Exodus 21:1-11
Christian Standard Bible
21 “These are the ordinances that you are to 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 will pierce his ear with an awl, and he will serve his master for life.
7 “When a man sells his daughter as a concubine,[d] she is not to leave as the male slaves do.(C) 8 If she is displeasing to her master, who chose her for himself, then he must let her be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to foreigners because he has acted treacherously toward her. 9 Or if he chooses her for his son, he must deal with her according to the customary treatment of daughters. 10 If he takes an additional wife, he must not reduce the food, clothing, or marital rights of the first wife.(D) 11 And if he does not do these three things for her, she may leave free of charge, without any payment.[e]
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Exodus 21:1-11
International Standard Version
Laws Concerning Servants
21 “These are the ordinances that you are to set before them.
2 “When you acquire a Hebrew servant, he is to serve for six years, and in the seventh he is to go out a free man without paying anything. 3 If he came in by himself,[a] he is to go out by himself. If he was married, his wife is to go out with him. 4 If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and children belong to her master, and he is to go out by himself. 5 But if the servant, in fact, says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children, and I won’t go out a free man,’ 6 then his master is to bring him before the judges[b] and he is to bring him to the door or to the doorpost. His master is to pierce his ear with an awl, and he is to serve him permanently.
7 “When a man sells his daughter as a servant, she won’t go out as the male servants do.[c] 8 If she’s displeasing to[d] her master who selected her for himself,[e] he must let her be redeemed. He does not have the right to sell her to foreign people, because he has dealt unfairly[f] with her. 9 If he has selected her for his son,[g] he is to treat her according to the ordinance for daughters. 10 If he takes another woman for himself, he may not withhold from the first[h] her food, her clothing, or her marital rights. 11 If he does not do these three things for her, she may go out without paying anything at all.”[i]
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- Exodus 21:3 Lit. with his body; i.e. single, and so throughout the chapter
- Exodus 21:6 Or before God
- Exodus 21:7 The Heb. lacks as the male servants do
- Exodus 21:8 Lit. bad in the eyes of
- Exodus 21:8 I.e. as a secondary wife also called a mistress or concubine
- Exodus 21:8 Or treacherously
- Exodus 21:9 I.e. as a secondary wife also called a mistress or concubine
- Exodus 21:10 The Heb. lacks from the first
- Exodus 21:11 The Heb. lacks at all
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