Deuteronomy 15

Deuteronomy 15:1 “At the end of every seven years you must revoke[1] debts.

Deuteronomy 15:2 This is how to revoke debt: Every creditor is to revoke[2] what he has lent his neighbor. He is not to collect anything from his neighbor or brother because Yahveh’s release of debts has been proclaimed.

Deuteronomy 15:3 You may collect something from a foreigner, but you must revoke whatever your brother owes you.

Deuteronomy 15:4 “There will be no poor among you, however, because Yahveh is sure to empower you in the land Yahveh your God is giving you to take possession of as an inheritance –

Deuteronomy 15:5 if only you obey Yahveh your God and are be careful to follow every one of these commands I am commanding you today.

Deuteronomy 15:6 When Yahveh your God empowers you as he has promised you, you will lend to many nations but not borrow; you will have control over[3] many nations, but they will not have control over you.

Deuteronomy 15:7 “If there is a poor person among you, one of your brothers within any of your city gates in the land Yahveh your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother.

Deuteronomy 15:8 Instead, you are to open your hand to him and freely loan him enough for whatever need he has.

Deuteronomy 15:9 Be careful or else there will be this wicked thought in your heart, and this is what you say: ‘The seventh year, the year of revoking debts, is near,’ and you are stingy toward your poor brother and give him nothing. He will cry out to Yahveh against you, and you will be guilty of failure.[4]

Deuteronomy 15:10 Give to him, and don’t be stingy when you give. Because of this, Yahveh, your God, will empower you in all your work and in everything you do.

Deuteronomy 15:11 For there will never cease to be poor people in the land; that is why I am commanding you, and this is what I say: ‘Open your hand willingly to your poor and needy brother in your land.’

Deuteronomy 15:12 “If your fellow Hebrew, a man or woman, is sold to you and serves you six years, you must set him free in the seventh year.

Deuteronomy 15:13 When you set him free, do not send him away empty-handed.

Deuteronomy 15:14 Give generously to him from your flock, your threshing floor, and your wine press. You are to give him whatever Yahveh your God has empowered you with.

Deuteronomy 15:15 Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and Yahveh, your God, redeemed you; that is why I am giving you this command today.

Deuteronomy 15:16 But if your slave says to you, ‘I don’t want to leave you,’ because he cares about you and your family, and is well off with you,

Deuteronomy 15:17 take an awl and pierce through his ear into the door, and he will become your slave permanently. Also, treat your female slave the same way.

Deuteronomy 15:18 Do not regard it as a hardship when you set him free because he worked for you six years—worth twice the wages of a hired worker. Then Yahveh, your God, will empower you in everything you do.

Deuteronomy 15:19 “Commit to Yahveh your God every firstborn male produced by your herd and flock. You are not to put the firstborn of your oxen to work or shear the firstborn of your flock.

Deuteronomy 15:20 Each year, you and your family are to eat it before Yahveh, your God, in the place Yahveh chooses.

Deuteronomy 15:21 But if there is a defect in the animal, if it is lame or blind or has any serious defect, you may not sacrifice it to Yahveh, your God.

Deuteronomy 15:22 Eat it within your city gates; both the contaminated person and the pure may eat it, as though it were a gazelle or deer.

Deuteronomy 15:23 But you must not eat its blood; pour it on the land like water.

[1]שְׁמִטָּה

[2]שׁמט

[3]מָשַׁל

[4]חֵטְא = failure. Deuteronomy 15:9; 19:15; 21:22; 22:26; 23:21, 22; 24:15, 16.

Deuteronomy 15 quotes:

“Tlie morning and evening lamb, as we know, pointed ever to “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world;” the Sabbalh was the lovely type of the rest that remainelh to the people of God ; the new moon beautifully prefigured the time when restored Israel shall reflect back the beams of the Sun of Righteousness upon the nations ; the passover was the standing memorial of the nation’s deliverance from Egyptian bondage ; the year of tithing set forth the fact of Jehovali’s proprietorship of the land, as also the lovely way in which His rents were to be expended in meeting the need of His workmen and of His poor ; the sabbatic jear gave promise of a bright time when all debts would be canceled, all loans disposed of, all burdens removed ; and finally, the jubilee was the magnificent type of the times of the restitution of all things, when the captive shall be set free, when the exile shall return to his long-lost home and inheritance, and when the land of Israel and the whole earth shall rejoice beneath the beneficent government of the Son ol David.”

Mackintosh Charles Henry. Notes on the Book of Deuteronomy. Loizeaux Bros 1880. p. 205.

“Having had the free service of a slave for six years, there would be those who, for reasons of dependence or greed, would find it very difficult to release the slave. They were to free the slave willingly, however, for his six years of service were equivalent to17 the wages of a hired man—that is, the slave had worked for no pay, and the wages that would have been paid to an employee for the same labor were to be considered as full repayment for the debt that had caused the slavery in the first instance.”

Craigie, Peter C.. The Book of Deuteronomy (The New International Commentary on the Old Testament) (p. 239). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.. Kindle Edition.

The DEUTERONOMY shelf in Jeff’s library.

Day: December 5, 2025

Deuteronomy 15

Deuteronomy 15

Deuteronomy 15 quotes:

Deuteronomy 15 links: