Exodus 21:4-6

New International Reader's Version

⁴ Suppose his master gives him a wife. And suppose she has sons or daughters by him. Then only the man will go free. The woman and her children will belong to her master.

⁵ “But suppose the servant says, ‘I love my master and my wife and children. I don’t want to go free.’ ⁶ Then his master must take him to the judges. His master must take him to the door or doorpost of his master’s house. His master must poke a hole through his servant’s earlobe into the door or doorpost. Then he will become his servant for life.