60 Bible Verses about Slavery
Imagine a time long ago when people lived differently than they do now. Back then, some people were servants or slaves, and the Bible has stories and guidelines about that. These verses help us understand how things worked back then and how we can learn important lessons today.
As we read these verses, let’s remember that the world was different in those days. The Bible shows us how people lived and how they treated each other. We’ll also find out what God wanted people to do in those situations and what we can learn from it.
So, let’s take a step back in time and open our hearts to what the Bible can teach us about this topic. By learning about these verses, we can discover valuable lessons about fairness, kindness, and how to treat one another with respect, no matter who we are.
60 Bible Verses about Slavery
Exodus 21:2
“If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years; and in the seventh, he shall go out free and pay nothing.”
Exodus 21:7
“And if a man sells his daughter to be a female slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do.”
Exodus 21:16
“He who kidnaps a man and sells him, or if he is found in his hand, shall surely be put to death.”
Exodus 21:20-21
“And if a man beats his male or female servant with a rod, so that he dies under his hand, he shall surely be punished. Notwithstanding, if he remains alive a day or two, he shall not be punished; for he is his property.”
Exodus 21:26-27
“If a man strikes the eye of his male or female servant, and destroys it, he shall let him go free for the sake of his eye. And if he knocks out the tooth of his male or female servant, he shall let him go free for the sake of his tooth.”
Leviticus 19:20-22
“If a man has sexual relations with a woman who is a slave, designated to another man and not yet ransomed or given her freedom, an inquiry shall be held. They shall not be put to death, because she was not free.”
Leviticus 25:44-46
“And as for your male and female slaves whom you may have—from the nations that are around you, from them you may buy male and female slaves.”
Deuteronomy 15:12-15
“If your brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you and serves you six years, then in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you.”
Deuteronomy 24:7
“If a man is found kidnapping any of his brethren of the children of Israel, and mistreats him or sells him, then that kidnapper shall die; and you shall put away the evil from among you.”
Joshua 9:23
“Now therefore, you are cursed, and none of you shall be freed from being slaves—woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God.”
1 Samuel 8:16
“And he will take your male servants, your female servants, your finest young men, and your donkeys, and put them to his work.”
Nehemiah 5:5
“Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children; and indeed we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters have been brought into slavery. It is not in our power to redeem them, for other men have our lands and vineyards.”
Job 31:13-15
“If I have despised the cause of my male or female servant when they complained against me, what then shall I do when God rises up? When He punishes, how shall I answer Him? Did not He who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same One fashion us in the womb?”
Isaiah 58:6
“Is this not the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke?”
Jeremiah 2:14
“Is Israel a servant? Is he a homeborn slave? Why is he plundered?”
Jeremiah 34:8-9
“This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people who were at Jerusalem to proclaim liberty to them: that every man should set free his male and female slave—a Hebrew man or woman—that no one should keep a Jewish brother in bondage.”
Jeremiah 34:11
“But afterward they changed their minds and made the male and female slaves return, whom they had set free, and brought them into subjection as male and female slaves.”
Joel 3:6
“and sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, that you may remove them far from their borders.”
Amos 1:6
“Thus says the Lord: ‘For three transgressions of Gaza, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, because they took captive the whole captivity to deliver them up to Edom.'”
Amos 1:9
“Thus says the Lord: ‘For three transgressions of Tyre, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, because they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom, and did not remember the covenant of brotherhood.'”
Amos 2:6
“Thus says the Lord: ‘For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, because they sell the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of sandals.'”
Matthew 18:25
“But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made.”
Matthew 20:27
“And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
Luke 12:46
“The master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.”
Luke 17:7-9
“And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’? But will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink’? Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not.”
John 8:34
“Jesus answered them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.'”
Romans 6:16
“Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?”
1 Corinthians 7:21-23
“Were you called while a slave? Do not be concerned about it; but if you can be made free, rather use it. For he who is called in the Lord while a slave is the Lord’s freedman. Likewise he who is called while free is Christ’s slave. You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.”
Galatians 3:28
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
Ephesians 6:5
“Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ.”
Ephesians 6:8
“Knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.”
Colossians 3:11
“Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.”
Colossians 3:22
“Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God.”
Colossians 3:24
“Knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.”
1 Timothy 1:10
“For fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine.”
1 Timothy 6:1
“Let as many bondservants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and His doctrine may not be blasphemed.”
Titus 2:9-10
“Exhort bondservants to be obedient to their own masters, to be well pleasing in all things, not answering back, not pilfering, but showing all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things.”
Philemon 1:10-16
“I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten while in my chains, who once was unprofitable to you, but now is profitable to you and to me. I am sending him back. You therefore receive him, that is, my own heart, whom I wished to keep with me, that on your behalf he might minister to me in my chains for the gospel.”
1 Peter 2:18
“Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh.”
2 Peter 2:19
“While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage.”
Jude 1:4
“For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Revelation 6:15
“And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains.”
Revelation 13:16
“He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads.”
Revelation 18:13
“And cinnamon and incense, fragrant oil and frankincense, wine and oil, fine flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and bodies and souls of men.”
Revelation 19:18
“That you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, both small and great.”
Revelation 22:3
“And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him.”
Revelation 22:6
“Then he said to me, ‘These words are faithful and true.’ And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show His servants the things which must shortly take place.”
Revelation 22:9
“Then he said to me, ‘See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.'”
Revelation 22:10
“And he said to me, ‘Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand.'”
Revelation 22:16
“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.”
Leviticus 25:39
“And if one of your brethren who dwells by you becomes poor, and sells himself to you, you shall not compel him to serve as a slave.”
Leviticus 25:54
“And if he is not redeemed in these years, then he shall be released in the Year of Jubilee—he and his children with him.”
Leviticus 25:55
“For the children of Israel are servants to Me; they are My servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”
Isaiah 61:1
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.”
Jeremiah 22:13
“Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness and his chambers by injustice, who uses his neighbor’s service without wages and gives him nothing for his work.”
Ezekiel 34:27
“The trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase. They shall be safe in their land; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I have broken the bands of their yoke and delivered them from the hand of those who enslaved them.”
Amos 4:1
“Hear this word, you cows of Bashan, who are on the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, who say to your husbands, ‘Bring wine, let us drink!'”
Luke 1:52-53
“He has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty.”
1 Corinthians 6:20
“For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
1 Corinthians 7:21
“Were you called while a slave? Do not be concerned about it; but if you can be made free, rather use it.”
Conclusion
The Bible showed us stories from a long time ago, when things were different. Back then, some people were servants, and the Bible gave advice on how they should be treated.
Now, in our world today, we know that every person is special and important to God. The Bible’s lessons about treating everyone with kindness and fairness still matter. We’ve seen that God cares about how we treat each other, and He wants us to remember that everyone deserves respect.
So, as we finish this exploration, let’s remember the good things we’ve learned. Let’s be like Jesus and show love to everyone around us. By doing that, we can keep the lessons from the Bible alive in our hearts and make the world a better place.
