Thematic Bible




Thematic Bible



If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also [for the Lord repays the offender].

As for the peoples of the land who bring merchandise or any grain on the Sabbath day to sell, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or on a holy day; and we will give up raising crops during the seventh year [leaving the land uncultivated], and forgive every debt.

But because he could not repay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and his children and everything that he possessed, and payment to be made.

Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way traveling with him, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. Truly I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last fraction of a penny.

If you buy a Hebrew servant [as the result of debt or theft], he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, paying nothing. If he came [to you] by himself, he shall go out by himself; if he came married, then his wife shall go out with him. If his master has given him a wife and she has borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out [of your service] alone. read more.
But if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go free, Then his master shall bring him to God [the judges as His agents]; he shall bring him to the door or doorpost and shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him for life.

And if you sell anything to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor, you shall not wrong one another. According to the number of years after the Jubilee, you shall buy from your neighbor. And he shall sell to you according to the number of years [remaining in which you may gather] the crops [before you must restore the property to him]. If the years [to the next Jubilee] are many, you may increase the price, and if the years remaining are few, you shall diminish the price, for the number of the crops is what he is selling to you. read more.
You shall not oppress and wrong one another, but you shall [reverently] fear your God. For I am the Lord your God.

If a man delivers to his neighbor a donkey or an ox or a sheep or any beast to keep and it dies or is hurt or driven away, no man seeing it, Then an oath before the Lord shall be required between the two that the man has not taken his neighbor's property; and the owner of it shall accept his word and not require him to make good the loss. But if it is stolen when in his care, he shall make restitution to its owner. read more.
If it be torn in pieces [by some wild beast or by accident], let him bring [the mangled carcass] for witness; he shall not make good what was torn. And if a man borrows anything of his neighbor and it gets hurt or dies without its owner being with it, the borrower shall make full restitution. But if the owner is with it [when the damage is done], the borrower shall not make it good. If it is a hired thing, the damage is included in its hire.

If your brother has become poor and has sold some of his property, if any of his kin comes to redeem it, he shall [be allowed to] redeem what his brother has sold. And if the man has no one to redeem his property, and he himself has become more prosperous and has enough to redeem it, Then let him count the years since he sold it and restore the overpayment to the man to whom he sold it, and return to his ancestral possession. read more.
But if he is unable to redeem it, it shall remain in the buyer's possession until the Year of Jubilee, when it shall be set free and he may return to it. If a man sells a dwelling house in a fortified city, he may redeem it within a whole year after it is sold; for a full year he may have the right of redemption. And if it is not redeemed within a full year, then the house that is in the fortified city shall be made sure, permanently and without limitations, for him who bought it, throughout his generations. It shall not go free in the Year of Jubilee. But the houses of the unwalled villages shall be counted with the fields of the country. They may be redeemed, and they shall go free in the Year of Jubilee. Nevertheless, the cities of the Levites, the houses in the cities of their possession, the Levites may redeem at any time. But if a house is not redeemed by a Levite, the sold house in the city they possess shall go free in the Year of Jubilee, for the houses in the Levite cities are their ancestral possession among the Israelites. But the field of unenclosed or pasture lands of their cities may not be sold; it is their perpetual possession. And if your [Israelite] brother has become poor and his hand wavers [from poverty, sickness, or age and he is unable to support himself], then you shall uphold (strengthen, relieve) him, [treating him with the courtesy and consideration that you would] a stranger or a temporary resident with you [without property], so that he may live [along] with you. Charge him no interest or [portion of] increase, but fear your God, so your brother may [continue to] live along with you. You shall not give him your money at interest nor lend him food at a profit. I am the Lord your God, Who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God. And if your brother becomes poor beside you and sells himself to you, you shall not compel him to serve as a bondman (a slave not eligible for redemption), But as a hired servant and as a temporary resident he shall be with you; he shall serve you till the Year of Jubilee, And then he shall depart from you, he and his children with him, and shall go back to his own family and return to the possession of his fathers.

