41 Bible Verses about Servanthood, In Society

If you get a Hebrew servant for money, he is to be your servant for six years, and in the seventh year you are to let him go free without payment. If he comes to you by himself, let him go away by himself: if he is married, let his wife go away with him. If his master gives him a wife, and he gets sons or daughters by her, the wife and her children will be the property of the master, and the servant is to go away by himself.read more.
But if the servant says clearly, My master and my wife and children are dear to me; I have no desire to be free: Then his master is to take him to the gods of the house, and at the door, or at its framework, he is to make a hole in his ear with a sharp-pointed instrument; and he will be his servant for ever.

If one of your countrymen, a Hebrew man or woman, becomes your servant for a price and does work for you six years, in the seventh year let him go free. And when you make him free, do not let him go away with nothing in his hands: But give him freely from your flock and from your grain and your wine: in the measure of the wealth which the Lord your God has given you, you are to give to him.read more.
And keep in mind that you yourself were a servant in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God made you free: so I give you this order today. But if he says to you, I have no desire to go away from you; because you and your family are dear to him and he is happy with you; Then take a sharp-pointed instrument, driving it through his ear into the door, and he will be your servant for ever. And you may do the same for your servant-girl. Let it not seem hard to you that you have to send him away free; for he has been working for you for six years, which is twice the regular time for a servant: and the blessing of the Lord your God will be on you in everything you do.

He who comes to birth in your house and he who is made yours for a price, all are to undergo circumcision; so that my agreement may be marked in your flesh, an agreement for all time.

But every man's servant, whom he has got for money, may take of it, when he has had circumcision.

But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; on that day you are to do no work, you or your son or your daughter, your man-servant or your woman-servant, your cattle or the man from a strange country who is living among you:

But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; on that day do no work, you or your son or your daughter, or your man-servant or your woman-servant, or your ox or your ass or any of your cattle, or the man from a strange country who is living among you; so that your man-servant and your woman-servant may have rest as well as you.

And if your brother becomes poor and gives himself to you for money, do not make use of him like a servant who is your property; But let him be with you as a servant working for payment, till the year of Jubilee; Then he will go out from you, he and his children with him, and go back to his family and to the property of his fathers.read more.
For they are my servants whom I took out from the land of Egypt; they may not become the property of another. Do not be a hard master to him, but have the fear of God before you. But you may get servants as property from among the nations round about; from them you may take men-servants and women-servants. And in addition, you may get, for money, servants from among the children of other nations who are living with you, and from their families which have come to birth in your land; and these will be your property. And they will be your children's heritage after you, to keep as their property; they will be your servants for ever; but you may not be hard masters to your countrymen, the children of Israel. And if one from another nation living among you gets wealth, and your countryman, at his side, becomes poor and gives himself for money to the man from another nation or to one of his family; After he has given himself he has the right to be made free, for a price, by one of his brothers, Or his father's brother, or the son of his father's brother, or any near relation; or if he gets money, he may make himself free. And let the years be numbered from the time when he gave himself to his owner till the year of Jubilee, and the price given for him will be in relation to the number of years, on the scale of the payment of a servant. If there is still a long time, he will give back, on account of it, a part of the price which was given for him. And if there is only a short time, he will take account of it with his master, and in relation to the number of years he will give back the price of making him free. And he will be with him as a servant working for payment year by year; his master is not to be cruel to him before your eyes. And if he is not made free in this way, he will go out in the year of Jubilee, he and his children with him. For the children of Israel are servants to me; they are my servants whom I took out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

When you go out to war against other nations, and the Lord your God gives them up into your hands and you take them as prisoners; If among the prisoners you see a beautiful woman and it is your desire to make her your wife; Then take her back to your house; and let her hair and her nails be cut;read more.
And let her take off the dress in which she was made prisoner and go on living in your house and weeping for her father and mother for a full month: and after that you may go in to her and be her husband and she will be your wife. But if you have no delight in her, you are to let her go wherever she will; you may not take a price for her as if she was your property, for you have made use of her for your pleasure.

You have come here today, all of you, before the Lord your God; the heads of your tribes, the overseers, and those who are in authority over you, with all the men of Israel, And your little ones, your wives, and the men of other lands who are with you in your tents, down to the wood-cutter and the servant who gets water for you:

Now Sheshan had no sons, but only daughters. And Sheshan had an Egyptian servant, whose name was Jarha. And Sheshan gave his daughter to Jarha, his servant, as a wife; and she had Attai by him.

And David said to Saul, Your servant has been keeper of his father's sheep; and if a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock,

And the king said, Is it well with the young man Absalom? And Ahimaaz said in answer, When Joab sent me, your servant, I saw a great outcry going on, but I had no knowledge of what it was.

And he took the letter to the king of Israel, in which the king of Aram had said, See, I have sent my servant Naaman to you to be made well, for he is a leper.

This is a copy of the letter which they sent to Artaxerxes the king: Your servants living across the river send these words:

The king has pleasure in a servant who does wisely, but his wrath is against him who is a cause of shame.

For this reason the kingdom of heaven is like a king, who went over his accounts with his servants.

So Ahaz sent representatives to Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria, saying, I am your servant and your son; come to my help against the kings of Aram and Israel who have taken up arms against me.

And when all the kings who were servants of Hadadezer saw that they were overcome by Israel, they made peace with Israel and became their servants. So the Aramaeans, in fear, gave no more help to the children of Ammon.

And when the servants of Hadadezer saw that they were overcome by Israel, they made peace with David and became his servants: and the Aramaeans would give no more help to the children of Ammon.

Against him came up Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, and Hoshea became his servant and sent him offerings.

In his days, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came up and Jehoiakim was his servant for three years; then he took up arms against him.

And men from strange countries will be building up your walls, and their kings will be your servants: for in my wrath I sent punishment on you, but in my grace I have had mercy on you.

Now there was of Saul's people a servant named Ziba, and they sent him to David; and the king said to him, Are you Ziba? And he said, I am.

And he said, My masters, come now into your servant's house and take your rest there for the night, and let your feet be washed; and early in the morning you may go on your way. And they said, Not so, but we will take our night's rest in the street.

And he gave them orders to say these words to Esau: Your servant Jacob says, Till now I have been living with Laban:

And I had two sons, and the two of them had a fight in the field, and there was no one to come between them, and one with a blow put the other to death.

And when the sons of the prophets who were facing him at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha. And they came out to him, and went down on the earth before him. And they said, Your servants have with us here fifty strong men; be pleased to let them go in search of Elijah; for it may be that the spirit of the Lord has taken him up and put him down on some mountain or in some valley. But he said, Do not send them.

Now a certain woman, the wife of one of the sons of the prophets, came crying to Elisha and said, Your servant my husband is dead; and to your knowledge he was a worshipper of the Lord; but now, the creditor has come to take my two children as servants in payment of his debt.

And one of them said, Be pleased to go with your servants. And he said, I will go.

Put your servants to the test for ten days; let them give us grain for our food and water for our drink. Then take a look at our faces and the faces of the young men who have food from the king's table; and, having seen them, do to your servants as it seems right to you.

Then the Chaldaeans said to the king in the Aramaean language, O King, have life for ever: give your servants an account of your dream, and we will make clear to you the sense of it.

The troubler of his house will have the wind for his heritage, and the foolish will be servant to the wise-hearted.

He who is of low position and has a servant, is better than one who has a high opinion of himself and is in need of bread.

A servant who does wisely will have rule over a son causing shame, and will have his part in the heritage among brothers.

A servant will not be trained by words; for though the sense of the words is clear to him, he will not give attention.

Do not say evil of a servant to his master, or he will put a curse on you, and you will get into trouble.

But you may not be named Teacher: for one is your teacher, and you are all brothers. And give no man the name of father on earth: because one is your Father, who is in heaven. And you may not be named guides: because one is your Guide, even Christ.read more.
But let the greatest among you be your servant. And whoever makes himself high will be made low, and whoever makes himself low will be made high.

No man is able to be a servant to two masters: for he will have hate for the one and love for the other, or he will keep to one and have no respect for the other. You may not be servants of God and of wealth.

But which of you, having a servant who is ploughing or keeping sheep, will say to him, when he comes in from the field, Come now and be seated and have a meal, Will he not say, Get a meal for me, and make yourself ready and see to my needs till I have had my food and drink; and after that you may have yours? Does he give praise to the servant because he did what was ordered?read more.
In the same way, when you have done all the things which are given you to do, say, There is no profit in us, for we have only done what we were ordered to do.

Keep in mind the words I said to you, A servant is not greater than his lord. If they were cruel to me, they will be cruel to you; if they kept my words, they will keep yours.

But I say to every one of you, through the grace given to me, not to have an over-high opinion of himself, but to have wise thoughts, as God has given to every one a measure of faith. For, as we have a number of parts in one body, but all the parts have not the same use, So we, though we are a number of persons, are one body in Christ, and are dependent on one another;read more.
And having different qualities by reason of the grace given to us, such as the quality of a prophet, let it be made use of in relation to the measure of our faith; Or the position of a Deacon of the church, let a man give himself to it; or he who has the power of teaching, let him make use of it; He who has the power of comforting, let him do so; he who gives, let him give freely; he who has the power of ruling, let him do it with a serious mind; he who has mercy on others, let it be with joy.