41 Bible Verses about Servanthood, In Society

If thou should buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years; and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing. If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself; if he was married, then his wife shall go out with him. If his master has given him a wife, and she has born him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out by himself.read more.
And if the slave shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free. Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall serve him forever.

And if thy brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, is sold unto thee and serves thee six years, then in the seventh year thou shalt send him forth from thee free. And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not send him away empty. Thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock and out of thy threshing floor and out of thy winepress; of that with which the LORD thy God has blessed thee thou shalt give unto him.read more.
And thou shalt remember that thou wast a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD thy God ransomed thee; therefore, I command thee this thing to day. And it shall be, if he says unto thee, I will not go away from thee because he loves thee and thy house because he is well with thee, then thou shalt take an aul and thrust it through his ear unto the door, and he shall be thy slave for ever. And also unto thy maidservant thou shalt do likewise. It shall not seem hard unto thee when thou sendest him away free from thee, for he has served thee for half the cost of a hired servant for six years; and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all that thou doest.

He that is born in thy house and he that is bought with thy money must needs be circumcised; and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.

but every man's slave that is bought for money, when thou hast circumcised him, then shall he eat of it.

but the seventh day shall be the sabbath of the LORD thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manslave, nor thy maidslave, nor thy beast, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates;

but the seventh day is the sabbath unto the LORD thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou nor thy son nor thy daughter nor thy manslave nor thy maidslave nor thine ox nor thine ass nor any animal of thine nor thy stranger that is within thy gates, that thy manslave and thy maidslave may rest as well as thou.

And when thy brother becomes poor, being with thee, and if he should sell himself unto thee, thou shalt not compel him to serve as a slave. As a hired servant and as a sojourner, he shall be with thee and shall serve thee unto the year of jubilee. Then he shall depart free from thy house, both he and his children with him, and shall return unto his own family, and unto the possession of his fathers shall he be restored.read more.
For they belong to me, I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as slaves. Thou shalt not rule over him with rigor, but shalt fear thy God. Both thy menslaves and thy maidslaves, which thou shalt have, shall be of the Gentiles that are round about you; of them shall ye buy slaves. Ye may also buy of the children of the strangers that live among you and of those of their lineage that are born in your land, who are with you, and they shall be your possession. And ye shall possess them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit as a possession; they shall be your bondmen for ever; but over your brethren, the sons of Israel, ye shall not rule over one another with rigor. And if a sojourner or stranger who is with thee becomes rich and thy brother who is with him becomes poor and sells himself unto the stranger or sojourner who is with thee or to the race of the lineage of the stranger, after he is sold he shall have redemption; one of his brethren shall redeem him; either his uncle or his uncle's son shall redeem him; or any that is near of kin unto him of his lineage shall redeem him; or if he is able, he may redeem himself. And he shall reckon with him that bought him from the year that he was sold to him unto the year of jubilee; and the price of his sale shall be according to the number of years, according to the time of a hired servant shall it be with him. If there are yet many years, according unto them he shall give again the price of his redemption out of the money that he was bought for. And if there remain but few years unto the year of jubilee, then he shall count with him, and according unto his years shall he give him again the price of his redemption. And as a yearly hired servant shall he be with him; and the other shall not rule with rigor over him in thy sight. And if he is not redeemed in these years, then he shall go out in the year of jubilee, both he and his children with him. For the sons of Israel are mine; they are my slaves whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt. I AM your God.

When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies, and the LORD thy God has delivered them into thine hands, and thou hast taken them captive, and seest among the captives a beautiful woman and hast a desire unto her that thou would have her to thy wife, then thou shalt bring her home to thine house, and she shall shave her head and pare her nails,read more.
and she shall put off the clothing of her captivity and shall remain in thine house and bewail her father and her mother a full month, and after that thou shalt go in unto her and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife. And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her, then thou shalt let her go free, but thou shalt not sell her at all for money; thou shalt not make merchandise of her because thou hast humbled her.

Ye stand today, all of you, before the LORD your God, your princes of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, with all the men of Israel, your little ones, your wives, and thy strangers that dwell within thy camp, from the hewer of thy wood unto the drawer of thy water,

Now Sheshan had no sons, but daughters. And Sheshan had a slave, an Egyptian, whose name was Jarha. And Sheshan gave his daughter to Jarha, his slave, to wife; and she bore him Attai.

