Bible Strands
Deuteronomy 15:1
At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Moses instructs the Israelites on covenant law while they camp in the plains of Moab, prior to their entry into the promised land.
The words — The verse pairs קֵץ שֶׁבַע שָׁנִים (keṣev shav‘a shanim), literally the end of seven years, with שְׁמִטָּה (shemittah), meaning a remission or release.
The thread — The command reappears in Deuteronomy 31:10 as the designated season for debt release, while Exodus 23:10 and Leviticus 25:2 outline a separate six-year agricultural cycle.
Why it lands — The text commands creditors to cease collecting from neighbors and brothers, mandating a complete financial pause at the close of each seven-year period.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 31:10 Then Moses commanded them, “At the end of every seven years, at the appointed time in the year of remission of debt, during the Feast of Tabernacles,
- Exodus 23:10 For six years you are to sow your land and gather its produce,
- Leviticus 25:2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When you enter the land that I am giving you, the land itself must observe a Sabbath to the LORD.
- Exodus 21:2 If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free without paying anything.
- Luke 4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to release the oppressed,
- Isaiah 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners,
- Jeremiah 36:8 So Baruch son of Neriah did everything that Jeremiah the prophet had commanded him. In the house of the LORD he read the words of the LORD from the scroll.