Leviticus 25:39-55 - Release Of Slaves

³⁹ "'If thy brother that dwelleth by thee wax poor and sell himself unto thee, thou shalt not let him labour as a bondservant doeth: ⁴⁰ but as a hired servant and as a sojourner he shall be with thee, and shall serve thee unto the trumpet year, ⁴¹ and then shall he depart from thee: both he and his children with him, and shall return unto his own kindred again and unto the possessions of his fathers; ⁴² for they are my servants which I brought out of the land of Egypt, and shall not be sold as bondmen. ⁴³ See therefore that thou reign not over him cruelly, but fear thy God. ⁴⁴ "'If thou wilt have bondservants and maidens, thou shalt buy them of the heathen that are round about you, ⁴⁵ and of the children of the strangers that are sojourners among you, and of their generations that are with you, which they begat in your land. ⁴⁶ And ye shall possess them and give them unto your children after you, to possess them for ever: and they shall be your bondmen. But over your brethren the children of Israel, ye shall not reign one over another cruelly.

⁴⁷ "'When a stranger and a sojourner waxeth rich by thee, and thy brother that dwelleth by him waxeth poor and sell himself unto the stranger that dwelleth by thee or to any of the stranger's kin: ⁴⁸ after that he is sold he may be redeemed again: one of his brethren may buy him out; ⁴⁹ whether it be his uncle or his uncle's son, or any that is nigh of kin unto him of his kindred: either if his hand can get so much he may be loosed. ⁵⁰ And he shall reckon with him that bought him, from the year that he was sold in unto the trumpet year, and the price of his buying shall be according unto the number of years, and he shall be with him as a hired servant. ⁵¹ If there be yet many years behind, according unto them he shall give again for his deliverance, of the money that he was sold for. ⁵² If there remain but few years unto the trumpet year, he shall so count with him, and according unto his years give him again for his redemption, ⁵³ and shall be with him year by year as a hired servant, and the other shall not reign cruelly over him in thy sight. ⁵⁴ If he be not bought free in the meantime, then he shall go out in the trumpet year and his children with him; ⁵⁵ for the children of Israel are my servants which I brought out of the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.

¹² If thy brother, an Hebrew, sell himself to thee, or an Hebrewess, he shall serve thee six years and the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee. ¹³ And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty: ¹⁴ but shalt give him of thy sheep and of thy corn and of thy wine, and give him of that wherewith the LORD thy God hath blessed thee. ¹⁵ And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and the LORD thy God delivered thee thence: wherefore I command thee this thing today. ¹⁶ But and if he say unto thee, 'I will not go away from thee,' because he loveth thee and thine house and is well at ease with thee: ¹⁷ Then take an awl and nail his ear to the door therewith and let him be thy servant forever, and unto thy maidservant thou shalt do likewise. ¹⁸ And let it not grieve thine eyes to let him go out from thee, for he hath been worth a double hired servant to thee in his service six years. And the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all that thou doest.