Christian Graces; Final Greetings

4 Masters,^(A) give your bondservants what is just and fair, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.

⁹ And you, masters, do the same things to them, giving up threatening, knowing that ^[a]your own ^(A)Master also is in heaven, and ^(B)there is no partiality with Him.

¹⁴ “At the end of ^(A)seven years let every man set free his Hebrew brother, who ^[a]has been sold to him; and when he has served you six years, you shall let him go free from you.” But your fathers did not obey Me nor incline their ear. ¹⁵ Then you ^[b]recently turned and did what was right in My sight—every man proclaiming liberty to his neighbor; and you ^(B)made a covenant before Me ^(C)in the house which is called by My name. ¹⁶ Then you turned around and ^(D)profaned My name, and every one of you brought back his male and female slaves, whom you had set at liberty, at their pleasure, and brought them back into subjection, to be your male and female slaves.’

¹⁷ “Therefore thus says the Lord: ‘You have not obeyed Me in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother and every one to his neighbor. ^(E)Behold, I proclaim liberty to you,’ says the Lord—^(F)‘to the sword, to pestilence, and to famine! And I will deliver you to ^(G)trouble among all the kingdoms of the earth.

¹⁴ “You shall not ^(A)oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether one of your brethren or one of the aliens who is in your land within your gates. ¹⁵ Each day ^(B)you shall give him his wages, and not let the sun go down on it, for he is poor and has set his heart on it; ^(C)lest he cry out against you to the Lord, and it be sin to you.

The Law Concerning Bondservants

^12 (A)“If your brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, is ^(B)sold to you and serves you six years, then in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you. ¹³ And when you ^[a]send him away free from you, you shall not let him go away empty-handed; ¹⁴ you shall supply him liberally from your flock, from your threshing floor, and from your winepress. From what the Lord your God has ^(C)blessed you with, you shall give to him. ^15 (D)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 thing today.

⁴⁶ And ^(A)you may take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them as a possession; they shall be your permanent slaves. But regarding your brethren, the children of Israel, you shall not rule over one another with rigor.

^43 (A)You shall not rule over him ^(B)with ^[a]rigor, but you ^(C)shall fear your God.

²⁶ “If a man strikes the eye of his male or female servant, and destroys it, he shall let him go free for the sake of his eye. ²⁷ And if he knocks out the tooth of his male or female servant, he shall let him go free for the sake of his tooth.