When you see ¹  your neighbor’s ²  ox or sheep going astray, do not ignore it; ³  you must return it without fail ⁴  to your neighbor.

“‘If your brother becomes impoverished and sells some of his property, his near redeemer is to come to you and redeem what his brother sold. ¹ 

Do not take interest or profit from him, ¹  but you must fear your God and your brother must live ²  with you.

Greet Herodion, my compatriot. ¹  Greet those in the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord.

“‘If a resident foreigner who is with you prospers ¹  and your brother becomes impoverished with regard to him so that ²  he sells himself to a resident foreigner who is with you or to a member ³  of a foreigner’s family,

If the owner ¹  does not live ²  near you or you do not know who the owner is, ³  then you must corral the animal ⁴  at your house and let it stay with you until the owner looks for it; then you must return it to him.

When you see ¹  your neighbor’s donkey or ox fallen along the road, do not ignore it; ²  instead, you must be sure ³  to help him get the animal on its feet again. ⁴ 

So I, the Lord, say: “You have not really obeyed me and granted freedom to your neighbor and fellow countryman. ¹  Therefore, I will grant you freedom, the freedom ²  to die in war, or by starvation or disease. I, the Lord, affirm it! ³  I will make all the kingdoms of the earth horrified at what happens to you. ⁴ 

You must not hate your brother in your heart. You must surely reprove your fellow citizen so that you do not incur sin on account of him. ¹ 

You may buy it from your fellow citizen according to the number of years since ¹  the last jubilee; he may sell it to you according to the years of produce that are left. ² 

“‘If your brother becomes impoverished with regard to you so that he sells himself to you, you must not subject him to slave service. ¹ 

I furthermore admonished your judges at that time that they ¹  should pay attention to issues among your fellow citizens ²  and judge fairly, ³  whether between one citizen and another ⁴  or a citizen and a resident foreigner. ⁵ 

Everyone was supposed to free their male and female Hebrew slaves. No one was supposed to keep a fellow Judean enslaved. ¹ 

“And there will be no need at all ¹  for each one to teach his countryman or each one to teach his brother saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ since they will all know me, from the least to the greatest. ² 

“‘If your brother ¹  becomes impoverished and is indebted to you, ²  you must support ³  him; he must live ⁴  with you like a foreign resident. ⁵ 

This is the nature of the cancellation: Every creditor must remit what he has loaned to another person; ¹  he must not force payment from his fellow Israelite, ²  for it is to be recognized as “the Lord’s cancellation of debts.”

You shall do the same to his donkey, his clothes, or anything else your neighbor ¹  has lost and you have found; you must not refuse to get involved. ² 

If two men ¹  get into a hand-to-hand fight, and the wife of one of them gets involved to help her husband against his attacker, and she reaches out her hand and grabs his genitals, ² 

I considered these things carefully ¹  and then registered a complaint with the wealthy ²  and the officials. I said to them, “Each one of you is seizing the collateral ³  from your own countrymen!” ⁴  Because of them I called for ⁵  a great public assembly.

Be careful lest you entertain the wicked thought that the seventh year, the year of cancellation of debts, has almost arrived, and your attitude ¹  be wrong toward your impoverished fellow Israelite ²  and you do not lend ³  him anything; he will cry out to the Lord against you and you will be regarded as having sinned. ⁴