be strong and of good courage; for you shall bring the children of Israel into the land of which I swore to them, and I will be with you.”

²⁴ So it was, when Moses had completed writing the words of this law in a book, when they were finished, ²⁵ that Moses commanded the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying: ²⁶ “Take this Book of the Law, ^(AW)and put it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there ^(AX)as a witness against you; ^27 (AY)for I know your rebellion and your ^(AZ)stiff neck. If today, while I am yet alive with you, you have been rebellious against the Lord, then how much more after my death? ²⁸ Gather to me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in their hearing ^(BA)and call heaven and earth to witness against them. ²⁹ For I know that after my death you will ^(BB)become utterly corrupt, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you. And ^(BC)evil will befall you ^(BD)in the latter days, because you will do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger through the work of your hands.”

The Song of Moses

³⁰ Then Moses spoke in the hearing of all the assembly of Israel the words of this song until they were ended: