‘ Every seventh year you must set your people free. Each of you must set free all the Hebrews who have sold themselves to you. Let them serve you for six years. Then you must let them go free.’( Deuteronomy 15:12) But your people of long ago did not listen to me. They did not pay any attention to me.

‘你的一个希伯来弟兄若卖给你，服侍你六年，到第七年你们各人就要任他自由出去。’只是你们列祖不听从我，也不侧耳而听。

‘你的一个希伯来弟兄若卖给你，服事你六年，到第七年你们各人就要释放他自由出去。’只是你们祖先不听我，不侧耳而听。

‘你的一个希伯来弟兄若卖给你，服事你六年，到第七年你们各人就要释放他自由出去。’只是你们祖先不听我，不侧耳而听。

倘若你们的希伯来同胞卖身做你们的奴隶，服侍你们六年后，到第七年你们要给他们自由。你们的祖先却掩耳不听。

“一个希伯来兄弟卖了身给你，服事了你六年，到第七年，你们各人就应释放他，容他自由离去。”但你们的列祖不听从我，毫不在意。

『你的一個希伯來弟兄若賣給你，服事你六年，到第七年你們各人就要任他自由出去。』只是你們列祖不聽從我，也不側耳而聽。

『你的一個希伯來弟兄若賣給你，服事你六年，到第七年你們各人就要釋放他自由出去。』只是你們祖先不聽我，不側耳而聽。

『你的一個希伯來弟兄若賣給你，服事你六年，到第七年你們各人就要釋放他自由出去。』只是你們祖先不聽我，不側耳而聽。

倘若你們的希伯來同胞賣身做你們的奴隸，服侍你們六年後，到第七年你們要給他們自由。你們的祖先卻掩耳不聽。

“一個希伯來兄弟賣了身給你，服事了你六年，到第七年，你們各人就應釋放他，容他自由離去。”但你們的列祖不聽從我，毫不在意。

「一個希伯來人賣給你的，他服事了你六年，到第七年，你們各人總要送自己的希伯來族弟兄、使他離開你而自由。」但你們列祖卻不聽從我，不傾耳以聽。

如爾昆弟希伯來人、見鬻於爾、事爾六年、既屆七年、當釋之自由、惟爾祖不從我言、不側耳以聽、

如購爾同族、希百來人為僕、事爾六年、既屆七年、例當釋之、然我有言、爾祖不傾耳以聽。

如爾同族希伯來人、被鬻於爾為奴、但事爾六年、屆第七年、爾當釋之離爾、任其自由、惟爾列祖不聽我、不傾耳以聽、

‘ Every seventh year each of you must free any fellow Hebrews who have sold themselves to you. After they have served you six years, you must let them go free.’ Your ancestors, however, did not listen to me or pay attention to me.

‘ 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.

I told them that every Hebrew slave must be freed after serving six years. But your ancestors paid no attention to me.

‘ At the end of seven years, each of you must let his fellow Hebrew who sold himself to you go. He may serve you six years, but then you must let him go free from your service.’ But your ancestors did not obey me or pay any attention.

“ At the end of seven years each of you shall set free his Hebrew brother who has been sold to you and has served you for six years, and you shall send him out free from you.” But your forefathers did not obey Me nor incline their ear to Me.

“ At the end of seven years let every man set free his Hebrew brother, who has been sold to him; and when he has served you six years, you shall let him go free from you.” But your fathers did not obey Me nor incline their ear.

At the end of seven years ye shall let go every man his brother that is a Hebrew, that hath been sold unto thee, and hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee: but your fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear.

At the end of seven years, each of you must free his Hebrew brother who sold himself to you. He may serve you six years, but then you must send him out free from you. But your ancestors did not obey Me or pay any attention.

At the end of seven years let ye go every man his brother an Hebrew, which hath been sold unto thee; and when he hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee: but your fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear.

“ Every seven years each of you must free any fellow Hebrews who have sold themselves to you. After they have served you for six years, you shall set them free.” But your ancestors did not obey me or pay any attention to me.

At the end of seven years, every man of you shall release his brother who is a Hebrew, who has been sold to you, and has served you six years. You shall let him go free from you; but your fathers didn’t listen to me, and didn’t incline their ear.

Suppose any Hebrew men or women sell themselves to you. If they do, they will serve you for six years. Then in the seventh year you must let them go free.

The Lord told him,“ Listen to everything the people are saying to you. You are not the one they have turned their backs on. I am the one they do not want as their king.They are doing just as they have always done. They have deserted me and served other gods. They have done that from the time I brought them up out of Egypt until this day. Now they are deserting you too.

