What Does The Bible Say About Slavery?

What Does The Bible Say About Slavery? They were revealed to help us clearly understand God’s will about this subject matter. It is rather unfortunate that many people think that the Bible condones slavery. It is to bring more light on this subject matter that we hereby write to present the best Bible verses on slavery. That is, we’ll be answering the question, “does the Bible condone slavery?” Today, we are more likely to look slavery as something of the past. But it is estimated that there are today over 27 million human beings around the world that are subjected to slavery: force sex trade, labor, inheritable property, and and many more. All followers of Jesus Christ being those who have been redeemed from the slavery of sin should be the foremost leaders in ending all forms of human slavery in the world.

One might ask, “why does the Bible not speak out strongly against slavery?” Another might ask, “why does the Bible, in fact, seem to support the practice of human slavery?” The truth is that the Bible does not specifically condemn the practice of slavery. It rather gives instructions on how slaves should be treated (Deuteronomy 15:12-15; Ephesians 6:9; Colossians 4:1). That is, the Bible does not outlaw slavery altogether. However, it is rather unfortunate that many people perceive this as the Bible condoning all forms of slavery. What such people actually fail to understand is that the slavery that was practiced in Biblical times was very different from that practiced in the past few centuries in several parts of the world. It is important to understand here that the slavery during Biblical times was not based exclusively on race.

What Does The Bible Say About Slavery?

Still on the differences between the type of slavery that was practiced some centuries ago and that which was practiced during biblical times, we can say that during biblical times, people were not enslaved because of their nationality or skin color. Note that during biblical times, slavery was based more on economics. That is, it was a matter of social status. People sold themselves to others when they could not pay their debts or provide the needs of their families. Even in the New Testament times, we realize that there were times when lawyers, doctors, and even politicians were slaves of someone else. It is important to understand here that some people willingly chose to be slaves in order to have all their needs provided for by their masters.

On the other hand, we can say without doubt that the slavery of the past few centuries was often based exclusively on skin color. In the United States, the black people were considered slaves because of their nationality. It is sad to say but many slave owners truly believed black people to be inferior human beings. However, the Bible clearly condemns race-based slavery in that it teaches that all human beings are created by God in His image (Genesis 1:27). As for the Old Testament that allowed economic-based slavery, it did so through a highly regulated system.

What does the Scripture say about Slavery?

The Scripture does not condone slavery. It is important to understand here that the slavery the Bible allowed for in no way resembled the unjust racial slavery that plagued the entire world for the few past centuries. Also, both the Old and New Testament highly condemn the practice of “man-stealing,” which is what happened from the 16th to the 19th centuries in Africa. All-through these centuries, Africans were rounded up by slave-hunters, who sold them to slave-traders, who took them to the New World to work on large plantations and farms. Behold, this practice is abhorrent to God. In short, the penalty for such a crime was death according to the Mosaic Law (Exodus 21:16). Exodus 21:16 says, “Anyone who kidnaps another and either sells him or still has him when he is caught must be put to death.”

The New Testament portrays slave-traders as those who are “sinful and ungodly.” Such people are in the same category with those who kill their fathers or mothers, adulterers, murderers, perjurers, perverts, and liars (1 Timothy 1:8– 10). The main purpose of the Bible is to point the way to salvation, and not to reform the society. Also, the Bible often approaches the issues of this world from the inside out. Anyone who experiences the love, forgiveness, blessing, mercy, and favor of God which is manifested through the salvation or Eternal Life obtained in Christ by Believing, Sincerely Repenting and obeying His Teachings is likely going to realize that enslaving another human being is wrong. God has freed us from the slavery of sin. We fight against all forms of modern slavery because God first fought for our freedom. A slave can be “a brother in the Lord” (Philemon 1:16).

What The Bible Says About Slavery

Deuteronomy 5:15 – “Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.”

John 8:36 – “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

John 8:34 – Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.”

Romans 8:15 – “The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.””

Galatians 5:1 – “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”

Romans 6:5-6 – “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.”

Proverbs 12:24 – “Diligent hands will rule, but laziness ends in forced labor.”

1 Peter 2:16 – “Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves.”

Proverbs 22:7 – “The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.”

Romans 6:22 – “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.”

Group 1 – What The Bible Says About Slavery

1 Corinthians 12:13 – “For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.”

Luke 4:18 – “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free.”

