42 Bible Verses about Masters

"If I have rejected my male or female slave's case when their complaint [was] against me, then what shall I do when God rises up? And when he enquires, how shall I answer him?

Only the money being given to them is not to be accounted for by them, for they [are] dealing with honesty."

If my land has cried out against me, and its furrows have wept together, if I have eaten its yield without payment, or I have caused [the] breath of its owners to die, let thorns grow in place of wheat and noxious weeds in place of barley." The words of Job are ended.

Do not [take] a traveler's bag for the road, or two tunics, or sandals, or a staff, for the worker [is] deserving of his provisions. And into whatever town or village you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay [there] until you depart.

And remain in the same house, eating and drinking {whatever they provide}, for the worker [is] worthy of his pay. Do not move from house to house.

For the scripture says, "You must not muzzle an ox [while it] is threshing," and "The worker [is] worthy of his wages."

If your relative who is a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman is sold to you, and [he or she] has served you six years, then in the seventh year you shall send that person [out] {free}. And when you send him [out] free from you, you shall not send him [away] empty-handed. You shall generously supply him from [among] your flocks and from your threshing floor and from your press; [according to] that [with which] Yahweh your God has blessed you, you shall give to him.read more.
And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and Yahweh your God redeemed you; therefore I [am] commanding you thus {today}.

'Observe the {Sabbath day} to make it holy, [just] as Yahweh your God has commanded you. Six days you shall work, and you shall do all [of] your work, but the seventh day [is] Sabbath unto Yahweh your God; you shall not do any work, or your son, or your daughter, or your slave, or your slave woman, or your ox, or your donkey, or any of your domestic animals, or your [resident] alien who [is] in your {towns}, so that your slave and your slave woman may rest as you [rest].read more.
And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and Yahweh your God brought you out with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm; therefore, Yahweh your God commanded you to keep {the Sabbath}.

"Remember the day of the Sabbath, to consecrate it. Six days you will work, and you will do all your work. But the seventh day [is] a Sabbath for Yahweh your God; you will not do any work--you or your son or your daughter, your male slave or your female slave, or your animal, or your alien who [is] in your gates--read more.
because [in] six days Yahweh made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that [is] in them, and on the seventh day he rested. Therefore Yahweh blessed the seventh day and consecrated it.

And Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, "This [is] the statute of the Passover: No foreigner may eat it. But any slave of a man, an acquisition by money, and you have circumcised him, then he may eat it.

And you shall rejoice before Yahweh your God, you and your son and your daughter and your slave and your slave woman and the Levite that [is] in your {towns} and the alien and the orphan and the widow who are in your midst in the place that Yahweh your God will choose to let his name dwell there. And you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and [so] {you shall diligently observe} these rules. "You shall celebrate the Feast of Booths for yourselves seven days {at the gathering in of the produce} from your threshing floor and from your press;read more.
and you shall rejoice at your feast, you and your son and your daughter and your slave and your slave woman and the Levite and the orphan and the widow that [are] in your {towns}. Seven days you shall celebrate [your] feast to Yahweh your God at the place Yahweh will choose, for Yahweh your God shall bless you in all of your produce and in all [of] the work of your hand, and you shall surely [be] rejoicing. Three times in the year all [of] your males shall appear {before } Yahweh your God at the place that he will choose, at the Feast of Unleavened Bread and at the Feast of Weeks and at the Feast of Booths, and they shall not appear {before Yahweh} empty-handed.

" 'You shall not exploit your neighbor, and you shall not rob [him]; a hired worker's wage you shall not {withhold} overnight until morning.

And [when] evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, 'Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning from the last up to the first.'

On his day you shall give his wage, and the sun shall not go {down}, because [he is] poor and {his life depends on it}; [do this] so that he does not cry out against you to Yahweh, {and you incur guilt}.

"Then I will approach you for judgment, and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers and against the adulterers, and against those who swear {falsely}, and against the oppressors of [the] hired worker [with his] wages, [the] widow and [the] orphan, and {the abusers of} [the] alien, and [yet] do not fear me," says Yahweh of hosts.

Behold, the wages that were held back by you from the workers who reap your fields cry out, and the cries of the reapers have come to the ears of the Lord of hosts.

"You shall not exploit a hired worker, [who is] needy and poor, from among your fellow men or from [among] your aliens who are in your land [and] in your {towns}.

and your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times, but God has not allowed him to harm me.

