Exodus 21:1-11

Good News Translation

The Treatment of Slaves^(A)

21 “Give the Israelites the following laws: ^2 (B)If you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve you for six years. In the seventh year he is to be set free without having to pay anything. ³ If he was unmarried when he became your slave, he is not to take a wife with him when he leaves; but if he was married when he became your slave, he may take his wife with him. ⁴ If his master gave him a wife and she bore him sons or daughters, the woman and her children belong to the master, and the man is to leave by himself. ⁵ But if the slave declares that he loves his master, his wife, and his children and does not want to be set free, ⁶ then his master shall take him to the place of worship. There he is to make him stand against the door or the doorpost and put a hole through his ear. Then he will be his slave for life.

⁷ “If a man sells his daughter as a slave, she is not to be set free, as male slaves are. ⁸ If she is sold to someone who intends to make her his wife, but he doesn't like her, then she is to be sold back to her father; her master cannot sell her to foreigners, because he has treated her unfairly. ⁹ If a man buys a female slave to give to his son, he is to treat her like a daughter. ¹⁰ If a man takes a second wife, he must continue to give his first wife the same amount of food and clothing and the same rights that she had before. ¹¹ If he does not fulfill these duties to her, he must set her free and not receive any payment.