⁹ But Solomon did not make the children of Israel ^[a]servants for his work. Some were men of war, captains of his officers, captains of his chariots, and his cavalry.

³¹ So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free.

²⁶ but the ^(A)Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all.

¹¹ And he said, ^(A)“This will be the behavior of the king who will reign over you: He will take your ^(B)sons and appoint them for his own ^(C)chariots and to be his horsemen, and some will run before his chariots. ¹² He will ^(D)appoint captains over his thousands and captains over his fifties, will set some to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and some to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots.

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.

⁵ Now ^(A)therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and ^(B)keep My covenant, then ^(C)you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is ^(D)Mine. ⁶ And you shall be to Me a ^(E)kingdom of priests and a ^(F)holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”