Matthew 20:26-27 – “Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave.”

Isaiah 58:6 – “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:to loose the chains of injusticeand untie the cords of the yoke,to set the oppressed freeand break every yoke?”

Exodus 21:20-21 – “When a man strikes his slave, male or female, with a rod and the slave dies under his hand, he shall be avenged. But if the slave survives a day or two, he is not to be avenged, for the slave is his money.”

Exodus 21:16 – “Whoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found in possession of him, shall be put to death.”

Ephesians 6:5 – “Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ,”

Colossians 4:1 – “Masters, treat your slaves justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.”

Galatians 3:28-29 – “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

Group 2 – What The Bible Says About Slavery

Galatians 5:1 – “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”

Galatians 3:28 – “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

Leviticus 25:44-46 – “As for your male and female slaves whom you may have: you may buy male and female slaves from among the nations that are around you. You may also buy from among the strangers who sojourn with you and their clans that are with you, who have been born in your land, and they may be your property. You may bequeath them to your sons after you to inherit as a possession forever, You may make slaves of them, but over your brothers the people of Israel you shall not rule, one over another ruthlessly.”

Ephesians 6:9 – “Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.“

Philemon 1:16 – “No longer as a slave but more than a slave, as a beloved brother—especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.”

Titus 2:9-10 – “Slaves are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.”

1 Peter 2:18 – “Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust.”

ALSO READ What Does the Bible Say About Prince of the World?

Group 3 – What The Bible Says About Slavery

Luke 4:18 – “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,”

Exodus 21:2 – “When you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing.”

1 Timothy 6:1 – “Let all who are under a yoke as slaves regard their own masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled.”

Exodus 21:26-27 – “When a man strikes the eye of his slave, male or female, and destroys it, he shall let the slave go free because of his eye. If he knocks out the tooth of his slave, male or female, he shall let the slave go free because of his tooth.”

1 Timothy 1:10 – “The sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine,”

1 Timothy 6:1-2 – “Let all who are under a yoke as slaves regard their own masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled. Those who have believing masters must not be disrespectful on the ground that they are brothers; rather they must serve all the better since those who benefit by their good service are believers and beloved. Teach and urge these things.”

Deuteronomy 24:7 – “If a man is found stealing one of his brothers of the people of Israel, and if he treats him as a slave or sells him, then that thief shall die. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.”

Group 4 – What The Bible Says About Slavery

Colossians 3:22 – “Slaves, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.”

Exodus 21:1-36 – “Now these are the rules that you shall set before them. When you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing. If he comes in single, he shall go out single; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him, If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out alone. But if the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’ ...”

Deuteronomy 23:15 – “You shall not give up to his master a slave who has escaped from his master to you.”

Exodus 21:7 – “When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do.”

1 Corinthians 7:21 – “Were you a slave when called? Do not be concerned about it. (But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity.)”

Luke 12:47-48 – “And that servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.”

1 Peter 2:16 – “Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.”

Group 5 – What The Bible Says About Slavery

Leviticus 25:1-55 – “The Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you, the land shall keep a Sabbath to the Lord. For six years you shall sow your field, and for six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its fruits, but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the Lord. You shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard. You shall not reap what grows of itself in your harvest, or gather the grapes of your undressed vine. It shall be a year of solemn rest for the land. …”

Exodus 21:2-6 – “When you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing. If he comes in single, he shall go out single, if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him. If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out alone. But if the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’ then his master shall bring him to God, and he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall be his slave forever.”

Group 6 – What The Bible Says About Slavery

John 8:34 – Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.”

Exodus 21:32 – “If the ox gores a slave, male or female, the owner shall give to their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.”

Ephesians 6:5-8 – “Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.”

Exodus 21:20 – “When a man strikes his slave, male or female, with a rod and the slave dies under his hand, he shall be avenged.”

Proverbs 22:16 – “Whoever oppresses the poor to increase his own wealth, or gives to the rich, will only come to poverty.”

Ephesians 6:5-9 – “Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free. Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.“

Group 7 – What Does The Bible Say About Slavery?

Exodus 21:7-11 – “When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do. If she does not please her master, who has designated her for himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has broken faith with her. If he designates her for his son, he shall deal with her as with a daughter. If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, or her marital rights. And if he does not do these three things for her, she shall go out for nothing, without payment of money.”

