Deu 15:7-18 | ESV | STEP | If among you, one of your brothers should become poor , in any of your towns within your land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother ,

j[See ver. 8 above]

Deuteronomy 15:7-18

7 “If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the Lord your God is giving you, ^ayou shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, 8 but ^byou shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be. 9 Take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart and you say, ‘The seventh year, the year of release is near,’ and your ^ceye look grudgingly ^{▼▼Or be evil; also verse 10} on your poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he ^ecry to the Lord against you, and ^fyou be guilty of sin. 10 You shall give to him freely, and ^gyour heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because ^hfor this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. 11 For ⁱthere will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ^j‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’

12 ^k“If your brother, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, is sold ^{▼▼Or sells himself} to you, he shall serve you six years, and in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you. 13 And when you let him go free from you, you shall not let him go empty-handed. 14 You shall furnish him liberally out of your flock, out of your threshing floor, and out of your winepress. ^mAs the Lord your God has blessed you, you shall give to him. 15 ⁿYou shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this today. 16 But ^oif he says to you, ‘I will not go out from you,’ because he loves you and your household, since he is well-off with you, 17 then you shall take an awl, and put it through his ear into the door, and he shall be your slave ^{▼▼Or servant; the Hebrew term ‘ebed designates a range of social and economic roles (see Preface)} forever. And to your female slave ^{▼▼Or servant} you shall do the same. 18 It shall not seem hard to you when you let him go free from you, for at half the cost of a hired worker he has served you six years. So the Lord your God will bless you in all that you do.