"Thou shalt not rule over him with rigour; but shalt fear thy God." — Leviticus 25:43

Leviticus 25:43 · KJV

“Thou shalt not rule over him with rigour; but shalt fear thy God.”

— Leviticus 25:43

For they {are} my servants, which I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: they shall not be sold as bondmen. {as...: Heb. with the sale of a bondman}

Verse 44

Both thy bondmen, and thy bondmaids, which thou shalt have, {shall be} of the heathen that are round about you; of them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids.

Leviticus 25 — Context

And {then} shall he depart from thee, {both} he and his children with him, and shall return unto his own family, and unto the possession of his fathers shall he return.

For they {are} my servants, which I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: they shall not be sold as bondmen. {as...: Heb. with the sale of a bondman}

Thou shalt not rule over him with rigour; but shalt fear thy God.

Both thy bondmen, and thy bondmaids, which thou shalt have, {shall be} of the heathen that are round about you; of them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids.

Moreover of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy, and of their families that {are} with you, which they begat in your land: and they shall be your possession.

Cross References

Colossians 4:1

Masters, give unto {your} servants that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven.

Exodus 1:13-14

And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour:

Leviticus 25:17

Ye shall not therefore oppress one another; but thou shalt fear thy God: for I {am} the LORD your God.

Leviticus 25:46

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. {they...: Heb. ye shall serve yourselves with them}

Ezekiel 34:4

The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up {that which was} broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them.

Leviticus 25:53

{And} as a yearly hired servant shall he be with him: {and the other} shall not rule with rigour over him in thy sight.

Exodus 2:23

And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage.

Exodus 5:14

And the officers of the children of Israel, which Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, {and} demanded, Wherefore have ye not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and to day, as heretofore?