12 (A)“If your brother, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, is sold[a] to you, he shall serve you six years, and in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you. 13 And when you let him go free from you, you shall not let him go empty-handed. 14 You shall furnish him liberally out of your flock, out of your threshing floor, and out of your winepress. (B)As the Lord your God has blessed you, you shall give to him. 15 (C)You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this today. 16 But (D)if he says to you, ‘I will not go out from you,’ because he loves you and your household, since he is well-off with you, 17 then you shall take an awl, and put it through his ear into the door, and he shall be your slave[b] forever. And to your female slave[c] you shall do the same. 18 It shall not seem hard to you when you let him go free from you, for at half the cost of a hired worker he has served you six years. So the Lord your God will bless you in all that you do.

19 (E)“All the firstborn males that are born of your herd and flock you shall dedicate to the Lord your God. You shall do no work with the firstborn of your herd, nor shear the firstborn of your flock. 20 (F)You shall eat it, you and your household, before the Lord your God year by year at the place that the Lord will choose. 21 (G)But if it has any blemish, if it is lame or blind or has any serious blemish whatever, you shall not sacrifice it to the Lord your God. 22 You shall eat it within your towns. (H)The unclean and the clean alike may eat it, as though it were a gazelle or a deer. 23 (I)Only you shall not eat its blood; you shall pour it out on the ground like water.

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 15:12 Or sells himself
  2. Deuteronomy 15:17 Or servant; the Hebrew term ‘ebed designates a range of social and economic roles (see Preface)
  3. Deuteronomy 15:17 Or servant

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.

The Firstborn Animals

19 Set apart for the Lord(G) your God every firstborn male(H) of your herds and flocks.(I) Do not put the firstborn of your cows to work, and do not shear the firstborn of your sheep.(J) 20 Each year you and your family are to eat them in the presence of the Lord your God at the place he will choose.(K) 21 If an animal has a defect,(L) is lame or blind, or has any serious flaw, you must not sacrifice it to the Lord your God.(M) 22 You are to eat it in your own towns. Both the ceremonially unclean and the clean may eat it, as if it were gazelle or deer.(N) 23 But you must not eat the blood; pour it out on the ground like water.(O)

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