Exodus 21

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

And these [are] the ordinances which you shall set 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 buy a Hebrew servant, six years shall he serve you, and in the seventh year he shall go forth free for nothing.

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

If he should have come in alone, he shall also go forth alone; and if his wife should have gone in together with him, his wife also shall go out.

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.

Moreover, if his master give him a wife, and she have [born] him sons or daughters, the wife and the children shall be his master's; and he shall go forth alone.

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

And if the servant should answer and say, I love my master and wife and children, I will not go away 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.

his master shall bring him to the judgement-seat of God, and then shall he bring him to the door, —to the door-post, and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall serve him 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 any one sell his daughter as a domestic, she shall not depart as the maidservants depart.

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 be not pleasing to her master, after she has betrothed herself to him, he shall let her go free; but he is not at liberty to sell her to a foreign nation, because he has trifled with her.

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

And if he should have betrothed her to his son, he shall do to her according to the right of daughters.

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

And if he take another to himself, he shall not deprive her of necessaries and her apparel, and her companionship [with him].

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

And if he will not do these three things to her, she shall go out free without money.

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

And if any man strike another and he die, let him be certainly 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 as for him that did it not willingly, but God delivered him into his hands, I will give you a place whither the slayer may flee.

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.

And if any one lie in wait for his neighbour to kill him by craft, and he go for refuge, you shall take him from my altar to put him to death.

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

Whoever smites his father or his mother, let him be certainly 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.

He that reviles his father or his mother shall surely die.

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

Whosoever shall steal one of the children of Israel, and prevail over him and sell him, and he be found with him, let him certainly die.

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,

And if two men revile each other and strike the one the other with a stone or his fist, and he die not, but be laid upon his 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 the man arise and walk abroad on his staff, he that struck him shall be clear; only he shall pay for his loss of time, and for his healing.

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

And if a man strike his man-servant or his maidservant, with a rod, and [the party] die under his hands, he shall be surely punished.

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 if [the servant] continue to live a day or two, let not [the master] be punished; for he is his money.

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.

And if two men strive and strike a woman with child, and her child be born imperfectly formed, he shall be forced to pay a penalty: as the woman's husband may lay upon him, he shall pay with a valuation.

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

But if it be perfectly formed, he shall give life 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, stripe for stripe.

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.

And if one strike the eye of his man-servant, or the eye of his maidservant, and put it out, he shall let them go free for their eye's sake.

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.

And if he should strike out the tooth of his man-servant, or the tooth of his maidservant, he shall send them away free for their tooth's sake.

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.

And if a bull gore a man or woman and they die, the bull shall be stoned with stones, and his flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the bull shall be clear.

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 bull should have been given to goring in former time, and men should have told his owner, and he have not removed him, but he should have slain a man or woman, the bull shall be stoned, and his owner shall die also.

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

And if a ransom should be imposed on him, he shall pay for the ransom of his soul as much as they shall lay upon him.

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

And if [the bull] gore a son or daughter, let them do to him according to this ordinance.

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.

And if the bull gore a man-servant or maidservant, he shall pay to their master thirty silver didrachmas, and the bull shall 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,

And if any one open a pit or dig a cavity in stone, and cover it not, and an ox or an ass fall in there,

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 pit shall make compensation; he shall give money to their owner, and the dead shall be his own.

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 any man's bull gore the bull of his neighbour, and it die, they shall sell the living bull and divide the money, and they shall divide the dead bull.

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 the bull be known to have been given to goring in time past, and they have testified to his owner, and he have not removed him, he shall repay bull for bull, but the dead shall be his own.