But Solomon didn’t force any of the Israelites to work as his slaves. Instead, some were his fighting men. Others were his government officials, his officers and his captains. Others were commanders of his chariots and chariot drivers.

The Lord warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets and seers. He said,“ Turn from your evil ways. Keep my commands and rules. Obey every part of my Law. I commanded your people who lived long ago to obey it. And I gave it to you through my servants the prophets.”But the people wouldn’t listen. They were as stubborn as their people of long ago had been. Those people didn’t trust in the Lord their God.

You buy poor people to make slaves out of them. You buy those who are in need for a mere pair of sandals. You even sell the worthless parts of your wheat.

Now you are planning to make the men and women of Judah and Jerusalem your slaves. But aren’t you also guilty of sins against the Lord your God?

“ The people of Israel and Judah have done nothing but evil in my eyes. They have done it since the nation was young. In fact, they have done nothing but make me very angry. They have worshiped statues of gods their own hands have made,” announces the Lord.

There was never anyone like Ahab. He gave himself over to do what was evil in the sight of the Lord. His wife Jezebel talked him into it.

“ For six years plant your fields and gather your crops.But during the seventh year do not plow your land or use it. Then the poor people among you can get food from it. The wild animals can eat what is left over. Do the same thing with your vineyards and your groves of olive trees.

The Lord says to the people in Jerusalem,“ Do you think I divorced your people who lived before you? Is that why I sent them away? If it is, show me the letter of divorce. I did not sell you into slavery to pay someone I owe. You were sold because you sinned against me. Your people were sent away because of their lawless acts.

Again and again I sent my servants the prophets to you. They came to you day after day. They prophesied from the time your people left Egypt until now.But your people of long ago did not listen. They refused to pay any attention to me. They were stubborn. They did more evil things than their people who lived before them.

“‘ “But they refused to obey me. They would not listen to me. They did not get rid of the evil gods they worshiped. And they did not turn away from Egypt’s gods. So I said I would pour out all my great anger on them in Egypt.

A message from the Lord came to Jeremiah. King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem. He had told them to set their Hebrew slaves free.All of them had to do this. That applied to male and female slaves alike. No one was allowed to hold another Hebrew as a slave.

For many years you put up with them. By your Spirit you warned them through your prophets. In spite of that, they didn’t pay any attention. So you handed them over to the nations that were around them.

“ Are you going to judge them, son of man? Will you judge them? Tell them the evil things done by their people of long ago. I hate those things.

But God’s people made fun of his messengers. They hated his words. They laughed at his prophets. Finally the Lord’ s great anger was stirred up against his people. Nothing could save them.

What a terrible failure I am! Who will save me from this sin that brings death to my body?

We know that the law is holy. But I am not. I have been sold to be a slave of sin.I don’t understand what I do. I don’t do what I want to do. Instead, I do what I hate to do.I do what I don’t want to do. So I agree that the law is good.As it is, I am no longer the one who does these things. It is sin living in me that does them.

“ Here is the way I want you to fast.“ Set free those who are held by chains without any reason. Untie the ropes that hold people as slaves. Set free those who are crushed. Break every evil chain.

“ Here are the laws you must explain to the people of Israel.“ Suppose you buy a Hebrew servant. He must serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, you must set him free. He does not have to pay anything.If he does not have a wife when he comes, he must go free alone. But if he has a wife when he comes, she must go with him.Suppose his master gives him a wife. And suppose she has sons or daughters by him. Then only the man will go free. The woman and her children will belong to her master.

But they did not listen. They did not pay any attention to me. Instead, they did what their stubborn and evil hearts wanted them to do. So I brought down on them all the curses of the covenant. I commanded them to obey it. But they refused.’ ”The Lord continued,“ The people of Judah have made some evil plans. So have those who live in Jerusalem.All of them have returned to the sins their people of long ago committed. Those people refused to listen to what I told them. And now the people of Israel and Judah alike have worshiped other gods and served them. They have broken the covenant I made with their people who lived before them.

But they refused to pay attention to the Lord. They were stubborn. They turned their backs and covered their ears.They made their hearts as hard as the hardest stone. They wouldn’t listen to the law. They wouldn’t pay attention to the Lord’ s messages. So the Lord who rules over all was very angry. After all, his Spirit had spoken to his people through the earlier prophets.

The Lord says,“ The people of Israel have sinned again and again. So I will judge them. They sell into slavery those who have done no wrong. They trade needy people for a mere pair of sandals.