^2 (A)When you buy a Hebrew slave,^[a] he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing.

^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.

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.

⁴⁴ but every slave^[a] that is ^(A)bought for money may eat of it after you have circumcised him.

⁸ The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, after King Zedekiah ^(A)had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem ^(B)to make a proclamation of liberty to them, ^9 (C)that everyone should set free his Hebrew slaves, male and female, ^(D)so that no one should enslave a Jew, his brother. ¹⁰ And they obeyed, all the officials and all the people who had entered into the covenant that everyone would set free his slave, male or female, so that they would not be enslaved again. They obeyed and set them free. ¹¹ But afterward they turned around and took back the male and female slaves ^(E)they had set free, and brought them into subjection as slaves. ¹² The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ¹³ “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I myself made a covenant with your fathers when ^(F)I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, saying, ^14 (G)‘At the end of seven years each of you must set free the fellow Hebrew who has been sold to you and has served you six years; ^(H)you must set him free from your service.’ But ^(I)your fathers did not listen to me or incline their ears to me. ¹⁵ You recently repented and did what was right in my eyes ^(J)by proclaiming liberty, each to his neighbor, and ^(K)you made a covenant before me in the ^(L)house that is called by my name, ¹⁶ but then you turned around ^(M)and profaned my name when each of you took back his male and female slaves, ^(N)whom you had set free according to their desire, and you brought them into subjection to be your slaves.

¹⁷ “Therefore, thus says the Lord: You have not obeyed me ^(O)by proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother and to his neighbor; ^(P)behold, I proclaim to you liberty ^(Q)to the sword, to pestilence, and to famine, declares the Lord. ^(R)I will make you a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.

⁸ and said to them, “We, as far as we are able, ^(A)have bought back our Jewish brothers who have been sold to the nations, but you even sell your brothers that they may be sold to us!” They were silent and could not find a word to say.

Nehemiah Stops Oppression of the Poor

5 Now there arose ^(A)a great outcry of the people and of their wives ^(B)against their Jewish brothers. ² For there were those who said, “With our sons and our daughters, we are many. So let us get grain, that we may eat and keep alive.” ³ There were also those who said, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards, and our houses to get grain because of the famine.” ⁴ And there were those who said, “We have borrowed money for ^(C)the king's tax on our fields and our vineyards. ⁵ Now ^(D)our flesh is as the flesh of our brothers, our children are as their children. Yet ^(E)we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters have already been enslaved, but it is not in our power to help it, for other men have our fields and our vineyards.”

¹⁰ And Moses commanded them, ^(A)“At the end of every seven years, at the set time in the year of release, at ^(B)the Feast of Booths,

The Sabbatical Year

15 “At the end of ^(A)every seven years you shall grant a release.