1 NOW THESE are the ordinances you [Moses] shall set before [the Israelites].
2 If you buy a Hebrew servant [as the result of debt or theft], he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, paying nothing. [Lev. 25:39.]
3 If he came [to you] by himself, he shall go out by himself; if he came married, then his wife shall go out with him.
4 If his master has given him a wife and she has borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out [of your service] alone.
5 But if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go free,
6 Then his master shall bring him to God [the judges as His agents]; he shall bring him to the door or doorpost and shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him for life.