4 Masters, be just and fair to your slaves. Remember that you also have a Master—in heaven.

⁹ Masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Don’t threaten them; remember, you both have the same Master in heaven, and he has no favorites.

¹⁴ I told them that every Hebrew slave must be freed after serving six years. But your ancestors paid no attention to me. ¹⁵ Recently you repented and did what was right, following my command. You freed your slaves and made a solemn covenant with me in the Temple that bears my name. ¹⁶ But now you have shrugged off your oath and defiled my name by taking back the men and women you had freed, forcing them to be slaves once again.

¹⁷ “Therefore, this is what the Lord says: Since you have not obeyed me by setting your countrymen free, I will set you free to be destroyed by war, disease, and famine. You will be an object of horror to all the nations of the earth.

¹⁴ “Never take advantage of poor and destitute laborers, whether they are fellow Israelites or foreigners living in your towns. ¹⁵ You must pay them their wages each day before sunset because they are poor and are counting on it. If you don’t, they might cry out to the Lord against you, and it would be counted against you as sin.

Release for Hebrew Slaves

¹² “If a fellow Hebrew sells himself or herself to be your servant^[a] and serves you for six years, in the seventh year you must set that servant free.

¹³ “When you release a male servant, do not send him away empty-handed. ¹⁴ Give him a generous farewell gift from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress. Share with him some of the bounty with which the Lord your God has blessed you. ¹⁵ Remember that you were once slaves in the land of Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you! That is why I am giving you this command.

⁴⁶ passing them on to your children as a permanent inheritance. You may treat them as slaves, but you must never treat your fellow Israelites this way.

⁴³ Show your fear of God by not treating them harshly.

²⁶ “If a man hits his male or female slave in the eye and the eye is blinded, he must let the slave go free to compensate for the eye. ²⁷ And if a man knocks out the tooth of his male or female slave, he must let the slave go free to compensate for the tooth.

²⁰ “If a man beats his male or female slave with a club and the slave dies as a result, the owner must be punished. ²¹ But if the slave recovers within a day or two, then the owner shall not be punished, since the slave is his property.