Deuteronomy 15:1–11

¹At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts. ²This is the manner of remission: Every creditor shall cancel what he has loaned to his neighbor. He is not to collect anything from his neighbor or brother, because the LORD’s time of release has been proclaimed. ³You may collect something from a foreigner, but you must forgive whatever your brother owes you.

⁴There will be no poor among you, however, because the LORD will surely bless you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance, ⁵if only you obey the LORD your God and are careful to follow all these commandments I am giving you today. ⁶When the LORD your God blesses you as He has promised, you will lend to many nations but borrow from none; you will rule over many nations but be ruled by none.

⁷If there is a poor man among your brothers within any of the gates in the land that the LORD your God is giving you, then you are not to harden^a your heart or shut your hand from your poor brother. ⁸Instead, you are to open your hand to him and freely loan him whatever he needs.

⁹Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought in your heart: “The seventh year, the year of release, is near,” so that you look upon your poor brother begrudgingly and give him nothing. He will cry out to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty of sin.

¹⁰Give generously to him, and do not let your heart be grieved when you do so. And because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything to which you put your hand. ¹¹For there will never cease to be poor in the land; that is why I am commanding you to open wide your hand to your brother and to the poor and needy in your land.