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

‘ 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.

‘ 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.

‘ 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.

“ If a fellow Hebrew sells himself or herself to be your servant and serves you for six years, in the seventh year you must set that servant free.

“ Do everything they say to you,” the Lord replied,“ for they are rejecting me, not you. They don’t want me to be their king any longer.Ever since I brought them from Egypt they have continually abandoned me and followed other gods. And now they are giving you the same treatment.

But Solomon did not conscript any of the Israelites for forced labor. Instead, he assigned them to serve as fighting men, government officials, officers and captains in his army, commanders of his chariots, and charioteers.

Again and again the Lord had sent his prophets and seers to warn both Israel and Judah:“ Turn from all your evil ways. Obey my commands and decrees— the entire law that I commanded your ancestors to obey, and that I gave you through my servants the prophets.”But the Israelites would not listen. They were as stubborn as their ancestors who had refused to believe in the Lord their God.

And you mix the grain you sell with chaff swept from the floor. Then you enslave poor people for one piece of silver or a pair of sandals.

And now you are planning to make slaves of these people from Judah and Jerusalem. What about your own sins against the Lord your God?

Israel and Judah have done nothing but wrong since their earliest days. They have infuriated me with all their evil deeds,” says the Lord.

( No one else so completely sold himself to what was evil in the Lord’s sight as Ahab did under the influence of his wife Jezebel.

“ Plant and harvest your crops for six years,but let the land be renewed and lie uncultivated during the seventh year. Then let the poor among you harvest whatever grows on its own. Leave the rest for wild animals to eat. The same applies to your vineyards and olive groves.

This is what the Lord says:“ Was your mother sent away because I divorced her? Did I sell you as slaves to my creditors? No, you were sold because of your sins. And your mother, too, was taken because of your sins.

From the day your ancestors left Egypt until now, I have continued to send my servants, the prophets— day in and day out.But my people have not listened to me or even tried to hear. They have been stubborn and sinful— even worse than their ancestors.

“ But they rebelled against me and would not listen. They did not get rid of the vile images they were obsessed with, or forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I threatened to pour out my fury on them to satisfy my anger while they were still in Egypt.

This message came to Jeremiah from the Lord after King Zedekiah made a covenant with the people, proclaiming freedom for the slaves.He had ordered all the people to free their Hebrew slaves— both men and women. No one was to keep a fellow Judean in bondage.

In your love, you were patient with them for many years. You sent your Spirit, who warned them through the prophets. But still they wouldn’t listen! So once again you allowed the peoples of the land to conquer them.

“ Son of man, bring charges against them and condemn them. Make them realize how detestable the sins of their ancestors really were.

But the people mocked these messengers of God and despised their words. They scoffed at the prophets until the Lord’s anger could no longer be restrained and nothing could be done.

Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?

So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin.I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate.But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good.So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

“ No, this is the kind of fasting I want: Free those who are wrongly imprisoned; lighten the burden of those who work for you. Let the oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people.

“ These are the regulations you must present to Israel.“ If you buy a Hebrew slave, he may serve for no more than six years. Set him free in the seventh year, and he will owe you nothing for his freedom.If he was single when he became your slave, he shall leave single. But if he was married before he became a slave, then his wife must be freed with him.“ If his master gave him a wife while he was a slave and they had sons or daughters, then only the man will be free in the seventh year, but his wife and children will still belong to his master.

but your ancestors did not listen or even pay attention. Instead, they stubbornly followed their own evil desires. And because they refused to obey, I brought upon them all the curses described in this covenant.’”Again the Lord spoke to me and said,“ I have discovered a conspiracy against me among the people of Judah and Jerusalem.They have returned to the sins of their ancestors. They have refused to listen to me and are worshiping other gods. Israel and Judah have both broken the covenant I made with their ancestors.

“ Your ancestors refused to listen to this message. They stubbornly turned away and put their fingers in their ears to keep from hearing.They made their hearts as hard as stone, so they could not hear the instructions or the messages that the Lord of Heaven’s Armies had sent them by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. That is why the Lord of Heaven’s Armies was so angry with them.

This is what the Lord says:“ The people of Israel have sinned again and again, and I will not let them go unpunished! They sell honorable people for silver and poor people for a pair of sandals.