Exodus 21:2-6 ▼

2 “If you purchase a Hebrew servant [because of his debt or poverty], he shall serve six years, and in the seventh [year] he shall leave as a free man, paying nothing.

3 If he came [to you] alone, he shall leave alone; if he came married, then his wife shall leave with him.

4 If his master gives him a wife, and she gives birth to sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall belong to her master, and he shall leave [your service] alone.

5 But if the servant plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife and my children; I will not leave as a free man,’

6 then his master shall bring him to God [that is, to the judges who act in God’s name], then he shall bring him to the door or doorpost. And his master shall pierce his ear with an awl (strong needle); and he shall serve him for life.