Verse 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 any payment.

Other Translations

Referenced Verses

  • Deut 15:12-15 : 12 If your brother, a Hebrew man or woman, is sold to you and serves you six years, in the seventh year, you must set them free. 13 And when you set them free, do not send them away empty-handed. 14 Provide them generously from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress. Give to them as the Lord your God has blessed you. 15 Remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you. That is why I am giving you this command today.
  • Deut 15:18 : 18 Do not consider it hard to set them free, because their service to you for six years was worth twice as much as that of a hired worker, and the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.
  • Neh 5:1-5 : 1 There arose a great outcry from the people and their wives against their fellow Jews. 2 Some were saying, 'We, along with our sons and daughters, are numerous. Let us get grain that we may eat and stay alive.' 3 Others were saying, 'We have had to mortgage our fields, vineyards, and houses to get grain during the famine.' 4 Still others were saying, 'We have borrowed money to pay the king’s tax on our fields and vineyards.' 5 'Although we are of the same flesh and blood as our fellow Israelites, and our children are just like theirs, we have to subject our sons and daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters are already enslaved, and we are powerless to do anything about it, since our fields and vineyards now belong to others.'
  • Neh 5:8 : 8 I said to them, 'We have redeemed our fellow Jews who were sold to the nations, as much as we were able. Now, you are selling your own people, only for them to be sold back to us!' They stayed silent, unable to say a word.
  • Jer 34:8-9 : 8 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to proclaim liberty to them: 9 Each was to free his Hebrew servants, both male and female, so that no one would enslave a fellow Hebrew, a fellow Jew. 10 And all the officials and all the people who entered into the covenant agreed to set free their male and female slaves, so that they would no longer enslave them. They obeyed and set them free. 11 But afterward they turned back and took back the men and women they had freed, and forced them to become slaves again. 12 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying: 13 This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I made a covenant with your ancestors when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, saying: 14 At the end of seven years, each of you must set free your Hebrew brothers who have been sold to you and have served you for six years. You must release them to go free. But your ancestors did not obey me or pay attention to me. 15 Recently, you repented and did what is right in my sight by proclaiming freedom, each man for his neighbor. You made a covenant before me in the house where my name is called upon. 16 But then you turned back and profaned my name. You took back the servants and maidservants whom you had set free, allowing them to go wherever they desired, and you brought them back into subjection to become your slaves again. 17 Therefore, this is what the Lord says: You have not obeyed me by proclaiming freedom, each one to his brother and to his neighbor. So now, I proclaim freedom for you, declares the Lord—freedom to the sword, to plague, and to famine. I will make you a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.
  • Matt 18:25 : 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
  • 1 Cor 6:20 : 20 You were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body and spirit, which are God's.
  • Deut 31:10 : 10 Then Moses commanded them, saying, 'At the end of every seven years, in the appointed time of the year of release, during the Festival of Tabernacles,
  • 2 Kgs 4:1 : 1 A certain woman, the wife of one of the prophets, cried out to Elisha, saying, "Your servant, my husband, is dead, and you know that he revered the Lord. Now the creditor has come to take my two sons as slaves."
  • Gen 27:28 : 28 May God give you the dew of heaven and the richness of the earth, an abundance of grain and new wine.
  • Gen 27:36 : 36 Esau said, 'Isn't he rightly named Jacob? For he has cheated me twice: He took my birthright, and now he has taken my blessing!' Then he asked, 'Haven't you reserved any blessing for me?'
  • Exod 12:44 : 44 But any slave who has been purchased may eat of it after you have circumcised him.
  • Exod 22:3 : 3 If what was stolen is found alive in his possession, whether it is an ox, a donkey, or a sheep, he must pay back double.
  • Lev 25:39-45 : 39 If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and sell themselves to you, do not make them work as slaves. 40 They are to be treated as hired workers or temporary residents among you; they are to work for you until the Year of Jubilee. 41 Then they and their children are to be released, and they will return to their own family and to the property of their ancestors. 42 Because the Israelites are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt, they must not be sold as slaves. 43 Do not rule over them harshly, but fear your God. 44 Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves. 45 You may also buy some of the temporary residents living among you and members of their clans born in your land, and they will become your property.
  • Deut 15:1 : 1 At the end of seven years, you shall institute a release.