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The Law concerning Slaves

21 “These are the ordinances that you shall set before them:(A)

“When you buy a male Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years, but in the seventh he shall go out a free person, without debt.(B) If he comes in single, he shall go out single; if he comes in 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 alone. But if the slave declares, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out a free person,’ then his master shall bring him before God. He shall be brought to the door or the doorpost, and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl, and he shall serve him for life.(C)

“When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do.(D) If she does not please her master, who designated her for himself, then he shall let her be redeemed; he shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has dealt unfairly with her. If he designates her for his son, he shall deal with her as with a daughter. 10 If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish the food, clothing, or marital rights of the first wife.[a](E) 11 And if he does not do these three things for her, she shall go out without debt, without payment of money.

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Footnotes

  1. 21.10 Heb of her

Laws About Slaves

21 “Now these are the (A)rules that you shall set before them. (B)When you buy a Hebrew slave,[a] he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing. If he comes in single, he shall go out single; if he comes in 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 alone. But (C)if the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’ then his master shall bring him to (D)God, and he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall be his slave forever.

“When a man (E)sells his daughter as a slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do. If she does not please her master, who has designated her[b] for himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has broken faith with her. If he designates her for his son, he shall deal with her as with a daughter. 10 If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, or (F)her marital rights. 11 And if he does not do these three things for her, she shall go out for nothing, without payment of money.

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Footnotes

  1. Exodus 21:2 Or servant; the Hebrew term ‘ebed designates a range of social and economic roles; also verses 5, 6, 7, 20, 21, 26, 27, 32 (see Preface)
  2. Exodus 21:8 Or so that he has not designated her