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21 “Now these are the ordinances which you shall set before them:

“If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free without paying anything. If he comes in by himself, he shall go out by himself. If he is married, then his wife shall go out with him. If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself. But if the servant shall plainly say, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children. I will not go out free;’ then his master shall bring him to God, and shall bring him to the door or to the doorpost, and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall serve him forever.

“If a man sells his daughter to be a female servant, she shall not go out as the male servants do. If she doesn’t please her master, who has married her to himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has dealt deceitfully with her. If he marries her to his son, he shall deal with her as a daughter. 10 If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, and her marital rights. 11 If he doesn’t do these three things for her, she may go free without paying any money.

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21 “These are the ordinances that you are to set before them:

Laws about Slaves

“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) If he arrives alone, he is to leave alone; if he arrives with[b] a wife, his wife is to leave with him. 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.

“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) 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.

“When a man sells his daughter as a concubine,[d] she is not to leave as the male slaves do.(C) 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. 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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Footnotes

  1. 21:2 Lit to go forth
  2. 21:3 Lit he is the husband of
  3. 21:6 Or to God; that is, to his sanctuary or court
  4. 21:7 Or servant
  5. 21:11 She doesn’t have to pay any redemption price.