Exodus 21:5

New Living Translation

But the slave may declare, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children. I don't want to go free.'

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
But if the servant shall plainly say, 'I love my master, my wife, and my children. I will not go out free;'

King James Version
And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free:

Lexham English Bible
But if the slave explicitly says, "I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,"

New Century Version
"But if the slave says, ‘I love my master, my wife and my children, and I don't want to go free,'

New English Translation
But if the servant should declare, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,'

Amplified Bible
"But if the servant plainly says, 'I love my master, my wife and my children; I will not leave as a free man,'

New American Standard Bible
"But if the slave plainly says, 'I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not leave as a free man,'

Geneva Bible (1587)
But if the seruant saye thus, I loue my master, my wife and my children, I will not goe out free,

Legacy Standard Bible
But if the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out as a free man,'

Contemporary English Version
But suppose the slave loves his wife and children so much that he won't leave without them.

Complete Jewish Bible
Nevertheless, if the slave declares, ‘I love my master, my wife and my children, so I don't want to go free,'

Darby Translation
But if the bondman shall say distinctly, I love my master, my wife, and my children, I will not go free;

Easy-to-Read Version
"But if the slave decides that he wants to stay with the master, he must say, ‘I love my master. I love my wife and my children. I will not become free—I will stay.'

English Standard Version
But if the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,'

George Lamsa Translation
And if the servant shall say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free;

Good News Translation
But if the slave declares that he loves his master, his wife, and his children and does not want to be set free,

Christian Standard Bible®
“But if the slave declares, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I do not want to leave as a free man,’

Literal Translation
And if the slave truly says, I love my master, my wife and my children; I do not desire to go out free,

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Neuertheles yf the seruaunt saye: I loue my master, and my wife and children, I wil not go out fre:

American Standard Version
But if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free:

Bible in Basic English
But if the servant says clearly, My master and my wife and children are dear to me; I have no desire to be free:

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And yf the seruaunt say: I loue my maister, my wyfe, and my chyldren, I wyll not go out free:

JPS Old Testament (1917)
But if the servant shall plainly say: I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free;

King James Version (1611)
And if the seruant shall plainely say, I loue my master, my wife, and my children, I will not goe out free:

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And if the servant should answer and say, I love my master and wife and children, I will not go away free;

English Revised Version
But if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free:

Berean Standard Bible
But if the servant declares, 'I love my master and my wife and children; I do not want to go free,'

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
That if the seruaunt seith, Y loue my lord, and wijf, and children, Y schal not go out fre;

Young's Literal Translation
`And if the servant really say: I have loved my lord, my wife, and my sons -- I do not go out free;

Update Bible Version
But if the slave shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my sons; I will not go out free:

Webster's Bible Translation
And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not depart free:

World English Bible
But if the servant shall plainly say, 'I love my master, my wife, and my children. I will not go out free;'

New King James Version
But if the servant plainly says, "I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,'

New Life Bible
But if the servant says, ‘I love my owner, my wife and my children; I do not care to go free,'

New Revised Standard
But if the slave declares, "I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out a free person,"

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
But, if the servant shall plainly say, I love my lord, and my wife and my sons, - I will not go out free,

Douay-Rheims Bible
And if the servant shall say: I love my master and my wife and children, I will not go out free:

Revised Standard Version
But if the slave plainly says, 'I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,'

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"But if the slave plainly says, 'I love my master, my wife and my children; I will not go out as a free man,'

Contextual Overview

¹ "These are the regulations you must present to Israel. ² "If you buy a Hebrew slave, he may serve for no more than six years. Set him free in the seventh year, and he will owe you nothing for his freedom. ³ If he was single when he became your slave, he shall leave single. But if he was married before he became a slave, then his wife must be freed with him. ⁴ "If his master gave him a wife while he was a slave and they had sons or daughters, then only the man will be free in the seventh year, but his wife and children will still belong to his master. ⁵ But the slave may declare, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children. I don't want to go free.' ⁶ If he does this, his master must present him before God. Then his master must take him to the door or doorpost and publicly pierce his ear with an awl. After that, the slave will serve his master for life. ⁷ "When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she will not be freed at the end of six years as the men are. ⁸ If she does not satisfy her owner, he must allow her to be bought back again. But he is not allowed to sell her to foreigners, since he is the one who broke the contract with her. ⁹ But if the slave's owner arranges for her to marry his son, he may no longer treat her as a slave but as a daughter. ¹⁰ "If a man who has married a slave wife takes another wife for himself, he must not neglect the rights of the first wife to food, clothing, and sexual intimacy.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

And if: Deuteronomy 15:16, Deuteronomy 15:17, Isaiah 26:13, 2 Corinthians 5:14, 2 Corinthians 5:15

shall plainly say: Heb. saying shall say

Cross-References

Genesis 17:1
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, "I am El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty.' Serve me faithfully and live a blameless life.

Genesis 17:17
Then Abraham bowed down to the ground, but he laughed to himself in disbelief. "How could I become a father at the age of 100?" he thought. "And how can Sarah have a baby when she is ninety years old?"

Romans 4:19
And Abraham's faith did not weaken, even though, at about 100 years of age, he figured his body was as good as dead—and so was Sarah's womb.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And if the servant shall plainly say,.... Or, "in saying shall say" i shall express himself in plain and full terms, and repeat his words, and abide by them, signifying it as his last will and determined resolution:

I love my master, my wife, and my children, and I will not go out free; but continue in his servitude, having a great affection for his master, and that he might enjoy his wife and children he dearly loved; and being animated with such a principle, his servitude was a pleasure to him: and when our obedience to God springs from love to him, and to his cause and interest, which should be as dear to us as our families, it is then acceptable to God and delightful to ourselves; in Deuteronomy 15:16,

it is, because he loveth thee, and thine house, because he is well with thee; hence the Jewish writers say k, understanding by "house" a family, if a servant has a wife and children and his master not, his ear is not to be bored; and if his master has a wife and children and he has not, his ear is not to be bored; if he loves his master and his master do not love him, or his master loves him and he do not love his master, or if he is sick, &c. his ear is not to be bored.

i אמר יאמר k T. Bab. Kiddushin, fol. 22. 1. Maimon. in Misn. Kiddushin, c. 1. sect. 2.