Exodus 21:1-6

EasyEnglish Bible

Israelite slaves

21 These are the laws that you must put in front of the Israelites:

² If you buy an Israelite slave, he must work for you for six years. But in the seventh year he will become a free man. He can leave you. He does not have to pay you any money. ³ If he came to you alone, he is free to leave alone. If he came with a wife, she can also leave with him. ⁴ But if the master has given a wife to the slave, she belongs to her master. If she has children, they also belong to her master. The slave must then leave by himself, without his wife and children.

⁵ But perhaps the slave may say, “I love my master, my wife and my children. I will not go away as a free man!” ⁶ Then his master must take the slave to stand in front of the judges.^[a] He must lead the slave to stand beside the door, or the wood that holds the door. Then the master must push the sharp point of a tool through the slave's ear. After that, he will serve his master for all his life.