'Why do we fast, and you do not see [it]? We humiliate our soul, and you do not notice [it]?' Look! You find delight on the day of your fast, and you oppress all your workers!

Woe [to the one who] builds his house without righteousness, and his upper rooms without justice. His fellow countryman, he works for nothing, and he does not give to him his wages.

And it happened that [as] we were going to the place of prayer, a certain female slave who had a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing a large profit to her owners [by] fortune-telling.

{Take care} so that you do not neglect the Levite all [of] your days on your land.

And [as to] the Levite who [is] in your {towns}, you shall not neglect him, because there is not a plot of ground for him and an inheritance [along] with you.

And masters, do the same [things] to them, giving up threats, knowing that both their Lord and yours is in heaven, and there is no partiality with him.

And Abram said to Sarai, "Look, your servant [is] {under your authority}. Do to her that which [is] good in your eyes." And Sarai mistreated her, and she fled from her presence.

And they appointed commanders of forced labor over them in order to oppress them with their {forced labor}, and they built storage cities for Pharaoh--Pithom and Rameses. And as he oppressed them, so they became many, and so they spread out, and [the Egyptians] were afraid because of the presence of the {Israelites}. And the Egyptians ruthlessly compelled the {Israelites} to work.read more.
And they made their lives bitter with hard work with mortar and with bricks and with all [sorts] of work in the field--with all their work in which they ruthlessly enslaved them.

And if a man strikes his male slave or his female slave with the rod and he dies under his hand, he will surely be avenged. Yet if he survives a day or two days, he will not be avenged, because he is his money.

" 'And if your countryman [who is] with you becomes poor, and he is sold to you, {you shall not treat him as a slave}. He shall be with you like a hired worker, like a temporary resident; he shall work with you until the Year of Jubilee. And he and his sons with him shall go out from you, and he shall return to his clan, and to the property of his ancestors he shall return.read more.
Because they [are] my servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt, they shall not be sold {as a slave}. You shall not rule over him with ruthlessness, but you shall revere your God. " 'As for your slave and your slave woman who are yours, from the nations that [are] all around you, from them you may buy a slave or a slave woman. And you may buy also from the children of the temporary residents who are dwelling with you as aliens and from their clan who are with you, who have children in your land; indeed, they may be as property for you. And you may pass them on as an inheritance to your sons after you to take possession of as property {for all time}--you may let them work. But [as for] your countrymen, the {Israelites}, you shall not rule with ruthlessness over {one another}. " 'And if [the] alien or [the] temporary resident [who are] with you {prosper}, but your countryman [who is] with him becomes poor and he is sold to an alien, a temporary resident [who is] with you, or to a descendant of an alien's clan, after he is sold redemption shall be for him; one of his brothers may redeem him, or his uncle or his uncle's son may redeem him, or {one of} {his close relatives} from his clan may redeem him; or [if] {he prospers}, he may redeem himself. And he shall calculate with his buyer from the year of {his selling himself} until the Jubilee; and the value of his selling shall be according to the number of years--it shall be with him like a hired worker's days. If [there are] still many years, {in keeping with them} he shall restore his redemption {in proportion to his purchase price}. And if [there are] a few years left until the Year of Jubilee, then he shall calculate for himself; he shall restore his redemption {according to the number of his years}. He shall be with him {as a yearly hired worker}; he shall not rule over him with ruthlessness {in your sight}. And if he is not redeemed by [any of] these [ways], then he and his sons with him shall go out in the Year of Jubilee. Indeed, the {Israelites} [are] servants for me; they [are] my servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt. I [am] Yahweh your God.'"

"Your father made our yoke heavy; now lighten the hard labor of your father and the heavy yoke which he placed on us, and we will serve you."

Therefore the holy one of Israel says this: "Because you [are] rejecting this word and you trust in oppression and {cunning} and you rely on it, therefore this iniquity shall come for you like a breach about to fall, bulging out on a high wall {that breaks} suddenly, [in] an instant.

Masters, grant your slaves justice and fairness, knowing that you also have a master in heaven.