Romans 1:1 – “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,”

Romans 8:15 – “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!””

Proverbs 12:24 – “The hand of the diligent will rule, while the slothful will be put to forced labor.”

1 Corinthians 12:13 – “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.”

Deuteronomy 5:15 – “You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.”

Group 8 – What Does The Bible Say About Slavery?

Romans 6:22 – “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.”

Deuteronomy 15:12 – “If your brother, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you, he shall serve you six years, and in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you.”

Leviticus 25:44 – “As for your male and female slaves whom you may have: you may buy male and female slaves from among the nations that are around you.”

Acts 17:26 – “And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place,”

Deuteronomy 15:12-18 – “If your brother, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you, he shall serve you six years, and in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you. And when you let him go free from you, you shall not let him go empty-handed. You shall furnish him liberally out of your flock, out of your threshing floor, and out of your winepress. As the Lord your God has blessed you, you shall give to him. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this today. But if he says to you, ‘I will not go out from you,’ because he loves you and your household, since he is well-off with you, …”

ALSO READ What Does the Bible Say About Aliens and Extraterrestrial Life?

Group 9 – What Does The Bible Say About Slavery?

Leviticus 25:39 – “If your brother becomes poor beside you and sells himself to you, you shall not make him serve as a slave:”

Leviticus 25:43 – “You shall not rule over him ruthlessly but shall fear your God.”

Genesis 9:25 – He said, “Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.”

1 Corinthians 7:21-23 – “Were you a slave when called? Do not be concerned about it. (But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity.) For he who was called in the Lord as a slave is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is a slave of Christ. You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men.”

John 8:36 – “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

Isaiah 58:6 – “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?”

Proverbs 22:7 – “The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender.”

Deuteronomy 15:12-15 – “If your brother, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you, he shall serve you six years, and in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you. And when you let him go free from you, you shall not let him go empty-handed. You shall furnish him liberally out of your flock, out of your threshing floor, and out of your winepress. As the Lord your God has blessed you, you shall give to him. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this today.“

Group 10 – What Does The Bible Say About Slavery?

Exodus 21:12 – “Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death.”

Exodus 21:18-21 – ““When men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist and the man does not die but takes to his bed, then if the man rises again and walks outdoors with his staff, he who struck him shall be clear; only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall have him thoroughly healed. “When a man strikes his slave, male or female, with a rod and the slave dies under his hand, he shall be avenged. But if the slave survives a day or two, he is not to be avenged, for the slave is his money.“

Titus 2:9 – “Slaves are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative,”

Luke 16:13 – “No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

Exodus 20:1-26 – “And God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before me, “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, …”

Group 11 – What Does The Bible Say About Slavery?

Genesis 15:13-14 – Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions.”

Exodus 21:8 – “If she does not please her master, who has designated her for himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has broken faith with her.”

Matthew 25:46 – “And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Exodus 21:4 – “If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out alone.”

Genesis 1:27 – “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

Luke 12:43-48 – “Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful. And that servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. …”

Group 12 – What Does The Bible Say About Slavery?

Matthew 6:24 – “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

Leviticus 25:46 – “You may bequeath them to your sons after you to inherit as a possession forever. You may make slaves of them, but over your brothers the people of Israel you shall not rule, one over another ruthlessly.”

Leviticus 19:20 – “If a man lies sexually with a woman who is a slave, assigned to another man and not yet ransomed or given her freedom, a distinction shall be made. They shall not be put to death, because she was not free;”

Leviticus 25:38-46 – “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your God. “If your brother becomes poor beside you and sells himself to you, you shall not make him serve as a slave: he shall be with you as a hired servant and as a sojourner. He shall serve with you until the year of the jubilee. Then he shall go out from you, he and his children with him, and go back to his own clan and return to the possession of his fathers. For they are my servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as slaves. …”

Group 13 – What Does The Bible Say About Slavery?

Exodus 3:1-15:27 – “Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” …”

Genesis 4:1-26 – “Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.” And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. …”

Leviticus 25:46 – “You may bequeath them to your sons after you to inherit as a possession forever. You may make slaves of them, but over your brothers the people of Israel you shall not rule, one over another ruthlessly.”

Group 14 – What Does The Bible Say About Slavery?