And David replied unto Saul, Thy slave was the pastor of his father's sheep, and if a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock,

And the king said, Is the young man Absalom at peace? And Ahimaaz answered, When Joab sent the king's slave, and me thy slave, I saw a great tumult, but I did not know what it was.

And he also took the letter to the king of Israel, which said, Now when this letter is come unto thee, behold, I have therewith sent Naaman, my slave, to thee, that thou may remove his leprosy.

This is the copy of the letter that they sent: Unto Artaxerxes, the king: Thy servants, the men of the other side of the river, and of Cheenet.

The king's favour is toward the wise slave, but his wrath is against him that causes shame.

Therefore is the kingdom of the heavens likened unto a man who is king who would take account of his slaves.

So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglathpileser, king of Assyria, saying, I am thy slave and thy son; come up and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria and out of the hand of the king of Israel, who have risen up against me.

And when all the kings that were slaves to Hadarezer saw that they were smitten before Israel, they made peace with Israel and served them. So the Syrians feared to help the sons of Ammon any more.

And when the slaves of Hadarezer saw that they were smitten before Israel, they made peace with David and became his servants; neither would the Syrians help the sons of Ammon any more.

Against him came up Shalmaneser, king of Assyria; and Hosea became his slave and gave him presents.

In his time Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came up, and Jehoiakim became his slave three years; then he turned and rebelled against him.

And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall serve thee; for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my good favour I shall have mercy on thee.

And there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba. And when they had called him unto David, the king said unto him, Art thou Ziba? And he said, Thy slave is he.

and he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your slave's house and tarry all night and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early and go on your ways. And they said, No, but we will abide in the street all night.

And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye speak unto my lord Esau: Thy slave Jacob saith thus, I have sojourned with Laban and stayed there until now;

And thy handmaid had two sons, and the two strove together in the field, and there was no one to part them, but the one smote the other and slew him.

And seeing him, the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho said, The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha. And they came to meet him and bowed themselves to the ground before him. And they said unto him, Behold now, there are fifty strong men with thy slaves; let them go and seek thy master; peradventure the Spirit of the LORD has taken him up and cast him upon some mountain or into some valley. And he said, Do not send them.

Now a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried unto Elisha, saying, Thy slave, my husband, is dead; and thou knowest that thy slave feared the LORD; and the creditor is come to take my two sons to be his slaves.

And one said, Be content, I pray thee, and go with thy slaves. And he answered, I will go.

Prove, now, with thy slaves ten days, and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then let our countenances be looked upon before thee, and the countenances of the young men that eat of the portion of the king's food; and as thou seest, deal with thy slaves.

Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Syriack, O king, live for ever; tell thy servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.

He that troubles his own house shall inherit the wind, and the fool shall be slave to the wise of heart.

He that despises himself and becomes a slave is better than he that honours himself and lacks bread.

A prudent slave shall have rule over a son that causes shame and shall have part of the inheritance among the brethren.

A slave will not be corrected by words, for though he understands he will not obey.

Do not accuse a slave in the presence of his master, lest he curse thee, and thou be found guilty.

But, as for you, desire not to be called Rabbi, for one is your Master, the Christ; and you are all brothers. And call no one your father upon the earth, for one is your Father, who is in the heavens. Neither be ye called masters, for one is your Master, the Christ.read more.
But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled, and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and riches.

But which of you, having a slave plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by when he is come from the field, Go and sit down at the table? And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup and gird thyself and serve me until I have eaten and drunken, and afterward thou shalt eat and drink? Does he thank that slave because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not.read more.
So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable slaves: we have done that which was our duty to do.

Remember the word that I said unto you, The slave is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my word, they will keep yours also.

Therefore I say through the grace given unto me, to all those that are among you not to obtain more knowledge than is prudent to know, but to obtain knowledge with temperance, each one according to the measure of faith that God has dealt. For in the manner that we have many members in one body, nevertheless all the members do not have the same operation; likewise many of us are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.read more.
So that having different gifts according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, according to the measure of faith; or ministry, in serving; or he that teaches, in doctrine; he that exhorts, in exhortation; he that gives, let him do it in simplicity; he that presides, in earnest care; he that shows mercy, in cheerfulness.