Everyone was supposed to free their male and female Hebrew slaves. No one was supposed to keep a fellow Judean enslaved. ¹ 

When ¹  his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were very upset and went and told their lord everything that had taken place.

And those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all they found, both bad and good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

Even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night ¹  and finds them alert, ²  blessed are those slaves! ³ 

But the father said to his slaves, ¹  ‘Hurry! Bring the best robe, ²  and put it on him! Put a ring on his finger ³  and sandals ⁴  on his feet!

And he summoned ten of his slaves, ¹  gave them ten minas, ²  and said to them, ‘Do business with these until I come back.’

While he was on his way down, ¹  his slaves ²  met him and told him that his son was going to live.

“We are descendants ¹  of Abraham,” they replied, ²  “and have never been anyone’s slaves! How can you say, ³  ‘You will become free’?”

But I will punish ¹  the nation they serve as slaves,’ said God, ‘and after these things they will come out of there ²  and worship ³  me in this place.’ ⁴ 

But thanks be to God that though you were slaves to sin, you obeyed ¹  from the heart that pattern ²  of teaching you were entrusted to,

From Paul ¹  and Timothy, slaves ²  of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, ³  with the overseers ⁴  and deacons.

Older women likewise are to exhibit behavior fitting for those who are holy, not slandering, not slaves to excessive drinking, but teaching what is good.

Slaves, ¹  be subject ²  to your masters with all reverence, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are perverse.

cinnamon, spice, ¹  incense, perfumed ointment, ²  frankincense, ³  wine, olive oil and costly flour, ⁴  wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and four-wheeled carriages, ⁵  slaves and human lives. ⁶ 

(I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh.) ¹  For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.

Also you may buy slaves ¹  from the children of the foreigners who reside with you, and from their families that are ²  with you, whom they have fathered in your land, they may become your property.

I am the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, from being their slaves, ¹  and I broke the bars of your yoke and caused you to walk upright. ² 

Recall that you were slaves in the land of Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there by strength and power. ¹  That is why the Lord your God has commanded you to observe ²  the Sabbath day.

You are to rejoice in your festival, you, your son, your daughter, your male and female slaves, the Levites, the resident foreigners, the orphans, and the widows who are in your villages. ¹ 

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. ¹