39 Bible Verses about Slavery, In Ot
Most Relevant Verses
When thou comest near to a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it. And it shall be, if it makes thee an answer of peace and opens unto thee, that all the people that are found therein shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee.
Then the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons and take the goods to thyself.
And the sons of Israel took all the women of Midian captives and their little ones and took the spoil of all their beasts and all their flocks and all their goods.
And the Syrians had gone out by companies and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid, and she waited on Naaman's wife.
And the sons of Israel carried away captive of their brethren two hundred thousand, women, sons, and daughters, in addition to taking much spoil from them, which they brought to Samaria.
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 it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stripped Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colours that was on him; and they took him and cast him into the cistern; and the pit was empty, there was no water in it. And they sat down to eat bread; and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a company of Ishmeelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing aromas and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt.read more.
Then Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother and conceal his blood? Come and let us sell him to the Ishmeelites and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother and our flesh. And his brethren were content. And when the Midianite merchantmen passed by, they took and lifted up Joseph out of the cistern and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they brought Joseph into Egypt.
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.
If a thief is found breaking into a house and is smitten so he dies, he that killed him shall not be guilty of his blood. If the sun is risen upon him, he that killed him is guilty of his blood; the thief should make full restitution; if he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.
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.
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.
Then there was a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brethren, the Jews. For there were some that said, We, our sons, and our daughters, are many; therefore we have bought grain that we may eat and live. There were also some that said, We have mortgaged our lands, vineyards, and houses, that we might buy grain because of the famine.read more.
And there were some that said, We have borrowed money for the king's tribute, and that upon our lands and vineyards. Yet now, given that the flesh of our brethren is as our flesh and their sons as our sons, behold, we subject our sons and our daughters to slavery, and there are some of our daughters in bondage already; neither is it in our power to redeem them; for other men have our lands and vineyards.
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.
And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every male in your generations, he that is born in the house or bought with money of any stranger, who is not of thy seed. 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.
Is Israel a slave? Is he a homeborn slave? Why has he been given over as a prey?
And David gathered all the people together and went to Rabbah and fought against it and took it. And he took their king's crown from off his head, the weight of which was a talent of gold with the precious stones, and it was set on David's head. And he brought forth the spoil of the city in great abundance. And he brought forth the people that were therein and put them under saws and under harrows of iron and under axes of iron and made them pass through the brickkiln, and thus did he unto all the cities of the sons of Ammon. So David and all the people returned unto Jerusalem.
Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. And they built the supply cities for Pharaoh: Pithom and Raamses. But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew, so much that they loathed the sons of Israel. And the Egyptians made the sons of Israel serve with rigor,read more.
and they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, making mortar and brick and in all manner of service in the field; all their service, in which they made them serve, was with rigor.
And Joshua called for them, and spoke unto them saying, Why have ye beguiled us, saying, We are very far from you, when ye dwell among us? Now, therefore, ye are cursed, and ye shall always be slaves and hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God.
And they did not drive out the Canaanite that dwelt in Gezer, but the Canaanite remained in the midst of Ephraim unto this day and served under tribute.
And it came to pass when Israel was strong that they put the Canaanites under tribute but did not utterly drive them out.
And all the peoples that were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, which were not of the sons of Israel, their children that were left after them in the land, whom the sons of Israel were not able utterly to destroy, upon those Solomon levied a tribute of bondservice unto this day.
And if a man should sell his daughter to be a maidslave, she shall not go out as the menslaves do. If she pleases not her master, who therefore took her not unto himself to wife, then it is permitted that she be ransomed; and he may not sell her unto a strange nation when he rejects her. And if he has betrothed her unto his son, he shall deal with her after the manner of daughters.read more.
If he takes another wife, her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage, he shall not diminish. And if he does not do these three things unto her, then shall she go out free without money.
Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest, that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid and the stranger may be refreshed.
Six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work; 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;
then there shall be a place which the LORD your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there; there shall ye bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the offerings of your hand and all your choice of vows which ye vow unto the LORD; and ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God, ye and your sons and your daughters and your menslaves and your maidslaves and the Levite that is within your gates because he has no part nor inheritance with you.
And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed; and, behold, one born in my house is my heir.
Thou shalt not deliver unto his master the slave who is escaped from his master unto thee.
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.
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.
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. And if the slave shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free.read more.
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.
This is the word that came unto Jeremiah from the LORD after king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people which were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them; that every man should let his manslave, and every man his maidslave, being a Hebrew or a Hebrewess, go free; that no one should use of his brethren, the Jews, as a slave. Now when all the princes and all the people, who had entered into the covenant, heard that each one should let his manslave and each one his maidslave go free, that no one should use them any more as servants, then they listened and let them go.read more.
But afterward they repented and caused the slaves and the handmaids, whom they had let go free, to return and brought them into subjection for slaves and for handmaids. Therefore the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel: I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, saying, At the end of seven years each one shall let his Hebrew brother go, who has been sold unto thee; therefore he shall serve thee six years, and thou shalt send him forth free from thee: but your fathers did not hearken unto me, nor incline their ear. And ye were now converted and had done right in my sight in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name: but ye turned and polluted my name and caused each man his slave and each man his handmaid, whom ye had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return and brought them into subjection, to be unto you for slaves and for handmaids. Therefore thus hath the LORD said: Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, each one to his brother and each man to his neighbour; behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, said the LORD, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth. And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, who have not performed the words of the covenant which they had made before me, when they cut the calf in two and passed between the parts thereof, the princes of Judah and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land, which passed between the parts of the calf; I will even give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those that seek their soul; and their dead bodies shall be for food unto the fowls of the heaven and to the beasts of the earth.
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.read more.
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 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.
If the ox shall gore a manslave or a maidslave, he shall give unto their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.
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.
And when they were come to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant that was with him, Come, and let us return; lest my father leave caring for the asses and take thought for us. And he said unto him, Behold now, there is in this city a man of God, and he is an honorable man; all that he says surely comes to pass; now let us go there; peradventure he can show us our way that we should go. Then Saul replied unto his servant, But, behold, if we go, what shall we bring the man? For the bread is spent in our vessels, and we have nothing to present unto the man of God. What do we have?read more.
And the servant answered Saul again and said, Behold, I have here at hand the fourth part of a shekel of silver; this will I give to the man of God to tell us our way. (Beforetime in Israel when anyone went to enquire of God, he spoke thus, Come, and let us go to the seer, for he that is now called a Prophet was called a Seer before.) Then Saul said to his servant, Well said; come, let us go. So they went unto the city where the man of God was.
