Deuteronomy 15:17

then take an awl and pierce it through his ear into the door, and he will become your servant for life. And treat your maidservant the same way.

Majority Standard Bible

In The King James Version

Then thou shalt take an aul, and thrust it through his ear unto the door, and he shall be thy servant for ever. And also unto thy maidservant thou shalt do likewise.

In Context

16But if your servant says to you, ‘I do not want to leave you,’ because he loves you and your household and is well off with you,

18Do not regard it as a hardship to set your servant free, because his six years of service were worth twice the wages of a hired hand. And the LORD your God will bless you in all you do.

Read all of Deuteronomy 15

Cross References

Leviticus 25:39If a countryman among you becomes destitute and sells himself to you, then you must not force him into slave labor.

Matthew Henry on Deuteronomy 15:13-19

12 And if thy brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee, and serve thee six years; then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee. 13 And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty: 14 Thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and out of thy floor, and out of thy winepress: of that wherewith the Lord thy God hath blessed thee thou shalt give unto him. 15 And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the Lord… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Deuteronomy 15:17