Then his lord called the first slave ¹  and said to him, ‘Evil slave! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me!

“A disciple is not greater than his teacher, nor a slave ¹  greater than his master.

The lord had compassion on that slave and released him, and forgave him the debt.

and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave ¹  –

Blessed is that slave whom the master finds at work ¹  when he comes.

and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave ¹  of all.

But ¹  those tenants ²  seized his slave, ³  beat him, ⁴  and sent him away empty-handed. ⁵ 

So ¹  when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave ²  well.

Blessed is that slave ¹  whom his master finds at work ²  when he returns.

Then ¹  the slave said, ‘Sir, what you instructed has been done, and there is still room.’ ² 

He won’t thank the slave because he did what he was told, ¹  will he? ² 

Then ¹  one of them ²  struck the high priest’s slave, ³  cutting off his right ear.

The slave does not remain in the family ¹  forever, but the son remains forever. ² 

When he knocked at the door of the outer gate, a slave girl named Rhoda answered. ¹ 

When harvest time came, he sent a slave ¹  to the tenants so that they would give ²  him his portion of the crop. ³  However, the tenants beat his slave ⁴  and sent him away empty-handed.

Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, pulled it out and struck the high priest’s slave, ¹  cutting off his right ear. ²  (Now the slave’s name was Malchus.) ³ 

For the one who was called in the Lord as a slave is the Lord’s freedman. In the same way, the one who was called as a free person is Christ’s slave.

But what does the scripture say? “Throw out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman will not share the inheritance with the son” ¹  of the free woman.

no longer as a slave, ¹  but more than a slave, as a dear brother. He is especially so to me, and even more so to you now, both humanly speaking ²  and in the Lord.

Then his fellow slave threw himself down and begged him, ¹  ‘Be patient with me, and I will repay you.’