Deuteronomy 21:10-14 – “When you go out to war against your enemies, and the Lord your God gives them into your hand and you take them captive, and you see among the captives a beautiful woman, and you desire to take her to be your wife, and you bring her home to your house, she shall shave her head and pare her nails. And she shall take off the clothes in which she was captured and shall remain in your house and lament her father and her mother a full month. After that you may go in to her and be her husband, and she shall be your wife. But if you no longer delight in her, you shall let her go where she wants. But you shall not sell her for money, nor shall you treat her as a slave, since you have humiliated her.”

Leviticus 25:53 – “He shall treat him as a servant hired year by year. He shall not rule ruthlessly over him in your sight.”

Romans 6:5-6 – “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.”

Galatians 3:28-29 – “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.”

ALSO READ What Does The Bible Say About How You Should Treat Others?

Group 15 – What Does The Bible Say About Slavery?

Romans 1:30 – “Slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,”

Leviticus 19:20-22 – “If a man lies sexually with a woman who is a slave, assigned to another man and not yet ransomed or given her freedom, a distinction shall be made. They shall not be put to death, because she was not free; but he shall bring his compensation to the Lord, to the entrance of the tent of meeting, a ram for a guilt offering. And the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering before the Lord for his sin that he has committed, and he shall be forgiven for the sin that he has committed.”

Deuteronomy 23:15-16 – “You shall not give up to his master a slave who has escaped from his master to you. He shall dwell with you, in your midst, in the place that he shall choose within one of your towns, wherever it suits him. You shall not wrong him.”

1 Timothy 1:9-10 – “Understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine,”

Group 16 – What Does The Bible Say About Slavery?

Exodus 22:3 – “But if the sun has risen on him, there shall be bloodguilt for him. He shall surely pay. If he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.”

Genesis 11:1-32 – “Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. …”

Exodus 22:3 – “But if the sun has risen on him, there shall be bloodguilt for him. He shall surely pay. If he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.”

Leviticus 19:33-34 – “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”

Deuteronomy 15:16-17 – “But if he says to you, ‘I will not go out from you,’ because he loves you and your household, since he is well-off with you, then you shall take an awl, and put it through his ear into the door, and he shall be your slave forever. And to your female slave you shall do the same.”

Group 17 – What Does The Bible Say About Slavery?

Exodus 21:1 – “Now these are the rules that you shall set before them.”

Jeremiah 34:14 – “‘At the end of seven years each of you must set free the fellow Hebrew who has been sold to you and has served you six years; you must set him free from your service.’ But your fathers did not listen to me or incline their ears to me.”

Deuteronomy 20:14 – “But the women and the little ones, the livestock, and everything else in the city, all its spoil, you shall take as plunder for yourselves. And you shall enjoy the spoil of your enemies, which the Lord your God has given you.“

Ephesians 6:6 – “Not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart,”

Matthew 10:24 – “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.”

Exodus 21:6 – “Then his master shall bring him to God, and he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall be his slave forever.”

Exodus 22:2-3 – “If a thief is found breaking in and is struck so that he dies, there shall be no bloodguilt for him, but if the sun has risen on him, there shall be bloodguilt for him. He shall surely pay. If he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.”

Colossians 3:12 – “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,”

Group 18 – What Does The Bible Say About Slavery?

Deuteronomy 13:5 – “But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has taught rebellion against the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of slavery, to make you leave the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.”

Exodus 21:1-4 – “Now these are the rules that you shall set before them. When you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing. If he comes in single, he shall go out single, if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him. If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out alone.”

Luke 7:1-10 – “After he had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. Now a centurion had a servant who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him. When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant. And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy to have you do this for him, …”

Exodus 20:10 – “But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.”

Group 19 – What Does The Bible Say About Slavery?

Revelation 1:1-20 – “The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near. John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. …”

Colossians 3:11 – “Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.”

1 Corinthians 6:12 – ““All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be enslaved by anything.”

Exodus 21:11 – “And if he does not do these three things for her, she shall go out for nothing, without payment of money.”

Jeremiah 34:9 – “That everyone should set free his Hebrew slaves, male and female, so that no one should enslave a Jew, his brother.”

Group 20 – What Does The Bible Say About Slavery?

Deuteronomy 15:18 – “It shall not seem hard to you when you let him go free from you, for at half the cost of a hired servant he has served you six years. So the Lord your God will bless you in all that you do.”

Colossians 3:22-24 – “Slaves, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.”