39 Bible Verses about Slavery, In Ot

When you come near a city to fight against it, then shout peace to it. And it shall be, if it makes the answer of peace and opens to you, then all the people found in it shall be forced laborers to you, and they shall serve you.

And the king of Sodom said to Abram, Give me the people and take the goods for yourself.

And the sons of Israel took all the women of Midian captive, and their little ones, and the spoil of all their cattle, and all their flocks, and all their goods.

And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and captured a little girl out of the land of Israel. And she waited on Naaman's wife.

And the sons of Israel carried away captive two hundred thousand of their brothers, women, and daughters, and also took away much plunder from them and brought the plunder to Samaria.

Both your male slaves, and your female slaves whom you shall have, shall be of the nations that are all around you. You shall buy male slaves and female slaves from them. And also you may buy of the sons of the tenants who are staying with you; and from their families that are with you, whom they fathered in your land. And they shall be your possession.

And it happened when Joseph had come to his brothers, they stripped Joseph out of his tunic, the tunic reaching to the soles of his feet that was on him. And they took him and threw him into a pit. And the pit was empty, with no water in it. And they sat down to eat bread. And they lifted up their eyes, and looked. And behold, a company of Ishmaelites came from Gilead, with their camels bearing spices and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt.read more.
And Judah said to his brothers, What profit is it if we should kill our brother and hide his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him. For he is our brother, and our flesh. And his brothers listened. And men, Midianites traders, came by. And they drew up Joseph and took him out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they brought Joseph into Egypt.

And a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried to Elisha, saying, Your servant my husband is dead. And you know that your servant feared Jehovah. And the lender has come to take my two children to himself for slaves.

If a thief is found breaking in, and is struck so that he dies, no blood shall be shed for him. If the sun is risen upon him, blood is due for him. He should repay in full. If he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.

And if your brother who lives beside you has become poor, and is sold to you, you shall not compel him to serve as a bond-servant.

If your brother, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you and serves you six years, then in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you.

And there was a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brothers the Jews. For certain ones said, We, our sons, and our daughters, are many. Let us get grain for them, so that we may eat and live. Some also said, We have mortgaged our lands, vineyards, and houses. Let us buy grain because of the famine.read more.
And some said, We have borrowed money on our lands and vineyards for the king's tax. Yet now our flesh is like the flesh of our brothers, our sons like their sons. And, lo, we bring our sons and our daughters into bondage, to be slaves, and some of our daughters are brought into bondage. And there is no power for our hand, for other men have our lands and vineyards.

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 by himself.

And a son of eight days shall be circumcised among you, every male child in your generations; he that is born in the house, or bought with silver of any stranger who is not of your seed. He that is born in your house, and he that is bought with your silver, must be circumcised. And My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.

Is Israel a servant? Or is he a servant of the house? Why has he become a prey?

And David gathered all the people and went to Rabbah, and fought against it and took it. And he took the king's crown from off his head, the weight of which was a talent of gold, and a precious stone in it. And it was set on David's head. And he brought forth the spoil of the city in great abundance. And he brought forth the people that were in it, and put them to the saw, and to sharp tools of iron, and to axes of iron. And he made them go over into the brick-kiln. And so he did to all the cities of the sons of Ammon. And David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.

And they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. And they built treasure cities for Pharaoh, Pithon and Raamses. But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the sons of Israel. And the Egyptians made the sons of Israel serve with harshness.read more.
And they made their lives bitter with hard work in mortar and in bricks, and in all kinds of work in the field; all their work in which they made them do was with harshness.

And Joshua called for them, and he spoke to them, saying, Why have you fooled us saying, We are very far from you, when you dwell among us? And now you are cursed, and there shall none of you be freed from being slaves and woodcutters and drawers of water for the house of my God.

And they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer. But the Canaanites live among the Ephraimites until this day, and serve under tribute.

And it happened, when Israel became strong, they put the Canaanites to tribute, and did not completely expel them.

And all the people who were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who were not of the sons of Israel, their sons who were left after them in the land, whom the sons of Israel also were not able to destroy completely, on those Solomon laid a tribute of bond-service to this day.

You shall not rule over him with rigor, but shall fear your God.

And if a man sells his daughter to be a maidservant, she shall not go out as the menservants do. If she does not please her master, who has betrothed her to himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no power to sell her to a strange nation, since he has dealt deceitfully with her. And if he has betrothed her to his son, he shall deal with her as with daughters.read more.
If he takes himself another wife, her food, her clothing, and her duty of marriage shall not be lessened. And if he does not do these three to her, then she shall go out free without money.

You shall do your work six days, and on the seventh day you shall rest, so that your ox and your ass may rest, and the son of your handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.

Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is the Sabbath of Jehovah your God. You shall not do any work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger within your gates.

then there shall be a place which Jehovah your God shall choose to cause His name to dwell there. There you shall bring all that I command you, your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which you vow to Jehovah. And you shall rejoice before Jehovah your God; you, your sons, your daughters, your menservants, your female servants, and the Levite that is within your gates (because he has no part nor inheritance with you).

And Abram said, Behold, You have given no seed to me. And behold, one born in my house is my heir.

