Topical Bible: Servant: Hired: Unclassified Scriptures Relating To

◄ Servant: Hired: Unclassified Scriptures Relating To ►

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In the biblical context, the concept of a hired servant is distinct from that of a bondservant or slave. A hired servant is typically someone who works for wages and is not bound to their employer by ownership or long-term obligation. The Scriptures provide various insights into the treatment, rights, and responsibilities of hired servants, reflecting the broader principles of justice, mercy, and fairness that permeate biblical teaching.

Leviticus 19:13
"You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him. The wages of a hired worker shall not remain with you all night until the morning."
This verse underscores the importance of timely payment for labor. It reflects a broader biblical principle of fairness and integrity in dealings with others, emphasizing that workers should receive their due without unnecessary delay.

Deuteronomy 24:14-15
"Do not oppress a hired hand who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brothers or a foreigner residing in one of your towns. You are to pay his wages each day before sunset, because he is poor and depends on them. Otherwise he may cry out to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty of sin."
Here, the Scripture highlights the vulnerability of hired workers, particularly those who are poor and dependent on their daily wages for survival. The passage calls for compassion and justice, warning against the sin of withholding wages.

Job 7:1-2
"Is not man consigned to labor on earth? Are not his days like those of a hired hand? Like a slave he longs for shade; like a hired man he waits for his wages."
Job uses the metaphor of a hired servant to express the toil and anticipation inherent in human life. The hired servant's longing for wages parallels the human desire for relief and reward after labor.

Malachi 3:5
"Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against sorcerers, adulterers, and perjurers, against those who defraud the hired worker of his wages, who oppress the widow and the fatherless, and deprive the foreigner of justice, but do not fear Me," says the LORD of Hosts."
This verse places the mistreatment of hired workers alongside other serious offenses, indicating the gravity of such injustice in the eyes of God. It serves as a warning that God will hold accountable those who exploit or defraud workers.

Matthew 20:1-16
The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard provides a narrative illustration of the kingdom of heaven, where a landowner hires workers at different times of the day but pays them the same wage. This parable challenges conventional views of fairness and highlights the generosity and sovereignty of God. It also reflects the dignity and value of work, regardless of the time or effort expended.

James 5:4
"Look, the wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts."
James echoes the Old Testament's concern for justice, emphasizing that God hears the cries of those who are wronged. The failure to pay workers is presented as a serious moral failing with spiritual consequences.

These passages collectively emphasize the biblical mandate for fair treatment of hired servants, reflecting God's concern for justice, compassion, and righteousness in human relationships.

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Leviticus 19:13
You shall not defraud your neighbor, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with you all night until the morning.
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Leviticus 25:39-41
And if your brother that dwells by you be waxen poor, and be sold to you; you shall not compel him to serve as a bondservant:
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Deuteronomy 24:14,15
You shall not oppress an hired servant that is poor and needy, whether he be of your brothers, or of your strangers that are in your land within your gates:
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Job 7:1,2
Is there not an appointed time to man on earth? are not his days also like the days of an hireling?
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Job 14:6
Turn from him, that he may rest, till he shall accomplish, as an hireling, his day.
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Malachi 3:5
And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, said the LORD of hosts.
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Matthew 10:9,10
Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses,
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Luke 10:7
And in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give: for the laborer is worthy of his hire. Go not from house to house.
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Romans 4:4
Now to him that works is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
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Colossians 4:1
Masters, give to your servants that which is just and equal; knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.
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1 Timothy 5:18
For the scripture said, You shall not muzzle the ox that treads out the corn. And, The laborer is worthy of his reward.
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James 5:4
Behold, the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, cries: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.
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