Leviticus 25:39

Amplified Bible

'And if your fellow countryman becomes so poor [in his dealings] with you that he sells himself to you [as payment for a debt], you shall not let him do the work of a slave [who is ineligible for redemption],

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
If your brother has grown poor with you, and sell himself to you; you shall not make him to serve as a bond-servant.

King James Version
And if thy brother that dwelleth by thee be waxen poor, and be sold unto thee; thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bondservant:

Lexham English Bible
"‘And if your countryman who is with you becomes poor, and he is sold to you, you shall not treat him as a slave.

New Century Version
"‘If anyone from your country becomes very poor and sells himself as a slave to you, you must not make him work like a slave.

New English Translation
"‘If your brother becomes impoverished with regard to you so that he sells himself to you, you must not subject him to slave service.

New American Standard Bible
'Now 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.

Geneva Bible (1587)
If thy brother also that dwelleth by thee, be impouerished, and be sold vnto thee, thou shalt not compel him to serue as a bond seruant,

Legacy Standard Bible
‘If a brother 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.

Contemporary English Version
Suppose some of your people become so poor that they have to sell themselves and become your slaves.

Complete Jewish Bible
(RY: iv, LY: vi) "‘If a member of your people has become poor among you and sells himself to you, do not make him do the work of a slave.

Darby Translation
And if thy brother grow poor beside thee, and be sold unto thee, thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bondservant:

Easy-to-Read Version
"If anyone from your own country becomes so poor that they must sell themselves to you, don't make them work like slaves.

English Standard Version
"If your brother becomes poor beside you and sells himself to you, you shall not make him serve as a slave:

George Lamsa Translation
And if your brother becomes poor and be sold to you, you shall not compel him to serve as a bondservant;

Good News Translation
If any Israelites living near you become so poor that they sell themselves to you as a slave, you shall not make them do the work of a slave.

Christian Standard Bible®
“If your brother among you becomes destitute and sells himself to you, you must not force him to do slave labor.

Literal Translation
And when your brother becomes poor with you, and he has been sold to you, you shall not lay on him the service of a slave.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Whan thy brother waxeth poore besyde the, and selleth himself vnto the, thou shalt not holde him as a bode ma:

American Standard Version
And if thy brother be waxed poor with thee, and sell himself unto thee; thou shalt not make him to serve as a bondservant.

Bible in Basic English
And if your brother becomes poor and gives himself to you for money, do not make use of him like a servant who is your property;

Bishop's Bible (1568)
If thy brother that dwelleth by thee be waxen poore, and be solde vnto thee, thou shalt not compell hym to serue as a bonde seruaunt:

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And if thy brother be waxen poor with thee, and sell himself unto thee, thou shalt not make him to serve as a bondservant.

King James Version (1611)
And if thy brother that dwelleth by thee be waxen poore, and be sold vnto thee, thou shalt not compell him to serue as a bond seruant.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And if thy brother by thee be lowered, and be sold to thee, he shall not serve thee with the servitude of a slave.

English Revised Version
And if thy brother be waxen poor with thee, and sell himself unto thee; thou shalt not make him to serve as a bondservant:

Berean Standard Bible
If a countryman among you becomes destitute and sells himself to you, you must not force him into slave labor.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
If thi brother compellid bi pouert sillith hym silf to thee, thou schalt not oppresse hym bi seruage of seruauntis,

Young's Literal Translation
`And when thy brother becometh poor with thee, and he hath been sold to thee, thou dost not lay on him servile service;

Update Bible Version
And if your brother is waxed poor with you, and sells himself to you; you shall not make him to serve as a slave.

Webster's Bible Translation
And if thy brother [that dwelleth] by thee shall have become poor, and be sold to thee; thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bond servant:

World English Bible
If your brother has grown poor with you, and sell himself to you; you shall not make him to serve as a bond-servant.

New King James Version
"And if one of your brethren who dwells by you becomes poor, and sells himself to you, you shall not compel him to serve as a slave.

New Living Translation
"If one of your fellow Israelites falls into poverty and is forced to sell himself to you, do not treat him as a slave.

New Life Bible
‘If your brother becomes so poor that he sells himself to you, do not make him work as a servant.

