At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release.
Parallel translations
- WEB At the end of every seven years, you shall cancel debts.
- BSB At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts.
- NKJV “At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release of debts.
- NASB “At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release of debts.
- NLT “At the end of every seventh year you must cancel the debts of everyone who owes you money.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Every seventh year Israel was to cancel debts among themselves. God ordered their economy to prevent permanent poverty and bondage.
Overview
The 'year of release' (Shemittah) regularly reset debts so that no Israelite would be crushed by perpetual obligation. It expressed God's ownership of the land and people and his concern for compassion over accumulation. This rhythm of release foreshadows the ultimate Jubilee Jesus proclaimed, freeing debtors from the deeper bondage of sin.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Deut 31:10And Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of every seven years, in the solemnity of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles,
- Lev 25:2–4Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the LORD.
- Exod 23:10–11And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the fruits thereof:
- Exod 21:2If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.
- Luke 4:18–19The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
- Isa 61:1–3The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
- Jer 36:8–18And Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading in the book the words of the LORD in the LORD’s house.
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Christ at the center
Moses promised a Prophet like himself to whom Israel must listen (18:15); Jesus is that Prophet, the one who keeps the covenant we broke and becomes the curse for us by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13).
How Deuteronomy 15:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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