Leviticus 25:39-55 - Release Of Slaves

³⁹ And when thy brother waxeth poor with thee, and so selleth himself unto thee, thou shalt not bind him with the bondage of a bondman: ⁴⁰ as a hired servant, as a settler, shall he remain with thee, - until the year of the jubilee, shall he serve with thee: ⁴¹ then shall he go forth from thee, he and his sons with him, - and shall return unto his family, and unto the possession of his fathers, shall he return. ⁴² For, my bondmen, they are, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt, - they shall not sell themselves with the sale of a bondman. ⁴³ Thou shalt not rule over him with rigour, - so shalt thou stand in awe of thy God. ⁴⁴ And as for thy bondman and thy bond-maid which thou shalt have, of the nations that are round about you - from them, may ye buy bondman and bond-maid. ⁴⁵ Moreover also, of the sons of the settlers who are sojourning with you - of them, may ye buy, and of their families that are with you, which they have begotten in your land, - so shall they become yours, as a possession; ⁴⁶ and ye may take them as an inheritance for your sons after you to inherit as a possession, unto times age-abiding, of them, may ye take to be bondmen, - but, over your brethren the sons of Israel - a man over his brother, ye shall not rule, over him with rigour.

⁴⁷ And, when the hand of the sojourner and settler with thee getteth possessions, and thy brother with him, waxeth poor, - and so he selleth himself to the sojourner who is a settler with thee, or to one who hath taken root, of the family of the sojourner, ⁴⁸ after that he hath sold himself, a right of redemption, pertaineth to him, - one of his brethren, may redeem him; ⁴⁹ or, his uncle or his uncle's son, may redeem him, or, a near flesh-relation of his, of his family, may redeem him, or, his own hand may have gotten enough, and, so he may redeem himself. ⁵⁰ Then shall he reckon with him that bought him, from the year that he was sold to him, unto the year of the jubilee, - and the silver for which he was sold shall be by the number of years, according to the days of a hired servant, shall he be with him. ⁵¹ If there is yet a multitude of years, according to them, shall he return, as his redemption price, of the silver of him that bought him. ⁵² Or, if there is but a small remainder of years, until the year of the jubilee, then shall he reckon to himself, according to the years thereof, shall he return his price of redemption. ⁵³ As a servant hired year by year, shall he be with him, he shall not rule over him with rigour, before thine eyes. ⁵⁴ But if he be not redeemed in any of these ways, then shall he go out in the jubilee year, he, and his sons with him. ⁵⁵ For, unto me, are the sons of Israel, bondmen, my bondmen, they are, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt. I, Yahweh, am your God.

¹² When thy brother a Hebrew man (or a Hebrew woman) selleth himself unto thee, then shall he serve thee six years, - and in the seventh year, shalt thou let him go out free from thee; ¹³ and when thou lettest him go out free, from thee, thou shalt not let him go out empty: ¹⁴ thou shalt, richly load, him out of thy flock, and out of thy threshing-floor and out of thy wine-vat, - of that wherewith Yahweh thy God hath blessed thee, shalt thou give unto him; ¹⁵ and thou shalt remember that a servant, thou wast in the land of Egypt, and that Yahweh thy God, redeemed thee, - for this cause, am I commanding thee this thing, to-day. ¹⁶ And it shall be, if he shall say unto thee, I will not go away from thee, - because he loveth thee, and thy household, because he is well off with thee, ¹⁷ then shalt thou take an awl and thrust it through his ear unto the door, so shall he be thy servant all his life. And unto thine handmaid also, shalt thou do thus. ¹⁸ It shall not be hard in thine eyes when thou lettest him go out free, from thee; for to the double of the hire of a hireling, hath he served thee six years, - -so will Yahweh thy God bless thee, in all that thou doest.