16 But if your servant says to you, ‘I do not want to leave you,’ because he loves you and your household and is well off with you, 17 then take an awl and pierce it through his ear into the door, and he will become your servant for life. And treat your maidservant the same way. 18 Do not regard it as a hardship to set your servant free, because his six years of service were worth twice the wages of a hired hand. And the LORD your God will bless you in all you do.
Deuteronomy 15:16–18
Semantically similar passages
Exodus 21:4–6
4 If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her master, and only the man shall go free. 5 But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children; I do not want to go free,’ 6 then h…
Deuteronomy 15:11–13
11 For there will never cease to be poor in the land; that is why I am commanding you to open wide your hand to your brother and to the poor and needy in your land. 12 If a fellow Hebrew, a man or a woman, is sold to you and serves you six years, then in the seventh…
Leviticus 25:52–54
52 If only a few years remain until the Year of Jubilee, he is to calculate and pay his redemption according to his remaining years. 53 He shall be treated like a man hired from year to year, but a foreign owner must not rule over him harshly in your sight. 54 Even if h…
Leviticus 25:38–40
38 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God. 39 If a countryman among you becomes destitute and sells himself to you, then you must not force him into slave labor. 40 Let him stay with you as a hi…
Jeremiah 34:13–15
13 “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I made a covenant with your forefathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, saying: 14 Every seventh year, each of you must free his Hebrew brother who has sold himself to you…
Leviticus 25:42–44
42 Because the Israelites are My servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt, they are not to be sold as slaves. 43 You are not to rule over them harshly, but you shall fear your God. 44 Your menservants and maidservants shall come from the nations around you, fro…
Sirach 7:20–22
20 Don’t abuse a servant who works faithfully, or a hireling who gives you his life. (WEB) 21 Let your soul love a wise servant. Don’t defraud him of liberty. (WEB) 22 Do you have cattle? Look after them. If they are profitable to you, let them stay by you. (WEB)
Deuteronomy 21:13–15
13 and put aside the clothing of her captivity. After she has lived in your house a full month and mourned her father and mother, you may have relations with her and be her husband, and she shall be your wife. 14 And if you are not pleased with her, you are to let h…
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