³⁹ “‘If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and sell themselves to you, do not make them work as slaves.^(A)

The Widow’s Olive Oil

4 The wife of a man from the company^(A) of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the Lord. But now his creditor^(B) is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.”

⁵ Although we are of the same flesh and blood^(A) as our fellow Jews and though our children are as good as theirs, yet we have to subject our sons and daughters to slavery.^(B) Some of our daughters have already been enslaved, but we are powerless, because our fields and our vineyards belong to others.”^(C)

⁸ and said: “As far as possible, we have bought^(A) back our fellow Jews who were sold to the Gentiles. Now you are selling your own people, only for them to be sold back to us!” They kept quiet, because they could find nothing to say.^(B)