¹⁰ And now you propose to force the children of Judah and Jerusalem to be your ^(A)male and female slaves; but are you not also guilty before the Lord 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 ^(A)with him—and shall return to his own family. He shall return to the possession of his fathers. ⁴² For they are ^(B)My servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as slaves. ^43 (C)You shall not rule over him ^(D)with ^[a]rigor, but you ^(E)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 ^(F)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 ^(G)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.

¹⁷ For the time has come ^(A)for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, ^(B)what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? ¹⁸ Now

²⁰ Therefore

²¹ Do not be overcome by evil, but ^(B)overcome evil with good.

² For with what ^[a]judgment you judge, you will be judged; ^(A)and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. ^3 (B)And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? ⁴ Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye?

²⁹ For behold, ^(A)I begin to bring calamity on the city ^(B)which is called by My name, and should you be utterly unpunished? You shall not be unpunished, for ^(C)I will call for a sword on all the inhabitants of the earth,” says the Lord of hosts.’