And if a sojourner or stranger with you becomes rich and your [Israelite] brother becomes poor beside him and sells himself to the stranger or sojourner with you or to a member of the stranger's family, After he is sold he may be redeemed. One of his brethren may redeem him: Either his uncle or his uncle's son may redeem him, or a near kinsman may redeem him; or if he has enough and is able, he may redeem himself. read more.
And [the redeemer] shall reckon with the purchaser of the servant from the year when he sold himself to the purchaser to the Year of Jubilee, and the price of his release shall be adjusted according to the number of years. The time he was with his owner shall be counted as that of a hired servant. If there remain many years [before the Year of Jubilee], in proportion to them he must refund [to the purchaser] for his release [the overpayment] for his acquisition. And if little time remains until the Year of Jubilee, he shall count it over with him and he shall refund the proportionate amount for his release. And as a servant hired year by year shall he deal with him; he shall not rule over him with harshness (severity, oppression) in your sight [make sure of that]. And if he is not redeemed during these years and by these means, then he shall go free in the Year of Jubilee, he and his children with him. For to Me the Israelites are servants, My servants, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.


And you shall number seven sabbaths or weeks of years for you, seven times seven years, so the total time of the seven weeks of years shall be forty-nine years. Then you shall sound abroad the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month [almost October]; on the Day of Atonement blow the trumpet in all your land. And you shall hallow the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; and each of you shall return to his ancestral possession [which through poverty he was compelled to sell], and each of you shall return to his family [from whom he was separated in bond service]. read more.
That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you; in it you shall not sow, or reap and store what grows of itself, or gather the grapes of the uncultivated vines. For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you; you shall eat the [sufficient] increase of it out of the field. In this Year of Jubilee each of you shall return to his ancestral property. And if you sell anything to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor, you shall not wrong one another. According to the number of years after the Jubilee, you shall buy from your neighbor. And he shall sell to you according to the number of years [remaining in which you may gather] the crops [before you must restore the property to him]. If the years [to the next Jubilee] are many, you may increase the price, and if the years remaining are few, you shall diminish the price, for the number of the crops is what he is selling to you. You shall not oppress and wrong one another, but you shall [reverently] fear your God. For I am the Lord your God. Therefore you shall do and give effect to My statutes and keep My ordinances and perform them, and you will dwell in the land in safety. The land shall yield its fruit; you shall eat your fill and dwell there in safety. And if you say, What shall we eat in the seventh year if we are not to sow or gather in our increase? Then [this is My answer:] I will command My [special] blessings on you in the sixth year, so that it shall bring forth [sufficient] fruit for three years. And you shall sow in the eighth year, but eat of the old store of produce; until the crops of the ninth year come in you shall eat of the old supply. The land shall not be sold into perpetual ownership, for the land is Mine; you are [only] strangers and temporary residents with Me. And in all the country you possess you shall grant a redemption for the land [in the Year of Jubilee]. If your brother has become poor and has sold some of his property, if any of his kin comes to redeem it, he shall [be allowed to] redeem what his brother has sold. And if the man has no one to redeem his property, and he himself has become more prosperous and has enough to redeem it, Then let him count the years since he sold it and restore the overpayment to the man to whom he sold it, and return to his ancestral possession. But if he is unable to redeem it, it shall remain in the buyer's possession until the Year of Jubilee, when it shall be set free and he may return to it. If a man sells a dwelling house in a fortified city, he may redeem it within a whole year after it is sold; for a full year he may have the right of redemption. And if it is not redeemed within a full year, then the house that is in the fortified city shall be made sure, permanently and without limitations, for him who bought it, throughout his generations. It shall not go free in the Year of Jubilee. But the houses of the unwalled villages shall be counted with the fields of the country. They may be redeemed, and they shall go free in the Year of Jubilee. Nevertheless, the cities of the Levites, the houses in the cities of their possession, the Levites may redeem at any time. But if a house is not redeemed by a Levite, the sold house in the city they possess shall go free in the Year of Jubilee, for the houses in the Levite cities are their ancestral possession among the Israelites. But the field of unenclosed or pasture lands of their cities may not be sold; it is their perpetual possession. And if your [Israelite] brother has become poor and his hand wavers [from poverty, sickness, or age and he is unable to support himself], then you shall uphold (strengthen, relieve) him, [treating him with the courtesy and consideration that you would] a stranger or a temporary resident with you [without property], so that he may live [along] with you. Charge him no interest or [portion of] increase, but fear your God, so your brother may [continue to] live along with you. You shall not give him your money at interest nor lend him food at a profit. I am the Lord your God, Who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God. And if your brother becomes poor beside you and sells himself to you, you shall not compel him to serve as a bondman (a slave not eligible for redemption), But as a hired servant and as a temporary resident he shall be with you; he shall serve you till the Year of Jubilee, And then he shall depart from you, he and his children with him, and shall go back to his own family and return to the possession of his fathers. For the Israelites are My servants; I brought them out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as bondmen. You shall not rule over him with harshness (severity, oppression), but you shall [reverently] fear your God. As for your bondmen and your bondmaids whom you may have, they shall be from the nations round about you, of whom you may buy bondmen and bondmaids. Moreover, of the children of the strangers who sojourn among you, of them you may buy and of their families that are with you which they have begotten in your land, and they shall be your possession. And you shall make them an inheritance for your children after you, to hold for a possession; of them shall you take your bondmen always, but over your brethren the Israelites you shall not rule one over another with harshness (severity, oppression). And if a sojourner or stranger with you becomes rich and your [Israelite] brother becomes poor beside him and sells himself to the stranger or sojourner with you or to a member of the stranger's family, After he is sold he may be redeemed. One of his brethren may redeem him: Either his uncle or his uncle's son may redeem him, or a near kinsman may redeem him; or if he has enough and is able, he may redeem himself. And [the redeemer] shall reckon with the purchaser of the servant from the year when he sold himself to the purchaser to the Year of Jubilee, and the price of his release shall be adjusted according to the number of years. The time he was with his owner shall be counted as that of a hired servant. If there remain many years [before the Year of Jubilee], in proportion to them he must refund [to the purchaser] for his release [the overpayment] for his acquisition. And if little time remains until the Year of Jubilee, he shall count it over with him and he shall refund the proportionate amount for his release. And as a servant hired year by year shall he deal with him; he shall not rule over him with harshness (severity, oppression) in your sight [make sure of that]. And if he is not redeemed during these years and by these means, then he shall go free in the Year of Jubilee, he and his children with him. For to Me the Israelites are servants, My servants, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.

