The Seventh Year
(Exodus 23:10–13; Leviticus 25:1–7)
At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts. Deu 31:10Exo 23:10-11Lev 25:2-4Exo 21:2Luk 4:18-19Isa 61:1-3Jer 36:8-18 This 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. Jas 2:13Luk 6:34-38Luk 7:42Mat 18:25-35Mat 6:12Neh 5:7-11Amo 8:4-6Isa 58:3 You may collect something from a foreigner, but you must forgive whatever your brother owes you. Deu 23:201Co 6:6-7Exo 22:25Gal 6:10Jhn 8:35Mat 17:25-26
There 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, Isa 58:10-11Pro 28:27Deu 14:29Pro 11:24-25Deu 28:1-8Deu 28:11Pro 14:21 if only you obey the LORD your God and are careful to follow all these commandments I am giving you today. Deu 28:1-15Deu 11:13-15Isa 1:19-20Jos 1:7Lev 26:3-14Php 1:27Psa 19:11Deu 4:9 When 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. Deu 28:12-131Ki 4:21Luk 6:35Pro 22:7Neh 9:27Psa 37:21Ezr 4:20Psa 112:5
Generosity in Lending and Giving
(Matthew 6:1–4)
If 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 1your heart or shut your hand from your poor brother. Deu 15:91Jn 3:16-17Pro 21:13Jas 2:15-16Mat 18:30 Instead, you are to open your hand to him and freely loan him whatever he needs. Luk 6:34Mat 5:42
Be 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. Deu 24:15Mat 20:15Exo 22:23Jas 5:9Jer 17:10Mrk 7:21-22Exo 3:7Jas 5:4
Give 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. Pro 22:9Deu 14:29Heb 13:161Ti 6:18-19Deu 24:19Isa 58:10Psa 41:1-2Isa 32:8 For 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. Mat 26:11Mrk 14:7Jhn 12:8Deu 15:81Jn 3:16-18Pro 22:2Act 4:32-35Luk 12:33
Hebrew Servants
(Exodus 21:1–11)
If a fellow Hebrew, a man or a woman, is sold 2to you and serves you six years, then in the seventh year you must set him free. Jer 34:14Exo 21:2-6Lev 25:39-41Deu 15:1Jhn 8:35-36
And when you release him, do not send him away empty-handed. Jer 22:13Mal 3:5Pro 3:27-28Col 4:1Exo 3:21Gen 31:42Lev 25:42-44 You are to furnish him liberally from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress. You shall give to him as the LORD your God has blessed you. 1Co 16:2Act 20:35Neh 8:10Pro 10:22Psa 68:10 Remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you; that is why I am giving you this command today. Deu 16:121Jn 3:161Jn 4:9-11Deu 5:14-15Eph 2:12Eph 4:32Exo 20:2Isa 51:1
But if your servant says to you, ‘I do not want to leave you,’ because he loves you and your household and is well off with you, Exo 21:5-6Psa 40:8Psa 40:6 then take an awl and pierce it through his ear into the door, and he will become your servant for life. And treat your maidservant the same way. 1Sa 1:22Lev 25:39-42
Do not regard it as a hardship to set your servant free, because his six years of service were worth twice the wages of a hired hand. And the LORD your God will bless you in all you do. Isa 16:14Isa 21:16Luk 17:7-8
Firstborn Animals
(Exodus 13:1–16)
You must set apart to the LORD your God every firstborn male produced by your herds and flocks. You are not to put the firstborn of your oxen to work, nor are you to shear the firstborn of your flock. Exo 13:2Exo 13:12Deu 12:17Deu 16:14Lev 27:26Num 18:15Num 18:17Deu 12:5-7 Each year you and your household are to eat it before the LORD your God in the place the LORD will choose. Deu 12:17Deu 12:5-7Deu 14:23
But 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. Deu 17:1Mal 1:7-8Lev 22:19-25 Eat it within your gates; both the ceremonially unclean and clean may eat it as they would a gazelle or a deer. Deu 12:15-16Deu 12:21-22 But you must not eat the blood; pour it on the ground like water. Deu 12:16Deu 12:23Lev 7:261Sa 14:32Ezk 33:25