And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them for a possession; they shall be your bondmen for ever: but over your brethren the children of Israel, ye shall not rule one over another with rigour.
This verse comes from the book of Leviticus, which contains the legal code given to the Israelites in the wilderness. Chapter 25 deals largely with the Year of Jubilee — a radical law commanding that every 50 years, debts would be cancelled and Israelite servants would be freed. However, this verse draws a sharp distinction: while fellow Israelites could not be enslaved permanently, foreigners could be bought, owned for life, and passed down to children as inherited property. This verse explicitly permits the permanent enslavement of non-Israelites and is one of the most difficult passages in Scripture. It was historically used to justify chattel slavery. It sits in genuine, uncomfortable tension with the Bible's broader declarations that all people are made in the image of God.
God, give me the courage to read your Word honestly — even the parts that are hard to hold. Where I have benefited from systems that harm others, convict me and move me to act. And where your Word falls short of your fullness, lead me deeper into the arc of justice you are always bending toward. Amen.
There is no comfortable landing here. This verse permits what we now rightly recognize as one of history's greatest evils — the permanent ownership of human beings, categorized by nationality. And it is in the Bible. Some readers will want to skip past it quickly; others have used it, historically and explicitly, to defend American slavery. But a faith that only engages the Bible when it's convenient is a thin faith, and this verse deserves honest reckoning rather than either dismissal or weaponization. Here's what honest reading requires: holding two truths at once without letting either one flatten the other. The Bible was written in and for specific historical contexts — contexts that included brutal social hierarchies that God sometimes regulated without immediately abolishing. At the same time, the full arc of Scripture — from "made in the image of God" in Genesis 1, to "there is neither slave nor free" in Galatians 3 — bends hard and persistently toward human dignity and equality. If this verse makes you uncomfortable, that discomfort may be worth examining rather than escaping. Let it ask harder questions of you: Where today do legal or social structures protect people like us while permitting suffering for people unlike us? The text is ancient. The pattern it names is not.
What distinction does this verse draw between Israelites and foreigners — and what does that distinction reveal about the limits of how far the law's protections extended in ancient Israel?
How do you personally process passages in the Bible that seem to contradict what you believe about God's character? What tools or frameworks do you use?
The Bible's arc has been described as bending toward human dignity — but it doesn't always get there in a single verse or even a single book. Does that gradual movement challenge or strengthen your faith in Scripture?
This passage was historically cited to justify slavery. How does knowing that history affect the way you read and teach difficult Bible passages — and what responsibility do we have to be honest about that legacy?
Where in your own world — your community, your country, your workplace — do systems protect people like you while allowing harm to people unlike you? What is one concrete step you could take toward greater equity?
But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou.
Deuteronomy 5:14
And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him.
Ephesians 6:9
Notwithstanding, if he continue a day or two, he shall not be punished: for he is his money.
Exodus 21:21
You may even bequeath them as an inheritance to your children after you, to receive as a possession; you can use them as permanent slaves. But in respect to your fellow countrymen, the children of Israel, you shall not rule over one another with harshness (severity, oppression).
AMP
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.
ESV
'You may even bequeath them to your sons after you, to receive as a possession; you can use them as permanent slaves. But in respect to your countrymen, the sons of Israel, you shall not rule with severity over one another.
NASB
You can will them to your children as inherited property and can make them slaves for life, but you must not rule over your fellow Israelites ruthlessly.
NIV
And you may take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them as a possession; they shall be your permanent slaves. But regarding your brethren, the children of Israel, you shall not rule over one another with rigor.
NKJV
passing them on to your children as a permanent inheritance. You may treat them as slaves, but you must never treat your fellow Israelites this way.
NLT
You may will them to your children as property and make them slaves for life. But you must not tyrannize your brother Israelites.
MSG