Leviticus 25:35-46

New King James Version

Lending to the Poor

³⁵ ‘If one of your brethren becomes poor, and ^[a]falls into poverty among you, then you shall ^(A)help him, like a stranger or a sojourner, that he may live with you. ^36 (B)Take no usury or interest from him; but ^(C)fear your God, that your brother may live with you. ³⁷ You shall not lend him your money for usury, nor lend him your food at a profit. ^38 (D)I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God.

The Law Concerning Slavery

³⁹ ‘And if one of your brethren who dwells by you becomes poor, and sells himself to you, you shall not compel him to serve as a slave. ⁴⁰ As a hired servant and a sojourner he shall be with you, and shall serve you until the Year of Jubilee. ⁴¹ And then he shall depart from you—he and his children ^(E)with him—and shall return to his own family. He shall return to the possession of his fathers. ⁴² For they are ^(F)My servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as slaves. ^43 (G)You shall not rule over him ^(H)with ^[b]rigor, but you ^(I)shall fear your God. ⁴⁴ And as for your male and female slaves whom you may have—from the nations that are around you, from them you may buy male and female slaves. ⁴⁵ Moreover you may buy ^(J)the children of the strangers who dwell among you, and their families who are with you, which they beget in your land; and they shall become your property. ⁴⁶ And ^(K)you may take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them as a possession; they shall be your permanent slaves. But regarding your brethren, the children of Israel, you shall not rule over one another with rigor.