< Exodus 21 >

1 “These are the ordinances that you are to set before them:
'And these [are] the judgments which thou dost 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.
'When thou buyest a Hebrew servant — six years he doth serve, and in the seventh he goeth out as a freeman for nought;
3 If he arrived alone, he is to leave alone; if he arrived with a wife, she is to leave with him.
if by himself he cometh in, by himself he goeth out; if he [is] owner of a wife, then his wife hath gone out 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 lord give to him a wife, and she hath borne to him sons or daughters — the wife and her children are her lord's, and he goeth out by himself.
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 really say: I have loved my lord, my wife, and my sons — I do not go out 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 hath his lord brought him nigh unto God, and hath brought him nigh unto the door, or unto the side-post, and his lord hath bored his ear with an awl, and he hath served him — to the age.
7 And if a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as the menservants do.
'And when a man selleth his daughter for a handmaid, she doth not go out according to the going out of the men-servants;
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 evil in the eyes of her lord, so that he hath not betrothed her, then he hath let her be ransomed; to a strange people he hath not power to sell her, in his dealing treacherously with her.
9 And if he chooses her for his son, he must deal with her as with a daughter.
'And if to his son he betroth her, according to the right of daughters he doth to her.
10 If he takes another wife, he must not reduce the food, clothing, or marital rights of his first wife.
'If another [woman] he take for him, her food, her covering, and her habitation, he doth not withdraw;
11 If, however, he does not provide her with these three things, she is free to go without monetary payment.
and if these three he do not to her, then she hath gone out for nought, without money.
12 Whoever strikes and kills a man must surely be put to death.
'He who smiteth a man so that he hath died, is 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.
as to him who hath not laid wait, and God hath brought to his hand, I have even set for thee a place whither he doth 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 when a man doth presume against his neighbour to slay him with subtilty, from Mine altar thou dost take him to die.
15 Whoever strikes his father or mother must surely be put to death.
'And he who smiteth his father or his mother is 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.
'And he who stealeth a man, and hath sold him, and he hath been found in his hand, is certainly put to death.
17 Anyone who curses his father or mother must surely be put to death.
'And he who is reviling his father or his mother is certainly 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,
'And when men contend, and a man hath smitten his neighbour with a stone, or with the fist, and he die not, but hath fallen on the 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 rise, and hath gone up and down without on his staff, then hath the smiter been acquitted; only his cessation he giveth, and he is thoroughly healed.
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 when a man smiteth his man-servant or his handmaid, with a rod, and he hath died under his hand — he is certainly avenged;
21 However, if the servant gets up after a day or two, the owner shall not be punished, since the servant is his property.
only if he remain a day, or two days, he is not avenged, 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 when men strive, and have smitten a pregnant woman, and her children have come out, and there is no mischief, he is certainly fined, as the husband of the woman doth lay upon him, and he hath given through the judges;
23 But if a serious injury results, then you must require a life for a life—
and if there is mischief, then thou hast given 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 when a man smiteth the eye of his man-servant, or the eye of his handmaid, and hath destroyed it, as a freeman he doth send him away for 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.
and if a tooth of his man-servant or a tooth of his handmaid he knock out, as a freeman he doth send him away for 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.
'And when an ox doth gore man or woman, and they have died, the ox is certainly stoned, and his flesh is not eaten, and the owner of the ox [is] acquitted;
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.
and if the ox is [one] accustomed to gore heretofore, and it hath been testified to its owner, and he doth not watch it, and it hath put to death a man or woman, the ox is stoned, and its owner also is 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 atonement is laid upon him, then he hath given the ransom of his life, according to all that is laid upon him;
31 If the ox gores a son or a daughter, it shall be done to him according to the same rule.
whether it gore a son or gore a daughter, according to this judgment it is done to him.
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 ox gore a man-servant or a handmaid, thirty silver shekels he doth give to their lord, and the ox is 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 when a man doth open a pit, or when a man doth dig a pit, and doth not cover it, and an ox or ass hath fallen thither, —
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 doth repay, money he doth give back to its owner, and the dead is 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 when a man's ox doth smite the ox of his neighbour, and it hath died, then they have sold the living ox, and halved its money, and also the dead one they do halve;
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.
or, it hath been known that the ox is [one] accustomed to gore heretofore, and its owner doth not watch it, he certainly repayeth ox for ox, and the dead is his.

< Exodus 21 >