Deuteronomy 15:12-23

New International Version

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)