Leviticus 25:39-55

New International Reader's Version

³⁹ “ ‘Suppose any of your own people become poor. And suppose they sell themselves to you. Then do not make them work as slaves. ⁴⁰ You must treat them like hired workers. Or you must treat them like those living among you for a while. They must work for you until the Year of Jubilee. ⁴¹ Then they and their children must be set free. They will go back to their own tribes. They will go back to the property their people have always owned. ⁴² The Israelites are my servants. I brought them out of Egypt. So they must not be sold as slaves. ⁴³ Show them pity when you rule over them. Have respect for God.

⁴⁴ “ ‘You must get your male and female slaves from the nations that are around you. You can buy slaves from them. ⁴⁵ You can also buy as slaves some of the people living among you for a while. You can also buy members of their families born among you. They will become your property. ⁴⁶ You can leave them to your children as their share of your property. You can make them slaves for life. But when you rule over your own people, you must be kind to them.

⁴⁷ “ ‘Suppose an outsider living among you for a while becomes rich. Then suppose any of your own people become poor. Then they sell themselves to the outsider living among you. Or they sell themselves to a member of the outsider’s family. ⁴⁸ Then they keep the right to buy themselves back after they have sold themselves. One of their relatives can buy them back. ⁴⁹ An uncle or a cousin can buy them back after they have sold themselves. In fact, any relative in their tribe can do it. Or suppose things go well for them. Then they can buy themselves back. ⁵⁰ They and their buyer must count the number of years from the time of the sale up to the Year of Jubilee. The price for their freedom must be based on the amount paid to a hired man for that number of years. ⁵¹ Suppose there are many years until the Year of Jubilee. Then for their freedom they must pay a larger share of the price paid for them. ⁵² But suppose there are only a few years left until the Year of Jubilee. Then they must count the number of years that are left. The payment for their freedom must be based on that number. ⁵³ They must be treated as workers hired from year to year. You must make sure that those they must work for are kind to them when they rule over them.

⁵⁴ “ ‘Suppose they are not bought back in any of those ways. Then they and their children must still be set free in the Year of Jubilee. ⁵⁵ That’s because the Israelites belong to me. They are my servants. I brought them out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.