“If you buy (A)a Hebrew slave, he shall serve for six years; but on the seventh he shall leave as a free man without a payment to you. If he comes [a]alone, he shall leave [b]alone; if he is the husband of a wife, then his wife shall leave with him. If his master gives him a wife, and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall belong to her master, and he shall leave [c]alone. But (B)if the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not leave as a free man,’ then his master shall bring him to [d]God, then he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall pierce his ear with an [e]awl; and he shall serve him permanently.

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Footnotes

  1. Exodus 21:3 Lit by himself
  2. Exodus 21:3 Lit by himself
  3. Exodus 21:4 Lit by himself
  4. Exodus 21:6 Or the judges (who acted in God’s name)
  5. Exodus 21:6 I.e., a pointed tool

Hebrew Servants(A)(B)

“If you buy a Hebrew servant,(C) he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free,(D) without paying anything. If he comes alone, he is to go free alone; but if he has a wife when he comes, she is to go with him. If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her master, and only the man shall go free.

“But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,’(E) then his master must take him before the judges.[a](F) He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce(G) his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life.(H)

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Footnotes

  1. Exodus 21:6 Or before God

12 (A)If your fellow countryman, a Hebrew man or woman, is sold to you, then he shall serve you for six years, but in the seventh year you shall set him [a]free. 13 And when you set him [b]free, you shall not send him away empty-handed. 14 You shall give generously to him from your flock, your threshing floor, and from your wine vat; you shall give to him as the Lord your God has blessed you. 15 And you are to remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore I am commanding [c]this of you today. 16 But it shall come about, (B)if he says to you, ‘I will not leave you,’ because he loves you and your household, since he is doing well with you, 17 then you shall take an [d]awl and pierce it through his ear into the door, and he shall be your servant permanently. You shall also do the same to your female slave.

18 “It shall not seem difficult for you when you set him [e]free, because he has given you six years with double the [f]service of a hired worker; so the Lord your God will bless you in whatever you do.

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 15:12 Lit free from you
  2. Deuteronomy 15:13 Lit free from you
  3. Deuteronomy 15:15 Lit this thing
  4. Deuteronomy 15:17 I.e., a pointed tool
  5. Deuteronomy 15:18 Lit free from you
  6. Deuteronomy 15:18 Lit wages

Freeing Servants(A)(B)

12 If any of your people—Hebrew men or women—sell themselves to you and serve you six years, in the seventh year you must let them go free.(C) 13 And when you release them, do not send them away empty-handed. 14 Supply them liberally from your flock, your threshing floor(D) and your winepress. Give to them as the Lord your God has blessed you. 15 Remember that you were slaves(E) in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you.(F) That is why I give you this command today.

16 But if your servant says to you, “I do not want to leave you,” because he loves you and your family and is well off with you, 17 then take an awl and push it through his earlobe into the door, and he will become your servant for life. Do the same for your female servant.

18 Do not consider it a hardship to set your servant free, because their service to you these six years has been worth twice as much as that of a hired hand. And the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.

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22 But Solomon (A)did not make slaves of the sons of Israel; for they were men of war, his servants, his commanders, his charioteers, his chariot commanders, and his horsemen.

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22 But Solomon did not make slaves(A) of any of the Israelites; they were his fighting men, his government officials, his officers, his captains, and the commanders of his chariots and charioteers.

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