Leviticus 25:40-43
25:40 He must be with you as a hired worker, as a resident foreigner;
he must serve with you until the year of jubilee,
25:41 but then
he may go free,
he and his children with him, and may return to his family and to the property of his ancestors.
25:42 Since they are my servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt, they must not be sold in a slave sale.
25:43 You must not rule over him harshly,
but you must fear your God.
Leviticus 25:45
25:45 Also you may buy slaves
from the children of the foreigners who reside with you, and from their families that are
with you, whom they have fathered in your land, they may become your property.
Deuteronomy 15:1
Release for Debt Slaves
15:1 At the end of every seven years you must declare a cancellation of debts.
Deuteronomy 15:12-15
Release of Debt Slaves
15:12 If your fellow Hebrew – whether male or female – is sold to you and serves you for six years, then in the seventh year you must let that servant go free.
15:13 If you set them free, you must not send them away empty-handed.
15:14 You must supply them generously from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress – as the Lord your God has blessed you, you must give to them.
15:15 Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore, I am commanding you to do this thing today.
Deuteronomy 15:18
15:18 You should not consider it difficult to let him go free, for he will have served you for six years, twice
the time of a hired worker; the
Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.
Deuteronomy 31:10
31:10 He
commanded them: “At the end of seven years, at the appointed time of the cancellation of debts,
at the Feast of Temporary Shelters,
Jeremiah 34:8-17
The Lord Threatens to Destroy Those Who Wronged Their Slaves
34:8 The Lord spoke to Jeremiah after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to grant their slaves their freedom.
34:9 Everyone was supposed to free their male and female Hebrew slaves. No one was supposed to keep a fellow Judean enslaved.
34:10 All the people and their leaders had agreed to this. They had agreed to free their male and female slaves and not keep them enslaved any longer. They originally complied with the covenant and freed them.
34:11 But later they had changed their minds. They had taken back their male and female slaves that they had freed and forced them to be slaves again.
34:12 That was when the Lord spoke to Jeremiah,
34:13 “The Lord God of Israel has a message for you. ‘I made a covenant with your ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt where they had been slaves. It stipulated,
34:14 “Every seven years each of you must free any fellow Hebrews who have sold themselves to you. After they have served you for six years, you shall set them free.” But your ancestors did not obey me or pay any attention to me.
34:15 Recently, however, you yourselves showed a change of heart and did what is pleasing to me. You granted your fellow countrymen their freedom and you made a covenant to that effect in my presence in the house that I have claimed for my own.
34:16 But then you turned right around and showed that you did not honor me. Each of you took back your male and female slaves whom you had freed as they desired, and you forced them to be your slaves again.
34:17 So I, the Lord, say: “You have not really obeyed me and granted freedom to your neighbor and fellow countryman. Therefore, I will grant you freedom, the freedom to die in war, or by starvation or disease. I, the Lord, affirm it! I will make all the kingdoms of the earth horrified at what happens to you.