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.
Parallel translations
- WEB Beware that there not be a base thought in your heart, saying, “The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand”; and your eye be evil against your poor brother, and you give him nothing; and he cry to Yahweh against you, and it be sin to you.
- KJV Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and he cry unto the LORD against thee, and it be sin unto thee.
- NKJV Beware lest there be a wicked thought in your heart, saying, ‘The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand,’ and your eye be evil against your poor brother and you give him nothing, and he cry out to the Lord against you, and it become sin among you.
- NASB Be careful that there is no mean-spirited thought in your heart, such as, ‘The seventh year, the year of release of debts, is near,’ and your eye is malicious toward your poor brother, and you give him nothing; then he may cry out to the Lord against you, and it will be a sin in you.
- NLT Do not be mean-spirited and refuse someone a loan because the year for canceling debts is close at hand. If you refuse to make the loan and the needy person cries out to the Lord, you will be considered guilty of sin.
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
Israelites were warned not to refuse a loan as the release year approached, for the wronged poor could cry to God and it would be counted sin. God sees and judges stingy calculation.
Overview
The looming cancellation of debts might tempt a lender to withhold help to avoid loss. God names this a 'base thought' and a sin, and assures that the neglected poor have his ear. This reveals that God weighs motives and defends the oppressed, a sobering reminder that love must triumph over self-interest.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 24
- Deut 24:15You are to pay his wages each day before sunset, because he is poor and depends on them. Otherwise he may cry out to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty of sin.
- Matt 20:15Do I not have the right to do as I please with what is mine? Or are you envious because I am generous?’
- Jas 5:9Do not complain about one another, brothers, so that you will not be judged. Look, the Judge is standing at the door!
- Exod 22:23If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to Me in distress, I will surely hear their cry.
- Mark 7:21–22For from within the hearts of men come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,
- Jer 17:10I, the LORD, search the heart; I examine the mind to reward a man according to his way, by what his deeds deserve.
- Exod 3:7The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the affliction of My people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their oppressors, and I am aware of their sufferings.
- Prov 28:22A stingy man hastens after wealth and does not know that poverty awaits him.
- Job 34:28They caused the cry of the poor to come before Him, and He heard the outcry of the afflicted.
- Matt 15:19For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and slander.
- Prov 23:6Do not eat the bread of a stingy man, and do not crave his delicacies;
- Jas 5:4Look, the wages you withheld from the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.
- Deut 28:54–56The most gentle and refined man among you will begrudge his brother, the wife he embraces, and the rest of his children who have survived,
- Rom 7:8–9But sin, seizing its opportunity through the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from the law, sin is dead.
- 1 Pet 4:9Show hospitality to one another without complaining.
- Ps 9:12For the Avenger of bloodshed remembers; He does not ignore the cry of the afflicted.
- 1 Jn 3:15–17Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that eternal life does not reside in a murderer.
- Prov 4:23Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow springs of life.
- Prov 21:13Whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too shall cry out and receive no answer.
- Deut 15:1At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts.
- Jas 4:5Or do you think the Scripture says without reason that the Spirit He caused to dwell in us yearns with envy?
- Prov 24:9A foolish scheme is sin, and a mocker is detestable to men.
- Jas 4:17Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do, yet fails to do it, is guilty of sin.
- Matt 25:41–45Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
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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 15:9 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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