"'If a man sells a residential house in a walled city, its right of redemption must extend until one full year from its sale; its right of redemption must extend to a full calendar year. If it is not redeemed before the full calendar year is ended, the house in the walled city will belong without reclaim to the one who bought it throughout his generations; it will not revert in the jubilee. read more. The houses of villages, however, which have no wall surrounding them must be considered as the field of the land; they will have the right of redemption and must revert in the jubilee. As for the cities of the Levites, the houses in the cities which they possess, the Levites must have a perpetual right of redemption. Whatever someone among the Levites might redeem -- the sale of a house which is his property in a city -- must revert in the jubilee, because the houses of the cities of the Levites are their property in the midst of the Israelites. Moreover, the open field areas of their cities must not be sold, because that is their perpetual possession. "'If your brother becomes impoverished and is indebted to you, you must support him; he must live with you like a foreign resident. Do not take interest or profit from him, but you must fear your God and your brother must live with you. You must not lend him your money at interest and you must not sell him food for profit. I am the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan -- to be your God. "'If your brother becomes impoverished with regard to you so that he sells himself to you, you must not subject him to slave service. He must be with you as a hired worker, as a resident foreigner; he must serve with you until the year of jubilee, but then he may go free, he and his children with him, and may return to his family and to the property of his ancestors.

There were others who said, "We are putting up our fields, our vineyards, and our houses as collateral in order to obtain grain during the famine." Then there were those who said, "We have borrowed money to pay our taxes to the king on our fields and our vineyards. read more. And now, though we share the same flesh and blood as our fellow countrymen, and our children are just like their children, still we have found it necessary to subject our sons and daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters have been subjected to slavery, while we are powerless to help, since our fields and vineyards now belong to other people."

"Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple is bound by nothing. But whoever swears by the gold of the temple is bound by the oath.'

I am a debtor both to the Greeks and to the barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.

And I testify again to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law.

If you do take the garment of your neighbor in pledge, you must return it to him by the time the sun goes down, for it is his only covering -- it is his garment for his body. What else can he sleep in? And when he cries out to me, I will hear, for I am gracious.

If you make a sale to your fellow citizen or buy from your fellow citizen, no one is to wrong his brother.

As for the cities of the Levites, the houses in the cities which they possess, the Levites must have a perpetual right of redemption.

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

At the end of every seven years you must declare a cancellation of debts. This is the nature of the cancellation: Every creditor must remit what he has loaned to another person; he must not force payment from his fellow Israelite, for it is to be recognized as "the Lord's cancellation of debts." read more. You may exact payment from a foreigner, but whatever your fellow Israelite owes you, you must remit. However, there should not be any poor among you, for the Lord will surely bless you in the land that he is giving you as an inheritance, if you carefully obey him by keeping all these commandments that I am giving you today. For the Lord your God will bless you just as he has promised; you will lend to many nations but will not borrow from any, and you will rule over many nations but they will not rule over you. If a fellow Israelite from one of your villages in the land that the Lord your God is giving you should be poor, you must not harden your heart or be insensitive to his impoverished condition. Instead, you must be sure to open your hand to him and generously lend him whatever he needs. Be careful lest you entertain the wicked thought that the seventh year, the year of cancellation of debts, has almost arrived, and your attitude be wrong toward your impoverished fellow Israelite and you do not lend him anything; he will cry out to the Lord against you and you will be regarded as having sinned. You must by all means lend to him and not be upset by doing it, for because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you attempt. There will never cease to be some poor people in the land; therefore, I am commanding you to make sure you open your hand to your fellow Israelites who are needy and poor in your land. If your fellow Hebrew -- whether male or female -- is sold to you and serves you for six years, then in the seventh year you must let that servant go free. If you set them free, you must not send them away empty-handed. You must supply them generously from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress -- as the Lord your God has blessed you, you must give to them. Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore, I am commanding you to do this thing today.

When you make any kind of loan to your neighbor, you may not go into his house to claim what he is offering as security. You must stand outside and the person to whom you are making the loan will bring out to you what he is offering as security.

The one who puts up security for a stranger will surely have trouble, but whoever avoids shaking hands will be secure.

The one who lacks wisdom strikes hands in pledge, and puts up financial security for his neighbor.

Because he was not able to repay it, the lord ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, children, and whatever he possessed, and repayment to be made.

And in anger his lord turned him over to the prison guards to torture him until he repaid all he owed.