Exodus 21:1-6
Holman Christian Standard Bible
21 “These are the ordinances that you must set before them:
Laws about Slaves
2 “When you buy a Hebrew slave, he is to serve for six years; then in the seventh he is to leave as a free man[a] without paying anything.(A) 3 If he arrives alone, he is to leave alone; if he arrives with[b] a wife, his wife is to leave with him. 4 If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children belong to her master, and the man must leave alone.
5 “But if the slave declares: ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I do not want to leave as a free man,’(B) 6 his master is to bring him to the judges[c] and then bring him to the door or doorpost. His master must pierce his ear with an awl, and he will serve his master for life.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Exodus 21:2 Lit to go forth
- Exodus 21:3 Lit he is the husband of
- Exodus 21:6 Or to God; that is, to His sanctuary or court
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