New Revised Standard
If any who are dependent on you become so impoverished that they sell themselves to you, you shall not make them serve as slaves.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And when thy brother waxeth poor with thee, and so selleth himself unto thee, thou shalt not bind him with the bondage of a bondman:

Douay-Rheims Bible
If thy brother constrained by poverty, sell himself to thee: thou shalt not oppress him with the service of bondservants.

Revised Standard Version
"And if your brother becomes poor beside you, and sells himself to you, you shall not make him serve as a slave:

THE MESSAGE
"If one of your brothers becomes indigent and has to sell himself to you, don't make him work as a slave. Treat him as a hired hand or a guest among you. He will work for you until the Jubilee, after which he and his children are set free to go back to his clan and his ancestral land. Because the People of Israel are my servants whom I brought out of Egypt, they must never be sold as slaves. Don't tyrannize them; fear your God.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
'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.

Contextual Overview

³⁹'And if your fellow countryman becomes so poor [in his dealings] with you that he sells himself to you [as payment for a debt], you shall not let him do the work of a slave [who is ineligible for redemption],⁴⁰but he is to be with you as a hired man, as if he were a temporary resident; he shall serve with you until the Year of Jubilee, ⁴¹and then he shall leave you, he and his children with him, and shall go back to his own family and return to the property of his fathers. ⁴²'For the Israelites are My servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold in a slave sale. ⁴³'You shall not rule over him with harshness (severity, oppression), but you are to fear your God [with profound reverence]. ⁴⁴'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. ⁴⁵'Moreover, from the children of the strangers who live as aliens among you, from them you may buy slaves and from their families who are with you, whom they have produced in your land; they may become your possession. ⁴⁶'You may even bequeath them as an inheritance to your children after you, to receive as a possession; you can use them as permanent slaves. But in respect to your fellow countrymen, the children of Israel, you shall not rule over one another with harshness (severity, oppression). ⁴⁷'Now if the financial means of a stranger or temporary resident among you become sufficient, and your fellow countryman becomes poor in comparison to him and sells himself to the stranger who is living among you or to the descendants of the stranger's family, ⁴⁸then after he is sold he shall have the right of redemption. One of his relatives may redeem him:

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

be sold: Exodus 21:2, Exodus 22:3, Deuteronomy 15:12, 1 Kings 9:22, 2 Kings 4:1, Nehemiah 5:5, Jeremiah 34:14

compel him to serve as: Heb. serve thyself with him with the service of, etc. Leviticus 25:46, *marg. Exodus 1:14, Jeremiah 25:14, Jeremiah 27:7, Jeremiah 30:8

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 15:17 - for ever 2 Chronicles 8:9 - But of the 2 Chronicles 28:10 - keep Isaiah 50:1 - or which Jeremiah 34:8 - to proclaim Amos 8:6 - General Matthew 18:25 - commanded Ephesians 6:9 - ye Colossians 4:1 - give

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And if thy brother [that dwelleth] by thee be waxen poor,.... The above laws and instructions seem designed to prevent such extreme poverty as obliged to what follows, namely, a brother being sold either to an Israelite or to a stranger, by relieving his wants or lending him money; but when these were insufficient to support him, and keep him from sinking into the lowest state of distress and misery, then he was obliged to be sold, as follows:

and be sold unto thee; either by himself, being ready to starve and perish, or by the sanhedrim, having stolen something, as Aben Ezra observes; in such a case the civil magistrate had a power of selling a man, Exodus 22:3;

thou shall not compel him to serve as a bondservant; such as were Heathens, and bought of them, or taken in war and made slaves of; but an Israelite sold was not to serve as they, either with respect to matter or manner, or time of service; such as were bondmen were put to the hardest service, the greatest drudgery, as well as what was mean and reproachful, and were used in the most rigorous and despotic manner, and were obliged to serve for ever, and were never released; but a brother, an Israelite, sold to another through extreme poverty, was not to be put to any low, mean, base, and disgraceful service, by which it would be known that he was a servant, as Jarchi notes; such as to carry his master's vessels or instruments after him to the bath, or to unloose his shoes; but, as the same writer observes, he was to be employed in the business of the farm, or in some handicraft work, and was to be kindly and gently used, rather as a brother than a servant, and to be freed in the year of jubilee.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The law here appears harmoniously to supplement the earlier one in Exodus 21:1-6. It was another check applied periodically to the tyranny of the rich. Compare Jeremiah 34:8-17.