Study Desk

'Now ^(C1)if a countryman of yours becomes so poor with regard to you that he sells himself to you, you shall not subject him to a slave's service.

'He shall be with you as a hired worker, ^(C1)as if he were a foreign resident; he shall serve with you up to the year of jubilee.

'He shall then leave you, he and his sons with him, and shall go back to his family, so that he may return to the property of his forefathers.

'For they are My servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt; they are not to be sold in a slave sale.

'^(C1)You shall not rule over him with ^(F1)severity, but are to revere your God.

'As for your male and female slaves whom you may have—you may acquire male and female slaves from the pagan nations that are around you.

'You may also acquire them from the sons of the foreign residents who reside among you, and from their families who are with you, whom they will have produced in your land; they also may become your possession.

'You may also pass them on as an inheritance to your sons after you, to receive as a possession; you can use them as permanent slaves. ^(C1)But in respect to your countrymen, the sons of Israel, you shall not rule with ^(F1)severity over one another.

'Now if the ^(F1)means of a stranger or of a foreign resident with you becomes sufficient, and a countryman of yours becomes poor in relation to him and sells himself to a stranger who is residing with you, or to the descendants of a stranger's family,

then he shall have redemption right after he has been sold. One of his brothers may redeem him,

or his uncle, or his uncle's son may redeem him, or one of his blood relatives from his family may redeem him; or ^(F1)(C1)if he prospers, he may redeem himself.

'He then, with his purchaser, shall calculate from the year when he sold himself to him up to the year of jubilee; and the price of his sale shall correspond to the number of years calculated. It is like the days of a hired worker that he will be with him.

'If there are still many years remaining, ^(C1)he shall refund part of his purchase price in proportion to them for his own redemption;

but if few years remain until the year of jubilee, he shall so calculate with him. In proportion to his years he is to refund the amount for his redemption.

'He shall be with him like a worker hired year by year; ^(C1)he shall not rule over him with ^(F1)severity in your sight.

'Even if he is not redeemed by ^(F1)these means, ^(C1)he shall still leave in the year of jubilee, he and his sons with him.

'For the sons of Israel are My servants; they are My servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.