If he dedicates his field during the Year of Jubilee, it shall stand according to your full valuation. But if he dedicates his field after the Jubilee, then the priest shall count the money value in proportion to the years that remain until the Year of Jubilee, and it shall be deducted from your valuation. If he who dedicates the field wishes to redeem it, then he shall add a fifth of the money of your appraisal to it, and it shall remain his. read more.
But if he does not want to redeem the field, or if he has sold it to another man, it shall not be redeemed any more. But the field, when it is released in the Jubilee, shall be holy to the Lord, as a field devoted [to God or destruction]; the priest shall have possession of it. And if a man dedicates to the Lord a field he has bought, which is not of the fields of his [ancestral] possession, The priest shall compute the amount of your valuation for it up to the Year of Jubilee; the man shall give that amount on that day as a holy thing to the Lord. In the Year of Jubilee the field shall return to him of whom it was bought, to him to whom the land belonged [as his ancestral inheritance].

When the [year of] Jubilee of the Israelites comes, then their inheritance will be added [permanently] to that of the tribe to which they belong; so their inheritance will be taken away from that of the tribe of our fathers (tribal ancestors).”


And if a sojourner or stranger with you becomes rich and your [Israelite] brother becomes poor beside him and sells himself to the stranger or sojourner with you or to a member of the stranger's family, After he is sold he may be redeemed. One of his brethren may redeem him: Either his uncle or his uncle's son may redeem him, or a near kinsman may redeem him; or if he has enough and is able, he may redeem himself. read more.
And [the redeemer] shall reckon with the purchaser of the servant from the year when he sold himself to the purchaser to the Year of Jubilee, and the price of his release shall be adjusted according to the number of years. The time he was with his owner shall be counted as that of a hired servant. If there remain many years [before the Year of Jubilee], in proportion to them he must refund [to the purchaser] for his release [the overpayment] for his acquisition. And if little time remains until the Year of Jubilee, he shall count it over with him and he shall refund the proportionate amount for his release. And as a servant hired year by year shall he deal with him; he shall not rule over him with harshness (severity, oppression) in your sight [make sure of that]. And if he is not redeemed during these years and by these means, then he shall go free in the Year of Jubilee, he and his children with him.


