Deuteronomy 15:16-18

Common English Bible

(¹⁶ Now if your male servant says to you: “I don’t want to leave your service” because he loves you and your family and because life is good for him in your service, ¹⁷ then you may take a needle and pierce his ear with it into the doorframe. From that point on, he will be your permanent servant. Do the same thing for female servants.) ¹⁸ Don’t consider it a hardship to set these servants free from your service, because they worked for you for six years—at a value double that of a paid worker. The Lord your God will bless you in everything that you do.