41 Bible Verses about Servanthood, In Society

'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 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 when you send him [out] free from you, you shall not send him [away] empty-handed. 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.read more.
And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and Yahweh your God redeemed you; therefore I [am] commanding you thus {today}. And then [if] it will happen [that] he says to you, '{I do not want to go out} from you,' because he loves you and your family, because it is good for him [to be] with you; then you shall take an awl, and you shall thrust [it] through his earlobe and into the door, and he shall be to you {a slave forever}; and you shall also do likewise for your slave woman. 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}.

{You must certainly circumcise} {the servant born in your house and the one bought from any foreigner}. And my covenant shall be with your flesh as an everlasting covenant.

But any slave of a man, an acquisition by money, and you have circumcised him, then he may eat it.

But the seventh day [is] a Sabbath for Yahweh your God; you will not do any work--you or your son or your daughter, your male slave or your female slave, or your animal, or your alien who [is] in your gates--

but the seventh day [is] Sabbath unto Yahweh your God; you shall not do any work, or your son, or your daughter, or your slave, or your slave woman, or your ox, or your donkey, or any of your domestic animals, or your [resident] alien who [is] in your {towns}, so that your slave and your slave woman may rest as you [rest].

" '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.read more.
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.'"

"When you go out for battle against your enemies, and Yahweh your God gives them into your hand, and you lead the captives away, and you see among the captives a woman beautiful in appearance, and you become attached to her and you want to take her as wife, then you shall bring her into your household, and she shall shave her head, and she shall trim her nails.read more.
And she shall remove the clothing of her captivity from her, and she shall remain in your house, and she shall mourn her father and her mother {a full month}, and after this {you may have sex with her}, and you may marry her, and she may {become your wife}. And then if you do not take delight in her, then you shall let her go {to do whatever she wants}, but you shall not treat her as a slave, since you have dishonored her.

"You [are] standing {today}, all of you, {before} Yahweh your God, your leaders, your tribes, your elders, and your officials, all the men of Israel, your little children, your women and your aliens who [are] in the midst of your camp, from the choppers of your wood to the drawers of your water,

And Sheshan had no sons, only daughters, but Sheshan had an Egyptian slave, and his name [was] Jarha. So Sheshan gave his daughter to Jarha his slave for a wife, and she bore to him Attai.

And David said to Saul, "Your servant has been a shepherd of the flock for his father. If the lion or the bear would come and carry off a sheep from the group,

The king said, "[Is] it peace for the young man Absalom?" Ahimaaz said, "I saw the great commotion when Joab the servant of the king sent your servant, but I do not know what [it was all about]."

So he brought the letter of the king to Israel, saying, "Now, when this letter comes to you, I have just sent Naaman my servant to you that you may cure him from his skin disease."

this is the copy of the letter which they sent to him: "To King Artaxerxes [from] your servants, the men of [the province] Beyond the River. And now,

The favor of a king [is] for the servant who deals wisely, but his wrath will be [on] him who acts shamefully.

"For this [reason] the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man--a king--who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves.

Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria, saying, "I [am] your servant and your son. Come up and rescue me from the hand of the king of Aram and from the hand of the king of Israel who are rising up against me."

When all the kings, the servants of Hadadezer, saw that he had been defeated before Israel, they made peace with Israel and served them, and Aram [was] afraid to help the {Ammonites} any longer.

And when the servants of Hadadezer saw that they were defeated before Israel, they made peace with David and became servants to him. So Aram was no longer willing to help the {Ammonites}.

Shalmaneser the king of Assyria came up against him, and Hoshea became his vassal and paid tribute to him.

In his days, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up [because] Jehoiakim had become his servant [for] three years; then he turned and rebelled against him.

And {foreigners} shall build your walls, and their kings shall serve you, for in my anger I struck you, but in my favor I have taken pity on you.

Now Saul's household had a servant whose name [was] Ziba, so they summoned him to David, and the king asked him, "[Are] you Ziba?" He said, "{At your service}!"

And he said, "Behold, my lords, please turn aside into the house of your servant and spend the night and wash your feet. Then you can rise early and go on your way." And they said, "No, but we will spend the night in the square."

And he instructed them, saying, "Thus you must say to my lord, to Esau, 'Thus says your servant Jacob, I have dwelled as an alien with Laban, and I have remained [there] until now.

Your servant had two sons, and they both fought in the open field, and there [was] no one {to part them}. One struck the other and killed him.

When the sons of the prophets who [were] at Jericho saw him from [the] other side, they declared, "The spirit of Elijah rests upon Elisha," and they came to meet him and bowed down to him to the ground. Then they said to him, "Look, there are with your servants fifty able men. Please let them go and look for your master, lest the Spirit of Yahweh has lifted him up and thrown him on one of the mountains or into one of the valleys," but he said, "You must not send them."

A certain woman from the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, "Your servant my husband is dead. Now you know that your servant was a fearer of Yahweh, but the creditor came to take two of my children for himself as slaves.

Then a certain one said, "Please be prepared and go with your servants," and he said, "I will go."

"Please test your servants [for] ten days, and let them give us {some of the vegetables}, and let us eat and let us drink water. Then let our appearances and the appearance of the young men who are eating the fine food of the king be compared {before you}, and [then] deal with your servants {according to what you see}."

And the {astrologers} said to the king [in] Aramaic, "O king, live forever! Tell the dream to your servants and we will reveal the explanation."

He who brings trouble [to] his household, he will inherit wind, and a fool will serve the wise of heart.

It is better to be lowly and a servant {to someone} than self-glorifying and lacking food.

A slave who deals wisely will rule over a child who acts shamefully, and in the midst of brothers he will share his inheritance.

By words, a servant is not disciplined, for he will understand, but there is no giving heed.

Do not slander a servant to his master, or else he will curse you and you will be guilty.

But you are not to be called 'Rabbi,' because one is your teacher, and you are all brothers, And do not call [anyone] your father on earth, for one is your heavenly Father. And do not be called teachers, because one is your teacher, the Christ.read more.
And the greatest among you will be your servant. And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

"No one is able to serve two masters. For either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You are not able to serve God and money.

"And which of you who has a slave plowing or shepherding [sheep] who comes in from the field will say to him, 'Come here at once [and] recline at the table'? Will he not rather say to him, 'Prepare something that I may eat, and dress yourself to serve me while I eat and drink, and after these [things] you will eat and drink.' He will not {be grateful} to the slave because he did what was ordered, [will he]?read more.
Thus you also, when you have done all the {things you were ordered to do}, say, 'We are unworthy slaves; we have done what we were obligated to do.'"

Remember the word that I said to you: 'A slave is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will keep yours also.

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone who is among you not to think more highly of yourself than what one ought to think, but to think {sensibly}, as God has apportioned a measure of faith to each one. For just as in one body we have many members, but all the members do not have the same function, in the same way we who are many are one body in Christ, and {individually} members of one another,read more.
but having different gifts according to the grace given to us: if [it is] prophecy, according to the proportion of [his] faith; if [it is] service, by service; if [it is] one who teaches, by teaching; if [it is] one who exhorts, by exhortation; one who gives, with sincerity; one who leads, with diligence; one who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.