Exodus 21

1 “These are the ordinances that you are to set before them:

Now these are the laws which you are to put before them.

2 If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free without paying anything.

If you get a Hebrew servant for money, he is to be your servant for six years, and in the seventh year you are to let him go free without payment.

3 If he arrived alone, he is to leave alone; if he arrived with a wife, she is to leave with him.

If he comes to you by himself, let him go away by himself: if he is married, let his wife go away with him.

4 If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her master, and only the man shall go free.

If his master gives him a wife, and he gets sons or daughters by her, the wife and her children will be the property of the master, and the servant is to go away by himself.

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

But if the servant says clearly, My master and my wife and children are dear to me; I have no desire to be free:

6 then his master is to bring him before the judges. And he shall take him to the door or doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he shall serve his master for life.

Then his master is to take him to the gods of the house, and at the door, or at its framework, he is to make a hole in his ear with a sharp-pointed instrument; and he will be his servant for ever.

7 And if a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as the menservants do.

And if a man gives his daughter for a price to be a servant, she is not to go away free as the men-servants do.

8 If she is displeasing in the eyes of her master who had designated her for himself, he must allow her to be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to foreigners, since he has broken faith with her.

If she is not pleasing to her master who has taken her for himself, let a payment be made for her so that she may go free; her master has no power to get a price for her and send her to a strange land, because he has been false to her.

9 And if he chooses her for his son, he must deal with her as with a daughter.

And if he gives her to his son, he is to do everything for her as if she was his daughter.

10 If he takes another wife, he must not reduce the food, clothing, or marital rights of his first wife.

And if he takes another woman, her food and clothing and her married rights are not to be less.

11 If, however, he does not provide her with these three things, she is free to go without monetary payment.

And if he does not do these three things for her, she has the right to go free without payment.

12 Whoever strikes and kills a man must surely be put to death.

He who gives a man a death-blow is himself to be put to death.

13 If, however, he did not lie in wait, but God allowed it to happen, then I will appoint for you a place where he may flee.

But if he had no evil purpose against him, and God gave him into his hand, I will give you a place to which he may go in flight.

14 But if a man schemes and acts willfully against his neighbor to kill him, you must take him away from My altar to be put to death.

But if a man makes an attack on his neighbour on purpose, to put him to death by deceit, you are to take him from my altar and put him to death.

15 Whoever strikes his father or mother must surely be put to death.

Any man who gives a blow to his father or his mother is certainly to be put to death.

16 Whoever kidnaps another man must be put to death, whether he sells him or the man is found in his possession.

Any man who gets another into his power in order to get a price for him is to be put to death, if you take him in the act.

17 Anyone who curses his father or mother must surely be put to death.

Any man cursing his father or his mother is to be put to death.

18 If men are quarreling and one strikes the other with a stone or a fist, and he does not die but is confined to bed,

If, in a fight, one man gives another a blow with a stone, or with the shut hand, not causing his death, but making him keep in bed;

19 then the one who struck him shall go unpunished, as long as the other can get up and walk around outside with his staff. Nevertheless, he must compensate the man for his lost work and see that he is completely healed.

If he is able to get up again and go about with a stick, the other will be let off; only he will have to give him payment for the loss of his time, and see that he is cared for till he is well.

20 If a man strikes his manservant or maidservant with a rod, and the servant dies by his hand, he shall surely be punished.

If a man gives his man-servant or his woman-servant blows with a rod, causing death, he is certainly to undergo punishment.

21 However, if the servant gets up after a day or two, the owner shall not be punished, since the servant is his property.

But, at the same time, if the servant goes on living for a day or two, the master is not to get punishment, for the servant is his property.

22 If men who are fighting strike a pregnant woman and her child is born prematurely, but there is no further injury, he shall surely be fined as the woman’s husband demands and as the court allows.

If men, while fighting, do damage to a woman with child, causing the loss of the child, but no other evil comes to her, the man will have to make payment up to the amount fixed by her husband, in agreement with the decision of the judges.

23 But if a serious injury results, then you must require a life for a life—

But if damage comes to her, let life be given in payment for life,

24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,

Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,

25 burn for burn, wound for wound, and stripe for stripe.

Burning for burning, wound for wound, blow for blow.

26 If a man strikes and blinds the eye of his manservant or maidservant, he must let the servant go free as compensation for the eye.

If a man gives his man-servant or his woman-servant a blow in the eye, causing its destruction, he is to let him go free on account of the damage to his eye.

27 And if he knocks out the tooth of his manservant or maidservant, he must let the servant go free as compensation for the tooth.

Or if the loss of a tooth is caused by his blow, he will let him go free on account of his tooth.

28 If an ox gores a man or woman to death, the ox must surely be stoned, and its meat must not be eaten. But the owner of the ox shall not be held responsible.

If an ox comes to be the cause of death to a man or a woman, the ox is to be stoned, and its flesh may not be used for food; but the owner will not be judged responsible.

29 But if the ox has a habit of goring, and its owner has been warned yet does not restrain it, and it kills a man or woman, then the ox must be stoned and its owner must also be put to death.

But if the ox has frequently done such damage in the past, and the owner has had word of it and has not kept it under control, so that it has been the cause of the death of a man or woman, not only is the ox to be stoned, but its owner is to be put to death.

30 If payment is demanded of him instead, he may redeem his life by paying the full amount demanded of him.

If a price is put on his life, let him make payment of whatever price is fixed.

31 If the ox gores a son or a daughter, it shall be done to him according to the same rule.

If the death of a son or of a daughter has been caused, the punishment is to be in agreement with this rule.

32 If the ox gores a manservant or maidservant, the owner must pay thirty shekels of silver to the master of that servant, and the ox must be stoned.

If the death of a man-servant or of a woman-servant is caused by the ox, the owner is to give their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox is to be stoned.

33 If a man opens or digs a pit and fails to cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it,

If a man makes a hole in the earth without covering it up, and an ox or an ass dropping into it comes to its death;

34 the owner of the pit shall make restitution; he must pay its owner, and the dead animal will be his.

The owner of the hole is responsible; he will have to make payment to their owner, but the dead beast will be his.

35 If a man’s ox injures his neighbor’s ox and it dies, they must sell the live one and divide the proceeds; they also must divide the dead animal.

And if one man's ox does damage to another man's ox, causing its death, then the living ox is to be exchanged for money, and division made of the price of it, and of the price of the dead one.

36 But if it was known that the ox had a habit of goring, yet its owner failed to restrain it, he shall pay full compensation, ox for ox, and the dead animal will be his.

But if it is common knowledge that the ox has frequently done such damage in the past, and its owner has not kept it under control, he will have to give ox for ox; and the dead beast will be his.