³⁹“ ‘Suppose one of your own people becomes poor. And suppose he sells himself to you. Then do not make him work as a slave. ⁴⁰You must treat him like a hired worker. Or you must treat him like someone who is living among you for a while.

“ ‘He must work for you until the Year of Jubilee. ⁴¹Then he and his children must be set free. He will go back to his own tribe. He will go back to the property his people have always owned.

⁴²“ ‘The people of Israel are my servants. I brought them out of Egypt. So they must not be sold as slaves. ⁴³Show them pity when you rule over them. Have respect for me.

⁴⁴“ ‘You must get your male and female slaves from the nations that are around you. You can buy slaves from them. ⁴⁵You can buy as slaves some of the people who are living among you for a while. You can also buy members of their families who were born among you. They will become your property. ⁴⁶You can leave them to your children as their share of your property. You can make them slaves for life. But when you rule over your own people, you must be kind to them.

⁴⁷“ ‘Suppose an outsider or someone who is living among you for a while becomes rich. Then suppose one of your own people becomes poor. He sells himself to the outsider who is living among you. Or he sells himself to a member of the outsider’s family. ⁴⁸Then he keeps the right to buy himself back after he has sold himself. One of his relatives can buy him back. ⁴⁹An uncle or a cousin can buy himself back after he has sold himself. In fact, any relative in his tribe can do it. Or suppose things go well for him. Then he can buy himself back.

⁵⁰“ ‘He and his buyer must count the number of years from the time of the sale up to the Year of Jubilee. The price for his freedom must be based on the amount that is paid to a hired man for that number of years.

⁵¹“ ‘Suppose there are many years until the Year of Jubilee. Then for his freedom he must pay a larger share of the price that was paid for him. ⁵²But suppose there are only a few years left until the Year of Jubilee. Then he must count the number of years that are left. The payment for his freedom must be based on that number.

⁵³“ ‘He must be treated as if he had been hired from year to year. You must make sure that his owner is kind to him when he rules over him.

⁵⁴“ ‘Suppose he is not bought back in any of those ways. Then he and his children must still be set free in the Year of Jubilee. ⁵⁵That is because the people of Israel belong to me. They are my servants. I brought them out of Egypt. I am the Lord their God.

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