And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim freedom [for the slaves] throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee (year of remission) for you, and each of you shall return to his own [ancestral] property [that was sold to another because of poverty], and each of you shall return to his family [from whom he was separated by bondage].

“If a man is caught kidnapping any of his countrymen from the sons of Israel, and he treats him violently or sells him [as a slave], then that thief shall die. So you shall remove the evil from among you.

And if a man lies carnally with a woman who is a slave betrothed to a husband and not yet ransomed or given her freedom, they shall be punished [after investigation]; they shall not be put to death, because she was not free; But he shall bring his guilt or trespass offering to the Lord to the door of the Tent of Meeting, a ram for a guilt or trespass offering. The priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt or trespass offering before the Lord for his sin, and he shall be forgiven for committing the sin.

“If your fellow Israelite, a Hebrew man or woman, is sold to you, and serves you for six years, then in the seventh year you shall set him free [from your service].

“It shall not seem hard to you when you set him free, for he has served you six years with double the service of a hired man; so the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.

Now these are the ordinances you [Moses] shall set before [the Israelites]. If you buy a Hebrew servant [as the result of debt or theft], he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, paying nothing. If he came [to you] by himself, he shall go out by himself; if he came married, then his wife shall go out with him. read more.
If his master has given him a wife and she has borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out [of your service] alone. But if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go free, Then his master shall bring him to God [the judges as His agents]; he shall bring him to the door or doorpost and shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him for life. If a man sells his daughter to be a maidservant or bondwoman, she shall not go out [in six years] as menservants do. If she does not please her master who has not espoused her to himself, he shall let her be redeemed. To sell her to a foreign people he shall have no power, for he has dealt faithlessly with her. And if he espouses her to his son, he shall deal with her as with a daughter. If he marries again, her food, clothing, and privilege as a wife shall he not diminish. And if he does not do these three things for her, then shall she go out free, without payment of money.

And if a man strikes his servant or his maid with a rod and he [or she] dies under his hand, he shall surely be punished. But if the servant lives on for a day or two, the offender shall not be punished, for he [has injured] his own property.

And if a man hits the eye of his servant or the eye of his maid so that it is destroyed, he shall let him go free for his eye's sake. And if he knocks out his manservant's tooth or his maidservant's tooth, he shall let him go free for his tooth's sake.

If the ox gores a male or a female servant, the owner shall give to the servant’s master thirty shekels of silver [the purchase price for a slave], and the ox shall be stoned.

And all of you shall have for food whatever the [untilled] land produces during its Sabbath year; yourself, and your male and female slaves, your hired servant, and the foreigners who reside among you,

And if your [Israelite] brother has become poor and his hand wavers [from poverty, sickness, or age and he is unable to support himself], then you shall uphold (strengthen, relieve) him, [treating him with the courtesy and consideration that you would] a stranger or a temporary resident with you [without property], so that he may live [along] with you. Charge him no interest or [portion of] increase, but fear your God, so your brother may [continue to] live along with you. You shall not give him your money at interest nor lend him food at a profit. read more.
I am the Lord your God, Who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God. And if your brother becomes poor beside you and sells himself to you, you shall not compel him to serve as a bondman (a slave not eligible for redemption), But as a hired servant and as a temporary resident he shall be with you; he shall serve you till the Year of Jubilee, And then he shall depart from you, he and his children with him, and shall go back to his own family and return to the possession of his fathers. For the Israelites are My servants; I brought them out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as bondmen. You shall not rule over him with harshness (severity, oppression), but you shall [reverently] fear your God. As for your bondmen and your bondmaids whom you may have, they shall be from the nations round about you, of whom you may buy bondmen and bondmaids. Moreover, of the children of the strangers who sojourn among you, of them you may buy and of their families that are with you which they have begotten in your land, and they shall be your possession. And you shall make them an inheritance for your children after you, to hold for a possession; of them shall you take your bondmen always, but over your brethren the Israelites you shall not rule one over another with harshness (severity, oppression). And if a sojourner or stranger with you becomes rich and your [Israelite] brother becomes poor beside him and sells himself to the stranger or sojourner with you or to a member of the stranger's family, After he is sold he may be redeemed. One of his brethren may redeem him: Either his uncle or his uncle's son may redeem him, or a near kinsman may redeem him; or if he has enough and is able, he may redeem himself. And [the redeemer] shall reckon with the purchaser of the servant from the year when he sold himself to the purchaser to the Year of Jubilee, and the price of his release shall be adjusted according to the number of years. The time he was with his owner shall be counted as that of a hired servant. If there remain many years [before the Year of Jubilee], in proportion to them he must refund [to the purchaser] for his release [the overpayment] for his acquisition. And if little time remains until the Year of Jubilee, he shall count it over with him and he shall refund the proportionate amount for his release. And as a servant hired year by year shall he deal with him; he shall not rule over him with harshness (severity, oppression) in your sight [make sure of that]. And if he is not redeemed during these years and by these means, then he shall go free in the Year of Jubilee, he and his children with him. For to Me the Israelites are servants, My servants, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.

