Thematic Bible




Thematic Bible



Brothers, I am speaking according to a human perspective. Nevertheless, [when] the covenant of a man has been ratified, no one declares [it] invalid or adds additional provisions [to it].

'If you buy a Hebrew slave, he will serve six years, and in the seventh he will go out as free for nothing. If he comes in single, he will go out single. If he is the husband of a wife, his wife will go out with him. If his master gives him a wife and she bears for him sons or daughters, the wife and her children will belong to her master, and [the slave] will go out single. read more.
But if the slave explicitly says, "I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free," his master will present him to God and bring him to the door or to the doorpost, and his master will pierce his ear with an awl, and he will serve him forever.

Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, "When a person {displays infidelity} against Yahweh and he deceives his fellow citizen regarding something entrusted or {a pledge} or stealing or he exploits his fellow citizen,

{and when} he sins and is guilty, then he shall bring back {the things he had stolen} or {what he had extorted} or {something with which he had been entrusted} or the lost property that he had found, or {regarding} anything about which he has sworn {falsely}, then he shall repay it {according to} its value and shall add one-fifth of its value to it--he must give it {to whom it belongs} on the day of his guilt offering. And he must bring as his guilt offering to Yahweh a ram without defect from the flock by your valuation as a guilt offering to the priest, read more.
and the priest shall make atonement for him {before} Yahweh, and he shall be forgiven {anything} from all that he might do {by which he might incur guilt}."

But the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua did to Jericho and Ai, and they acted on their part with cunning: they went and prepared provisions, and took worn-out sacks for their donkeys and old wineskins [that were] torn and mended. The sandals on their feet [were] patched and old, their clothes [were] old, and their food was dry and crumbled. read more.
And they went to Joshua at the camp [at] Gilgal and said to him and to the men of Israel, "We have come from a far land; so then {make a covenant with us}." And the men of Israel said to the Hivites, "Perhaps you [are] living among us; how can we {make a covenant} with you?" They said to Joshua, "We [are] your servants." And Joshua said to them, "Who [are] you, and from where do you come?" And they said to him, "Your servants have come from a very far land because of the name of Yahweh your God; we have heard of his reputation, of all that he did in Egypt,

And Joshua made peace with them, and {he made a covenant with them} to allow them to live happily, and the leaders of the congregation swore [an oath] to them. And it happened that at the end of three days, after they made a covenant with them, they heard that {they were their neighbors} and living among them.

But the {Israelites} did not attack them, because the leaders of the congregation had sworn to them by Yahweh the God of Israel. And all the congregation murmured {against their leaders}. But all the leaders of the congregation said, "We have sworn to them by Yahweh the God of Israel, and so we cannot touch them. This we will do to them: [we will] let them live so that wrath will not be on us because of the oath we swore to them." read more.
And the leaders said to them, "Let them live." So they became woodcutters and water carriers for all the congregation, just as the leaders had said to them. And Joshua summoned them and said, "Why have you deceived us saying, 'We [are] very far from you' when you [are] living among us? Therefore you [are] cursed; some of you will always be slaves as woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God." And they answered Joshua and said, "Because it was told with certainty to your servants that Yahweh your God commanded Moses his servant to give to you all the land and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land before you, so we were very afraid for our lives because of you, and so we did this thing. So then, look, we [are] in your hand; do with us whatever seems good and right in your eyes." So he did this to them: he saved them from the hand of the {Israelites}, and they did not kill them. And that day Joshua made them woodcutters and water carriers for the congregation and for the altar of Yahweh, to this day, in the place that he should choose.