You shall not deliver to his master the servant who has escaped from his master to you.

And if he is not redeemed in this way, then he shall go out in the year of jubilee, he and his sons with him. For to Me the sons of Israel are servants. They are My servants whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt. I am Jehovah your God.

And if your brother who lives beside you has become poor, and is sold to you, you shall not compel him to serve as a bond-servant. As a hired servant, as a temporary resident, he shall be with you, and shall serve you until the year of jubilee. And he shall depart from you, he and his sons with him, and shall return to his own family. And he shall return to the possession of his fathers.

If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years. And in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.

If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself. If he was 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 by himself. And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my sons. I do not want to go out freeread more.
his master shall bring him to the judges. He shall also bring him to the door or to the door-post. And his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall serve him forever.

If your brother, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you and serves you six years, then in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you. And when you send him out free from you, you shall not let him go away empty. You shall richly bestow on him from your flock, and from your grain floor, and from your winepress; with what Jehovah your God has blessed you, you shall give to him.read more.
And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and Jehovah your God redeemed you. Therefore I command you this thing today. And if he says to you, I will not go away from you, because he loves you and your house, because it has been good for him with you; then you shall take an awl and put it through his ear to the door, and he shall be your servant forever. And also to your slave-girl you shall do so. It shall not seem hard to you when you send him away from you free, for he has been worth a double hired servant in serving you six years. And Jehovah your God shall bless you in all that you do.

The Word that came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, after King Zedekiah had cut a covenant with all the people at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty to them, that each man should let his male slave, and each man his female slave, if a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, to go free, that none should enslave a Jew, his brother among them. And all the rulers obeyed, and all the people who had entered into the covenant allowed them to go free, each man his male slave, and each man his female slave, so that not any should enslave among them any more; and they obeyed and let them go.read more.
But afterward they turned and caused the slaves and slave women whom they had let go free, to return! And they subjected them for slaves and slave women. So the Word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying, So says Jehovah, the God of Israel: I cut a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, saying, At the end of seven years each man should let go his brother, a Hebrew, and who has been sold to him. And when he has served you six years, you shall let him go free from you. But your fathers did not listen to me, nor bow down their ears. And you had turned today, and had done right in My sight to call for liberty, each man to his neighbor. And you had cut a covenant before Me in the house which is called by My name. But you turned and defiled My name, and each man caused his slave, and each man caused his slave woman, whom you had set free to do as they pleased, to return. And you brought them into service to be slaves and slave women to you. So Jehovah says this: You have not listened to Me to proclaim liberty each man to his brother, and each man to his neighbor! Behold, I call for freedom for you, says Jehovah, to the sword, to the plague, and to the famine. And I will cause you to be a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. And I will give the men who have sinned against My covenant, who have not done the words of the covenant which they cut before Me when they cut the calf in two and passed between its parts; the rulers of Judah, and the rulers of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf; I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life. And their dead bodies shall be for food to the birds of the heavens and to the beasts of the earth.

And if an alien or a tenant lifts up a hand among you, and your brother who dwells beside him becomes poor and sells himself to the alien or tenant by you, or to the offshoot of the alien's family, after he is sold he may be redeemed again. One of his brothers may redeem him; either his uncle or his uncle's son may redeem him, or any that is near of kin to him of his family may redeem him. Or if he is able, he may redeem himself.read more.
And he shall count with his buyer from the year that he was sold to him, until the year of jubilee. And the price of his sale shall be according to the number of years, according to the time of a hired servant it shall be with him. If there are still many years, he shall give again the price of his redemption out of the silver that he was bought for, according to the years. And if there remain but few years to the year of jubilee, then he shall count with him, and according to his years he shall give him again the price of his redemption. As a yearly hired servant he shall be with him; he shall not rule with harshness in your sight.

And you shall take them as an inheritance for your sons after you, to hold for a possession; you may lay service on them forever. But you shall not rule over your brothers, the sons of Israel, over one another, with harshness.

If the ox shall gore a manservant or a maidservant, he shall give to their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.

And if your brother who lives beside you has become poor, and is sold to you, you shall not compel him to serve as a bond-servant. As a hired servant, as a temporary resident, he shall be with you, and shall serve you until the year of jubilee. And he shall depart from you, he and his sons with him, and shall return to his own family. And he shall return to the possession of his fathers.read more.
For they are My servants, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt. They shall not be sold as a slave.

And they came to the land of Zuph, and Saul said to his servant who was with him, Come and let us return lest my father quit caring for the asses, and be anxious about us. And he said to him, Behold now, in this city is a man of God, and an honorable man. All that he says surely comes to pass. Now let us go there. Perhaps he can declare our way to us, how to go. Then Saul said to his young man, But behold, if we go, what shall we bring the man? For the bread in our vessels is gone, and there is no present to bring to the man of God. What do we have?read more.
And the young man answered Saul again, and said, Behold, I have found the fourth of a shekel of silver. I will give it to the man of God to tell us our way. (In the old days in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he said this: Come, let us go to the seer, for the prophet of today was before called a seer.) And Saul said to his young man, Your word is good. Come, let us go. So they went into the city where the man of God was.