Exodus 21:1-11 - Regulations Regarding Hebrew Slaves

¹ These are the ordinances you should set before them.

² When you buy a Hebrew slave he will be your slave for six years. In the seventh year he may leave as a free man without paying for his freedom. ³ If he was single at the time you bought him he alone must be set free. If he was married at that time, both he and his wife must be given their freedom. ⁴ If his master gives him a wife, and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children will belong to her master. He shall go out alone.

⁵ What if the slave loves his wife and children so much that he will not leave without them? ⁶ He must stand beside either the door or the doorpost at the place of worship. His owner will punch a small hole through one of his ears with a sharp metal rod. This makes him a slave for life.

⁷ When a man sells his daughter into slavery, she will not go free the way male slaves do. ⁸ If she does not please the master who has chosen her as a wife, he must let her be bought back by one of her close relatives. He has no right to sell her to foreigners, since he has treated her unfairly. ⁹ If a man buys a female slave to give to his son, he should 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 fails to do any of these things, she should be given her freedom without cost.