15 At the end of every seven years, you must cancel all debts. 2 Handle it like this: Everyone who’s loaned money to their Israeli neighbour must cancel that debt, i.e., they must not insist that it’s paid back, because Yahweh has announced a cancellation. 3 You can pressure a foreigner to repay, but you must cancel any debt from a fellow Israeli.

4 However, there shouldn’t be any poor among you, because your god Yahweh will bless you in the land that he’s giving you to own as an inheritance, 5 as long as you listen to what he says and keep following these instructions that I’m telling you today. 6 Because your god Yahweh will bless you (like he promised he would), you’ll lend to many nations rather than borrowing from them, and you’ll rule over many nations rather than them ruling you.

7 In the towns that your god Yahweh is giving you, if it so happens that any of your fellow Israelis are poor, then don’t just ignore them and refuse to help them,[ref] 8 but instead, open your wallet and lend them however much they need. 9 Be careful not to quietly think to yourself that the seventh-year reset is close so they won’t have to pay it back. It would be wrong not to help a fellow Israeli, and if you did and he called out to Yahweh for help, then it would be counted against you as disobedience. 10 Give generously to the poor without getting resentful inside, because then your god Yahweh can bless you in all your work and all your investments. 11 There’ll always be poor people in your country,[ref] so I command you to give generously to the poor and needy and your fellow Israelis.