¹⁶ “But if your Hebrew slave doesn’t want to leave—if he says he loves you and enjoys your pleasant home and gets along well with you— ¹⁷ then take an awl and pierce his ear into the door, and after that he shall be your slave forever. Do the same with your women slaves. ¹⁸ But when you free a slave you must not feel bad, for remember that for six years he has cost you less than half the price of a hired hand! And the Lord your God will prosper all you do because you have released him!