For [it is] like a man going on a journey. He summoned his own slaves and handed over his property to them. And to one he gave five talents, and to another two, and to another one, to each one according to his own ability, and he went on a journey immediately. The one who had received the five talents went out [and] traded with them and gained five more.read more.
In the same way the one [who had] the two gained two more. But the one who had received the one went away [and] dug up the ground and hid his master's money. Now after a long time, the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. And the one who had received the five talents came up [and] brought five more talents, saying, 'Master, you handed over to me five talents. See, I have gained five more talents!' His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful slave! You were faithful over a few [things]; I will put you [in charge] over many [things]. Enter into the joy of your master!' And the one [who had] the two talents also came up [and] said, 'Master, you handed over to me two talents. See, I have gained two talents more!' And the one who had received the one talent came up also [and] said, 'Master, [because I] knew you, that you are a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering from where you did not scatter [seed]. And [because I] was afraid, I went away [and] hid your talent in the ground. See, you have [what is] yours!' But his master answered [and] said to him, 'Evil and lazy slave! You knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather from where I did not scatter [seed]. Then you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and [when I] returned I would have gotten back [what was] mine with interest! Therefore take the talent from him and give [it] to the one who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has, [more] will be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. And throw the worthless slave into the outer darkness--in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!'

Therefore he said, "A certain nobleman traveled to a distant country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. And summoning ten of his own slaves, he gave them ten minas and said to them, 'Do business {until I come back}.' But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, 'We do not want this man to be king over us!'read more.
And it happened that when he returned [after] receiving the kingdom, he ordered these slaves to whom he had given the money to be summoned to him, so that he could know what they had gained by trading. So the first arrived, saying, 'Sir, your mina has made ten minas more!' And he said to him, 'Well done, good slave! Because you have been faithful in a very small thing, {have authority} over ten cities.' And the second came, saying, 'Sir, your mina has made five minas.' So he said to this one also, 'And you be over five cities.' And another came, saying, 'Sir, behold your mina, which I had put away for safekeeping in a piece of cloth. For I was afraid of you, because you are a severe man--you withdraw what you did not deposit, and you reap what you did not sow!' He said to him, '{By your own words} I will judge you, wicked slave! You knew that I am a severe man, withdrawing what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow. And why did you not give my money to the bank, and I, [when I] returned, would have collected it with interest?' And to the bystanders he said, 'Take away from him the mina and give [it] to the one who has the ten minas!' And they said to him, 'Sir, he has ten minas.' 'I tell you that to everyone who has, [more] will be given. But from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.

He who lends to Yahweh [is] he who is kind to the poor, and his benefits he will repay to him.

By all means you must give to him, and {you must not be discontented} at your giving to him, because on account of this [very] thing, Yahweh your God will bless you in all your work and {in all that you undertake}.

[For] he who gives to the poor, there is no lacking, but [for] he who turns his eyes, [there are] many curses.

For I have chosen him, that he will command his children and his household after him that they will keep the way of Yahweh, to do righteousness and justice, so that Yahweh may bring upon Abraham that which he said to him."

"If I have rejected my male or female slave's case when their complaint [was] against me, then what shall I do when God rises up? And when he enquires, how shall I answer him? Did not he [who] made me in the womb make them? And did not one fashion us in the womb?

Now a certain centurion's slave, who was esteemed by him, {was sick} [and] was about to die.

And it happened [that] after these things his master's wife cast her eyes on Joseph, and she said, "Lie with me." But he refused and said to his master's wife, "Look, my master {does not worry about} what [is] in the house, and everything he owns he has put in my hand. He has no greater [authority] in this house than me, and he has not withheld anything from me except you, since you [are] his wife. Now how could I do this great wickedness and sin against God?"read more.
And it happened [that] as she spoke to Joseph {day after day}, he did not heed her to lie beside her or to be with her. {But one particular day} he came into the house to do his work and none of the men of the house were there in the house, she seized him by his garment [and] said, "Lie with me!" And he left his garment in her hand and fled, and he went outside. And it happened [that] when she saw that he left his garment in her hand and fled outside, she called to the men of her house and said to them, "Look! He brought a Hebrew man to us to mock us! He came to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice. And when he heard [me], that I raised my voice and called out, he left his garment beside me and fled, and he went outside." Then she put his garment beside her until his master came to his house. Then she spoke to him according to these words, saying, "The Hebrew slave that you brought to us came to me to make fun of me. And it happened [that] as I raised my voice and called out, he left his garment beside me and fled outside." And when his master heard the words of his wife that she spoke to him, "{This is what your servant did to me}," {he became very angry}. And Joseph's master took him and put him into prison, the place that the king's prisoners were confined. And he was there in prison.