"For the kingdom of heaven is like a man--the master of the house--who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. And [after] coming to an agreement with the workers for a denarius per day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace. read more.
And to those [people] he said, 'You also go into the vineyard, and I will give you whatever is right.' So they went. Going out again about the sixth and ninth hour he did the same [thing]. And about the eleventh [hour] he went out [and] found others standing [there] and said to them, 'Why are you standing here the whole day unemployed?' They said to him, 'Because no one hired us.' He said to them, 'You go also into the vineyard.' And [when] evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, 'Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning from the last up to the first.' And [when] the ones [hired] about the eleventh hour came, they received a denarius apiece. And [when] the first came, they thought that they would receive more, and they also received a denarius apiece. And [when they] received [it], they began to complain against the master of the house, saying, 'These last [people] worked one hour and you made them equal to us who have endured the burden of the day and the burning heat!' But he answered one of them [and] said, 'Friend, I am not doing you wrong. Did you not come to an agreement with me for a denarius? Take [what is] yours and go! But I want to give to this last [person] [the same] as [I gave] to you also. Is it not permitted for me to do whatever I want with [what is] mine? Or is your eye evil because I am generous?' Thus the last will be first and the first last."




"A person shall not take a pair of millstones or an upper millstone, for {he is taking necessities of life as a pledge}.

'If you buy a Hebrew slave, he will serve six years, and in the seventh he will go out as free for nothing. If he comes in single, he will go out single. If he is the husband of a wife, his wife will go out with him. If his master gives him a wife and she bears for him sons or daughters, the wife and her children will belong to her master, and [the slave] will go out single. read more.
But if the slave explicitly says, "I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free," his master will present him to God and bring him to the door or to the doorpost, and his master will pierce his ear with an awl, and he will serve him forever.

" 'If you lend money [to] my people, [to] the needy with you, you will not be to him as a creditor; you will not {charge him interest}. If indeed you require the cloak of your neighbor as a pledge, you will return it to him at sundown, because it is his only garment; it is his cloak for his skin. In what will he sleep? {And} when he cries out to me, I will hear, because I [am] gracious.

And when you sell something to your fellow citizen or [you] buy from your neighbor's hand, you must not oppress {one another}. You must buy from your fellow citizen according to [the] number of years after the Jubilee; he must sell to you according to [the] number of years of yield. You must increase its price {according to a greater number of years}, but you must decrease its price {according to a lesser number of years}, because he is selling [its] yields to you. read more.
And you must not oppress {one another}, but you shall revere your God, because I [am] Yahweh, your God.

" 'And if your countryman becomes poor and {if he becomes dependent on you}, then you shall support him [like] an alien and [like] a temporary resident, and he shall live with you. You must not take interest or usury from him, but you shall revere your God, and your countryman shall live with you. You must not give your money to him with interest or give your food for profit.

And this [is] the manner of the remission of debt: every {creditor} shall remit his claim that he holds against his neighbor, and he shall not exact payment [from] his brother because there remission of debt has been proclaimed unto Yahweh. [With respect to] the foreigner you may exact payment, but {you must remit} what shall be [owed] to you [with respect to] your brother.

"{You shall not charge your brother interest on money}, interest on food, or interest on anything that one could lend on interest You may lend on interest to the foreigner, but to your countryman you may not lend on interest, so that Yahweh your God may bless you {in all your undertakings} in {the land where you are going}, {in order to take possession of it}.

"When you make a loan to your neighbor, a loan of any kind, you shall not go into his house {to take his pledge}. You shall wait outside, and the man [to] whom you [are] lending, he shall bring the pledge outside to you. And if [he is] a needy man, you shall not sleep in his pledge. read more.
You shall certainly return the pledge to him {as the sun sets}, so that he may sleep in his cloak and may bless you, and it shall be [considered] righteousness {on your behalf} {before} Yahweh your God.

And if you lend [to those] from whom you expect to receive [back], what kind of credit is [that] to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, so that they may get back an equal [amount]!


And [because] he did not have [enough] to repay [it], the master ordered him to be sold, and his wife and his children and everything that he had, and to be repaid.



And the one who wants to go to court with you and take your tunic, {let him have} your outer garment also.

And the peoples of the land who bring merchandise and any grain on the Sabbath day to sell, we will not accept it from them on the Sabbath or on a holy day. We will forego [the crops of] the seventh year and [cancel] every debt.

And [because] he did not have [enough] to repay [it], the master ordered him to be sold, and his wife and his children and everything that he had, and to be repaid.

{Settle the case quickly with your accuser} while you are with him on the way, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. Truly I say to you, you will never come out of there until you have paid back the last penny!

'If you buy a Hebrew slave, he will serve six years, and in the seventh he will go out as free for nothing. If he comes in single, he will go out single. If he is the husband of a wife, his wife will go out with him. If his master gives him a wife and she bears for him sons or daughters, the wife and her children will belong to her master, and [the slave] will go out single. read more.
But if the slave explicitly says, "I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free," his master will present him to God and bring him to the door or to the doorpost, and his master will pierce his ear with an awl, and he will serve him forever.

And when you sell something to your fellow citizen or [you] buy from your neighbor's hand, you must not oppress {one another}. You must buy from your fellow citizen according to [the] number of years after the Jubilee; he must sell to you according to [the] number of years of yield. You must increase its price {according to a greater number of years}, but you must decrease its price {according to a lesser number of years}, because he is selling [its] yields to you. read more.
And you must not oppress {one another}, but you shall revere your God, because I [am] Yahweh, your God.

" 'If a man gives to his neighbor a donkey or an ox or small livestock or any beast to watch over and it dies or is injured or is captured [when] there is no one who sees, the oath of Yahweh will be between the two of them [concerning] whether or not he has reached out his hand to his neighbor's possession, and its owner will accept [this], and he will not make restitution. But if indeed it was stolen from him, he will make restitution to its owner. read more.
If indeed it was torn to pieces, he will bring it as evidence--the mangled carcass; he will not make restitution. " 'If a man borrows from his neighbor and it is injured or dies [while] its owner is not with it, he will make restitution. If its owner [was] with it, he will not make restitution; if it was hired, it came with its hiring fee.

" 'When your brother becomes poor and he sells part of his property, then {his nearest redeemer} shall come, and he shall redeem the thing sold by his brother. But if a man {does not have} a redeemer, then {he prospers} and he finds enough for his redemption, then he shall calculate the years of its selling, and he shall refund the balance to the man to whom he sold [it], and he shall return to his property. read more.
But if his hand does not find enough to refund to him, then {what he has sold} shall be in the buyer's hand until the Year of Jubilee; and it shall go out [of the buyer's hand] in the Jubilee, and he shall return to his property. " 'And if a man sells {a residential house in a walled city}, then it shall be his redemption until completing {a year after his selling}; its redemption {shall last} {a year}. But if it is not redeemed {before a full year has passed}, then the house that [is] {in the walled city} shall belong to the buyer in perpetuity throughout his generations; it shall not go out [of the buyer's hand] in the Jubilee. However, village houses that have no surrounding wall shall be considered {open country}; [there] is redemption for it, and in the Jubilee it shall go out [of the buyer's hand]. " 'As for the cities of the Levites, [that is], the houses in their property's cities, it shall be {a lasting redemption} for the Levites. And whatever [anyone] redeems from the Levites then must go out [of the buyer's hand] in the Jubilee, [including] a house's selling {in his city's property}, because the houses in the cities of the Levites [are] their property in the midst of the {Israelites}. But a field of their cities' pastureland must not be sold, because {it is their property for all time}. " 'And if your countryman becomes poor and {if he becomes dependent on you}, then you shall support him [like] an alien and [like] a temporary resident, and he shall live with you. You must not take interest or usury from him, but you shall revere your God, and your countryman shall live with you. You must not give your money to him with interest or give your food for profit. I [am] Yahweh your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt to give {you} the land of Canaan, to be as God for you. " 'And if your countryman [who is] with you becomes poor, and he is sold to you, {you shall not treat him as a slave}. He shall be with you like a hired worker, like a temporary resident; he shall work with you until the Year of Jubilee. And he and his sons with him shall go out from you, and he shall return to his clan, and to the property of his ancestors he shall return.

" 'And if [the] alien or [the] temporary resident [who are] with you {prosper}, but your countryman [who is] with him becomes poor and he is sold to an alien, a temporary resident [who is] with you, or to a descendant of an alien's clan, after he is sold redemption shall be for him; one of his brothers may redeem him, or his uncle or his uncle's son may redeem him, or {one of} {his close relatives} from his clan may redeem him; or [if] {he prospers}, he may redeem himself. read more.
And he shall calculate with his buyer from the year of {his selling himself} until the Jubilee; and the value of his selling shall be according to the number of years--it shall be with him like a hired worker's days. If [there are] still many years, {in keeping with them} he shall restore his redemption {in proportion to his purchase price}. And if [there are] a few years left until the Year of Jubilee, then he shall calculate for himself; he shall restore his redemption {according to the number of his years}. He shall be with him {as a yearly hired worker}; he shall not rule over him with ruthlessness {in your sight}. And if he is not redeemed by [any of] these [ways], then he and his sons with him shall go out in the Year of Jubilee. Indeed, the {Israelites} [are] servants for me; they [are] my servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt. I [am] Yahweh your God.'"



If your relative who is a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman is sold to you, and [he or she] has served you six years, then in the seventh year you shall send that person [out] {free}.



And they served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who were eating with him by themselves, for Egyptians {could not dine} with Hebrews, because that [was] a detestable thing to Egyptians.

You must live in the booths [for] seven days; all the natives in Israel must live in the booths,

all the inhabitants of the hill country, from the Lebanon up to Misrephoth Maim, and all [the] Sidonians. I will drive them out from before the {Israelites}; only allocate it to Israel as an inheritance just as I have commanded you.

And the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives--of whom the name of the one [was] Shiphrah and the name of the second [was] Puah--

And Pharaoh sent [to check], and {it turned out} not even one from the livestock of Israel had died, but Pharaoh's heart was {insensitive}, and he did not release the people.

And Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, and they said to him, "Thus says Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, 'Until when will you refuse to submit before me? Release my people so that they may serve me.



If your relative who is a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman is sold to you, and [he or she] has served you six years, then in the seventh year you shall send that person [out] {free}.

"At [the] end of seven years you must let go each one his fellow countryman, the Hebrew who has been sold to you and who has served you six years, and you must let him go free from you." But your ancestors did not listen to me, and they did not incline their ears.


And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and you shall proclaim a release in the land for all its inhabitants. It [is] a Jubilee; it shall be for you, and you shall return. You must return--everyone to his property and everyone to his clan.

"If a man is {caught} kidnapping somebody from [among] his countrymen, the {Israelites}, and he treats him as a slave or he sells him, then that kidnapper shall die, and [so] you shall purge the evil {from among you}.

" 'And when a man lies with a woman [and there is] an emission of semen and she [is] a female slave promised to a man, but she indeed has not been ransomed or freedom has not be given to her, [there] shall be an obligation to compensate; they shall not be put to death, because she has not been freed. And he shall bring his guilt offering to Yahweh at the tent of assembly's entrance: a ram [for] a guilt offering. And the priest shall make atonement for him {before} Yahweh with the ram of the guilt offering for his sin that he {committed}, and so his sin that he {committed} shall be forgiven him.

If your relative who is a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman is sold to you, and [he or she] has served you six years, then in the seventh year you shall send that person [out] {free}.

It shall not be hard in your eyes {when you send him forth free}, because for six years he has served you [worth] twice the wage of a hired worker; and Yahweh your God will bless you {in whatever you will do}.