You shall give him generous provisions from your flock, from your threshing floor and from your wine press; you shall give to him as the Lord your God has blessed you.


‘Now if the financial means of a stranger or temporary resident among you become sufficient, and your fellow countryman becomes poor in comparison to him and sells himself to the stranger who is living among you or to the descendants of the stranger’s family,

But if the servant says to you, I will not go away from you, because he loves you and your household, since he does well with you, Then take an awl and pierce his ear through to the door, and he shall be your servant always. And also to your bondwoman you shall do likewise.

So our elders and all the residents of our country said to us, Take provisions for the journey and go to meet [the Israelites] and say to them, We are your servants; and now make a covenant with us. This our bread we took hot for our provision out of our houses on the day we set out to go to you; but now behold, it is dry and has become moldy. These wineskins (bottles) which we filled were new, and behold, they are torn; and our garments and our shoes have become old because of the very long journey. read more.
So the [Israelite] men partook of their food and did not consult the Lord. Joshua made peace with them, covenanting with them to let them live, and the assembly's leaders swore to them. Then three days after they had made a covenant with [the strangers, the Israelites] heard that they were their neighbors and that they dwelt among them. And the Israelites set out and came to their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim. But the Israelites did not slay them, because the leaders of the assembly had sworn to them by the Lord, the God of Israel, [to spare them]. And all the assembly murmured against the leaders. But all the leaders said to all the assembly, We have sworn to them by the Lord, the God of Israel, so now we may not touch them. This we will do to them: we will let them live, lest wrath be upon us because of the oath which we swore to them. And the leaders said to them, Let them live [and be our slaves]. So they became hewers of wood and drawers of water for all the assembly, just as the leaders had said of them.


‘Now if the financial means of a stranger or temporary resident among you become sufficient, and your fellow countryman becomes poor in comparison to him and sells himself to the stranger who is living among you or to the descendants of the stranger’s family,

Like a man hired year by year he shall deal with him; he shall not rule over him with harshness in your sight.


And if a sojourner or stranger with you becomes rich and your [Israelite] brother becomes poor beside him and sells himself to the stranger or sojourner with you or to a member of the stranger's family, After he is sold he may be redeemed. One of his brethren may redeem him: Either his uncle or his uncle's son may redeem him, or a near kinsman may redeem him; or if he has enough and is able, he may redeem himself. read more.
And [the redeemer] shall reckon with the purchaser of the servant from the year when he sold himself to the purchaser to the Year of Jubilee, and the price of his release shall be adjusted according to the number of years. The time he was with his owner shall be counted as that of a hired servant. If there remain many years [before the Year of Jubilee], in proportion to them he must refund [to the purchaser] for his release [the overpayment] for his acquisition. And if little time remains until the Year of Jubilee, he shall count it over with him and he shall refund the proportionate amount for his release. And as a servant hired year by year shall he deal with him; he shall not rule over him with harshness (severity, oppression) in your sight [make sure of that]. And if he is not redeemed during these years and by these means, then he shall go free in the Year of Jubilee, he and his children with him. For to Me the Israelites are servants, My servants, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.


And if a sojourner or stranger with you becomes rich and your [Israelite] brother becomes poor beside him and sells himself to the stranger or sojourner with you or to a member of the stranger's family, After he is sold he may be redeemed. One of his brethren may redeem him: