Hebrew Servants^(A)(B)

² “If you buy a Hebrew servant,^(C) he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free,^(D) without paying anything. ³ If he comes alone, he is to go free alone; but if he has a wife when he comes, she is to go with him. ⁴ If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her master, and only the man shall go free.

⁵ “But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,’^{(E) 6} then his master must take him before the judges.^[a](F) He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce^(G) his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life.^(H)

¹⁰ “If anyone gives a donkey, an ox, a sheep or any other animal to their neighbor for safekeeping^(A) and it dies or is injured or is taken away while no one is looking, ¹¹ the issue between them will be settled by the taking of an oath^(B) before the Lord that the neighbor did not lay hands on the other person’s property. The owner is to accept this, and no restitution is required. ¹² But if the animal was stolen from the neighbor, restitution^(C) must be made to the owner. ¹³ If it was torn to pieces by a wild animal, the neighbor shall bring in the remains as evidence and shall not be required to pay for the torn animal.^(D)

¹⁴ “If anyone borrows an animal from their neighbor and it is injured or dies while the owner is not present, they must make restitution.^{(E) 15} But if the owner is with the animal, the borrower will not have to pay. If the animal was hired, the money paid for the hire covers the loss.^(F)

¹⁴ “‘If you sell land to any of your own people or buy land from them, do not take advantage of each other.^{(A) 15} You are to buy from your own people on the basis of the number of years^(B) since the Jubilee. And they are to sell to you on the basis of the number of years left for harvesting crops. ¹⁶ When the years are many, you are to increase the price, and when the years are few, you are to decrease the price,^(C) because what is really being sold to you is the number of crops. ¹⁷ Do not take advantage of each other,^(D) but fear your God.^(E) I am the Lord your God.^(F)

²⁵ “‘If one of your fellow Israelites becomes poor and sells some of their property, their nearest relative^(A) is to come and redeem^(B) what they have sold. ²⁶ If, however, there is no one to redeem it for them but later on they prosper^(C) and acquire sufficient means to redeem it themselves, ²⁷ they are to determine the value for the years^(D) since they sold it and refund the balance to the one to whom they sold it; they can then go back to their own property.^{(E) 28} But if they do not acquire the means to repay, what was sold will remain in the possession of the buyer until the Year of Jubilee. It will be returned^(F) in the Jubilee, and they can then go back to their property.^(G)

²⁹ “‘Anyone who sells a house in a walled city retains the right of redemption a full year after its sale. During that time the seller may redeem it. ³⁰ If it is not redeemed before a full year has passed, the house in the walled city shall belong permanently to the buyer and the buyer’s descendants. It is not to be returned in the Jubilee. ³¹ But houses in villages without walls around them are to be considered as belonging to the open country. They can be redeemed, and they are to be returned in the Jubilee.

³² “‘The Levites always have the right to redeem their houses in the Levitical towns,^(H) which they possess. ³³ So the property of the Levites is redeemable—that is, a house sold in any town they hold—and is to be returned in the Jubilee, because the houses in the towns of the Levites are their property among the Israelites. ³⁴ But the pastureland belonging to their towns must not be sold; it is their permanent possession.^(I)

³⁵ “‘If any of your fellow Israelites become poor^(J) and are unable to support themselves among you, help them^(K) as you would a foreigner and stranger, so they can continue to live among you. ³⁶ Do not take interest^(L) or any profit from them, but fear your God,^(M) so that they may continue to live among you. ³⁷ You must not lend them money at interest^(N) or sell them food at a profit. ³⁸ I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan^(O) and to be your God.^(P)

³⁹ “‘If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and sell themselves to you, do not make them work as slaves.^{(Q) 40} They are to be treated as hired workers^(R) or temporary residents among you; they are to work for you until the Year of Jubilee. ⁴¹ Then they and their children are to be released, and they will go back to their own clans and to the property^(S) of their ancestors.^(T)

⁴⁷ “‘If a foreigner residing among you becomes rich and any of your fellow Israelites become poor and sell themselves^(A) to the foreigner or to a member of the foreigner’s clan, ⁴⁸ they retain the right of redemption^(B) after they have sold themselves. One of their relatives^(C) may redeem them: ⁴⁹ An uncle or a cousin or any blood relative in their clan may redeem them. Or if they prosper,^(D) they may redeem themselves. ⁵⁰ They and their buyer are to count the time from the year they sold themselves up to the Year of Jubilee.^(E) The price for their release is to be based on the rate paid to a hired worker^(F) for that number of years. ⁵¹ If many years remain, they must pay for their redemption a larger share of the price paid for them. ⁵² If only a few years remain until the Year of Jubilee, they are to compute that and pay for their redemption accordingly.^{(G) 53} They are to be treated as workers hired from year to year; you must see to it that those to whom they owe service do not rule over them ruthlessly.^(H)

⁵⁴ “‘Even if someone is not redeemed in any of these ways, they and their children are to be released in the Year of Jubilee, ⁵⁵ for the Israelites belong to me as servants. They are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt.^(I) I am the Lord your God.^(J)

Nehemiah’s Prayer

1 The words of Nehemiah son of Hakaliah:

In the month of Kislev^(A) in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa,^{(B) 2} Hanani,^(C) one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant^(D) that had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem.

³ They said to me, “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.^(E)”

⁴ When I heard these things, I sat down and wept.^(F) For some days I mourned and fasted^(G) and prayed before the God of heaven. ⁵ Then I said:

I was cupbearer^(U) to the king.