According to the law of Moses, the people were required to free their indebted slaves after a period of time. The king led them in freeing their fellow Israelites whom they held as slaves, but later they changed their minds and enslaved them again. (See: [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/lawofmoses]] and [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/sin]])
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When the people of Israel made a sacred promise to God, they cut a calf in two and passed between its parts. It was a very serious sin not to do what one had promised. (See: [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/promise]], [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/sin]] and [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-explicit]])