³ If he arrives alone, he is to leave alone; if he arrives with^[a] a wife, his wife is to leave with him. ⁴ If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children belong to her master, and the man must leave alone.

⁵ “But if the slave declares: ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I do not want to leave as a free man,’^{(A) 6} his master is to bring him to the judges^[b] and then bring him to the door or doorpost. His master must pierce his ear with an awl, and he will serve his master for life.