15. Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you; that is why I am giving you this command today.
16. But if your slave says to you, ‘I don’t want to leave you,’ because he loves you and your family, and is well off with you,
17. take an awl and pierce through his ear into the door, and he will become your slave for life. Also treat your female slave the same way.
18. Do not regard it as a hardship when you set him free, because he worked for you six years — worth twice the wages of a hired hand. Then the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.
19. “You must consecrate to the Lord your God every firstborn male produced by your herd and flock. You are not to put the firstborn of your oxen to work or shear the firstborn of your flock.
20. Each year you and your family are to eat it before the Lord your God in the place the Lord chooses.
21. But if there is a defect in the animal, if it is lame or blind or has any serious defect, you must not sacrifice it to the Lord your God.
22. Eat it within your gates; both the unclean person and the clean may eat it, as though it were a gazelle or deer.
23. But you must not eat its blood; pour it on the ground like water.