³⁹“ ‘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. ⁴⁰He will be like a hired worker and a visitor with you until the year of Jubilee. ⁴¹Then he may leave you, take his children, and go back to his family and the land of his ancestors. ⁴²This is because the Israelites are my servants, and I brought them out of slavery in Egypt. They must not become slaves again. ⁴³You must not rule this person cruelly, but you must respect your God.

⁴⁴“ ‘Your men and women slaves must come from other nations around you; from them you may buy slaves. ⁴⁵Also you may buy as slaves children from the families of foreigners living in your land. These child slaves will belong to you, ⁴⁶and you may even pass them on to your children after you die; you can make them slaves forever. But you must not rule cruelly over your own people, the Israelites.

⁴⁷“ ‘Suppose a foreigner or visitor among you becomes rich. If someone in your country becomes so poor that he has to sell himself as a slave to the foreigner living among you or to a member of the foreigner’s family, ⁴⁸the poor person has the right to be bought back and become free. One of his relatives may buy him back: ⁴⁹His uncle, his uncle’s son, or any one of his close relatives may buy him back. Or, if he gets enough money, he may pay the money to free himself.

⁵⁰“ ‘He and the one who bought him must count the time from when he sold himself up to the next year of Jubilee. Use that number to decide the price, because the person really only hired himself out for a certain number of years. ⁵¹If there are still many years before the year of Jubilee, the person must pay back a large part of the price. ⁵²If there are only a few years left until Jubilee, the person must pay a small part of the first price. ⁵³But he will live like a hired person with the foreigner every year; don’t let the foreigner rule cruelly over him.

⁵⁴“ ‘Even if no one buys him back, at the year of Jubilee, he and his children will become free. ⁵⁵This is because the people of Israel are servants to me. They are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.

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