Deuteronomy 15:9   (Read all of Deuteronomy 15)

Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought: "The seventh year, the year for canceling debts, is near," so that you do not show ill will toward the needy among your fellow Israelites and give them nothing. They may then appeal to the Lord against you, and you will be found guilty of sin.

Deuteronomy 15:10   (Read all of Deuteronomy 15)

Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to.

Deuteronomy 15:11   (Read all of Deuteronomy 15)

There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.

Deuteronomy 15:12   (Read all of Deuteronomy 15)

If any of your people-Hebrew men or women-sell themselves to you and serve you six years, in the seventh year you must let them go free.

Deuteronomy 15:13   (Read all of Deuteronomy 15)

And when you release them, do not send them away empty-handed.

Deuteronomy 15:14   (Read all of Deuteronomy 15)

Supply them liberally from your flock, your threshing floor and your winepress. Give to them as the Lord your God has blessed you.

Deuteronomy 15:15   (Read all of Deuteronomy 15)

Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you. That is why I give you this command today.

Deuteronomy 15:16   (Read all of Deuteronomy 15)

But if your servant says to you, "I do not want to leave you," because he loves you and your family and is well off with you,

Deuteronomy 15:17   (Read all of Deuteronomy 15)

then take an awl and push it through his earlobe into the door, and he will become your servant for life. Do the same for your female servant.

Deuteronomy 15:18   (Read all of Deuteronomy 15)

Do not consider it a hardship to set your servant free, because their service to you these six years has been worth twice as much as that of a hired hand. And the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.

Deuteronomy 15:19   (Read all of Deuteronomy 15)

Set apart for the Lord your God every firstborn male of your herds and flocks. Do not put the firstborn of your cows to work, and do not shear the firstborn of your sheep.

Deuteronomy 15:20   (Read all of Deuteronomy 15)

Each year you and your family are to eat them in the presence of the Lord your God at the place he will choose.

Deuteronomy 15:21   (Read all of Deuteronomy 15)

If an animal has a defect, is lame or blind, or has any serious flaw, you must not sacrifice it to the Lord your God.

Deuteronomy 15:22   (Read all of Deuteronomy 15)

You are to eat it in your own towns. Both the ceremonially unclean and the clean may eat it, as if it were gazelle or deer.

Deuteronomy 15:23   (Read all of Deuteronomy 15)

But you must not eat the blood; pour it out on the ground like water.

Deuteronomy 16:1   (Read all of Deuteronomy 16)

Observe the month of Aviv and celebrate the Passover of the Lord your God, because in the month of Aviv he brought you out of Egypt by night.

Deuteronomy 16:2   (Read all of Deuteronomy 16)

Sacrifice as the Passover to the Lord your God an animal from your flock or herd at the place the Lord will choose as a dwelling for his Name.

Deuteronomy 16:3   (Read all of Deuteronomy 16)

Do not eat it with bread made with yeast, but for seven days eat unleavened bread, the bread of affliction, because you left Egypt in haste-so that all the days of your life you may remember the time of your departure from Egypt.

Deuteronomy 16:4   (Read all of Deuteronomy 16)

Let no yeast be found in your possession in all your land for seven days. Do not let any of the meat you sacrifice on the evening of the first day remain until morning.

Deuteronomy 16:5   (Read all of Deuteronomy 16)

You must not sacrifice the Passover in any town the Lord your God gives you

Deuteronomy 16:6   (Read all of Deuteronomy 16)

except in the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name. There you must sacrifice the Passover in the evening, when the sun goes down, on the anniversary of your departure from Egypt.

Deuteronomy 16:7   (Read all of Deuteronomy 16)

Roast it and eat it at the place the Lord your God will choose. Then in the morning return to your tents.

Deuteronomy 16:8   (Read all of Deuteronomy 16)

For six days eat unleavened bread and on the seventh day hold an assembly to the Lord your God and do no work.

Deuteronomy 16:9   (Read all of Deuteronomy 16)

Count off seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain.