Deuteronomy 15:17

New International Version

then take an awl and push it through his earlobe into the door, and he will become your servant for life. Do the same for your female servant.

Cross References

Exodus 21:5

“But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,’

Exodus 21:6

then his master must take him before the judges. He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life.

Deuteronomy 15:16

But if your servant says to you, “I do not want to leave you,” because he loves you and your family and is well off with you,

Deuteronomy 15:18

Do not consider it a hardship to set your servant free, because their service to you these six years has been worth twice as much as that of a hired hand. And the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.

1 Samuel 1:22

Hannah did not go. She said to her husband, “After the boy is weaned, I will take him and present him before the Lord, and he will live there always.”