"And these are the regulations that you will set before them. 'If you buy a Hebrew slave, he will serve six years, and in the seventh he will go out as free for nothing. If he comes in single, he will go out single. If he is the husband of a wife, his wife will go out with him. read more.
If his master gives him a wife and she bears for him sons or daughters, the wife and her children will belong to her master, and [the slave] will go out single. But if the slave explicitly says, "I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free," his master will present him to God and bring him to the door or to the doorpost, and his master will pierce his ear with an awl, and he will serve him forever. " 'And if a man sells his daughter as a slave woman, she will not go out as male slaves go out. If {she does not please her master} who selected her, he will allow her to be redeemed; he has no authority to sell her to foreign people, since he has dealt treacherously with her. And if he selects her for his son, he shall do for her according to the regulations for daughters. If he takes for himself another, he will not reduce her food, her clothing, or her right of cohabitation. And if he does not do for her these three, she shall go out for nothing; there will not be silver [paid for her].

And if a man strikes his male slave or his female slave with the rod and he dies under his hand, he will surely be avenged. Yet if he survives a day or two days, he will not be avenged, because he is his money.

" 'And if a man strikes the eye of his male slave or the eye of his female slave and destroys it, he shall release him as free in place of his eye. And if he causes the tooth of his male slave or the tooth of his female slave to fall out, he will release him as free in place of his tooth.

If the ox gores a male slave or a female slave, he will give thirty shekels of silver to his master, and the ox will be stoned.

And a Sabbath of the land shall be for food for you: for you and for your slave and for your slave woman and for your hired worker and for your temporary residents who are dwelling as aliens with you;

" 'And if your countryman becomes poor and {if he becomes dependent on you}, then you shall support him [like] an alien and [like] a temporary resident, and he shall live with you. You must not take interest or usury from him, but you shall revere your God, and your countryman shall live with you. You must not give your money to him with interest or give your food for profit. read more.
I [am] Yahweh your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt to give {you} the land of Canaan, to be as God for you. " 'And if your countryman [who is] with you becomes poor, and he is sold to you, {you shall not treat him as a slave}. He shall be with you like a hired worker, like a temporary resident; he shall work with you until the Year of Jubilee. And he and his sons with him shall go out from you, and he shall return to his clan, and to the property of his ancestors he shall return. Because they [are] my servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt, they shall not be sold {as a slave}. You shall not rule over him with ruthlessness, but you shall revere your God. " 'As for your slave and your slave woman who are yours, from the nations that [are] all around you, from them you may buy a slave or a slave woman. And you may buy also from the children of the temporary residents who are dwelling with you as aliens and from their clan who are with you, who have children in your land; indeed, they may be as property for you. And you may pass them on as an inheritance to your sons after you to take possession of as property {for all time}--you may let them work. But [as for] your countrymen, the {Israelites}, you shall not rule with ruthlessness over {one another}. " 'And if [the] alien or [the] temporary resident [who are] with you {prosper}, but your countryman [who is] with him becomes poor and he is sold to an alien, a temporary resident [who is] with you, or to a descendant of an alien's clan, after he is sold redemption shall be for him; one of his brothers may redeem him, or his uncle or his uncle's son may redeem him, or {one of} {his close relatives} from his clan may redeem him; or [if] {he prospers}, he may redeem himself. And he shall calculate with his buyer from the year of {his selling himself} until the Jubilee; and the value of his selling shall be according to the number of years--it shall be with him like a hired worker's days. If [there are] still many years, {in keeping with them} he shall restore his redemption {in proportion to his purchase price}. And if [there are] a few years left until the Year of Jubilee, then he shall calculate for himself; he shall restore his redemption {according to the number of his years}. He shall be with him {as a yearly hired worker}; he shall not rule over him with ruthlessness {in your sight}. And if he is not redeemed by [any of] these [ways], then he and his sons with him shall go out in the Year of Jubilee. Indeed, the {Israelites} [are] servants for me; they [are] my servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt. I [am] Yahweh your God.'"

You shall generously supply him from [among] your flocks and from your threshing floor and from your press; [according to] that [with which] Yahweh your God has blessed you, you shall give to him.



If your relative who is a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman is sold to you, and [he or she] has served you six years, then in the seventh year you shall send that person [out] {free}.