Exodus 21

1 And these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them.

“Now these are the decrees that you must set before them:

2 If thou buy a Hebrew bondman, six years shall he serve; and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.

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

3 If he came in alone, he shall go out alone: if he had a wife, then his wife shall go out with him.

If he came by himself, he must go free by himself; if he is married, then his wife must go free with him.

4 If his master have given him a wife, and she have borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out alone.

If his master gave him a wife and she bore him sons or daughters, the wife and her children will belong to her master, and he must go free by himself.

5 But if the bondman shall say distinctly, I love my master, my wife, and my children, I will not go free;

But if the servant plainly says, “I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,”

6 then his master shall bring him before the judges, and shall bring him to the door, or to the door-post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl; and he shall be his bondman for ever.

then his master must bring him to God. The master must bring him to a door or doorpost, and his master must bore his ear through with an awl. Then the servant will serve him for life.

7 And if a man shall sell his daughter as a handmaid, she shall not go out as the bondmen go out.

If a man sells his daughter as a female servant, she must not go free as the male servants do.

8 If she is unacceptable in the eyes of her master, who had taken her for himself, then shall he let her be ransomed: to sell her unto a foreign people he hath no power, after having dealt unfaithfully with her.

If she does not please her master, who has designated her for himself, then he must let her be bought back. He has no right to sell her to a foreign people. He has no such right, since he has treated her deceitfully.

9 And if he have appointed her unto his son, he shall deal with her after the law of daughters.

If her master designates her as a wife for his son, he must treat her the same as if she were his daughter.

10 If he take himself another, her food, her clothing, and her conjugal rights he shall not diminish.

If he takes another wife for himself, he must not diminish her food, clothing, or her marital rights.

11 And if he do not these three things unto her, then shall she go out free without money.

But if he does not provide these three things for her, then she can go free without paying any money.

12 He that striketh a man, so that he die, shall certainly be put to death.

Whoever strikes a man so that he dies, that person must surely be put to death.

13 But if he have not lain in wait, and God have delivered [him] into his hand, I will appoint thee a place to which he shall flee.

If the man did not do it with premeditation, but instead by accident, then I will fix a place to where he can flee.

14 But if a man act wantonly toward his neighbour, and slay him with guile, thou shalt take him from mine altar, that he may die.

If a man willfully attacks his neighbor and kills him according to a cunning plan, then you must take him, even if he is at God's altar, so that he may die.

15 And he that striketh his father, or his mother, shall certainly be put to death.

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

16 And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall certainly be put to death.

Whoever kidnaps a person—whether the kidnapper sells him, or that person is found in his hand—that kidnapper must be put to death.

17 And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall certainly be put to death.

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

18 And if men dispute, and one strike the other with a stone, or with the fist, and he die not, but take to [his] bed,

If men fight and one hits the other with a stone or with his fist, and that person does not die, but is confined to his bed;

19 — if he rise, and walk abroad upon his staff, then shall he that struck [him] be guiltless; only he shall pay [for] the loss of his time, and shall cause [him] to be thoroughly healed.

then if he recovers and is able to walk about using his staff, the man who struck him must pay for the loss of his time; he must also pay for his complete recovery. But that man is not guilty of murder.

20 And if a man strike his bondman or his handmaid with a staff, and he die under his hand, he shall certainly be avenged.

If a man hits his male servant or his female servant with a staff, and if the servant dies as a result of the blow, then that man must surely be punished.

21 Only, if he continue [to live] a day or two days, he shall not be avenged; for he is his money.

However, if the servant lives for a day or two, the master must not be punished, for he will have suffered the loss of the servant.

22 And if men strive together, and strike a woman with child, so that she be delivered, and no mischief happen, he shall in any case be fined, according as the woman's husband shall impose on him, and shall give it as the judges estimate.

If men fight together and hurt a pregnant woman so that she miscarries, but there is no other injury to her, then the guilty man must surely be fined as the woman's husband demands it from him, and he must pay as the judges determine.

23 But if mischief happen, then thou shalt give life for life,

But if there is serious injury, then you must give a life for a life,

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

an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot,

25 branding for branding, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

a burn for a burn, a wound for a wound, or a bruise for a bruise.

26 And if a man strike the eye of his bondman or the eye of his handmaid, and it be marred, he shall let him go for his eye.

If a man hits the eye of his male servant or of his female servant and destroys it, then he must let the servant go free in compensation for his eye.

27 And if he knock out his bondman's tooth or his handmaid's tooth, he shall let him go free for his tooth.

If he knocks out a tooth of his male servant or female servant, he must let the servant go free as compensation for the tooth.

28 And if an ox gore a man or a woman, so that they die, then the ox shall certainly be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be guiltless.

If an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox must surely be stoned, and its flesh must not be eaten; but the ox's owner must be acquitted of guilt.

29 But if the ox have gored heretofore, and it have been testified to its owner, and he have not kept it in, and it kill a man or a woman, — the ox shall be stoned, and its owner also shall be put to death.

But if the ox had a habit of goring in the past, and its owner was warned but did not keep it in, and the ox has killed a man or a woman, that ox must be stoned, and its owner also must be put to death.

30 If there be imposed on him a satisfaction, then he shall give the ransom of his life, according to what is imposed on him.

If a payment is required for his life, he must pay whatever he is required to pay.

31 Whether it gore a son or gore a daughter, according to this judgment shall it be done to him.

If the ox has gored a man's son or daughter, the ox's owner must do what this decree requires him to do.

32 If the ox gore a bondman or a handmaid, he shall give to their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.

If the ox gores a male servant or a female servant, the ox's owner must pay thirty shekels of silver, and the ox must be stoned.

33 — And if a man open a pit, or if a man dig a pit, and do not cover it, and an ox or an ass fall into it,

If a man opens a pit, or if a man digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it,

34 the owner of the pit shall make it good, shall give money to the owner of them; and the dead [ox] shall be his.

the owner of the pit must repay the loss. He must give money to the dead animal's owner, and the dead animal will become his.

35 — And if one man's ox gore his neighbour's ox, and it die, then they shall sell the live ox, and divide the money thereof, and divide the dead also.

If one man's ox hurts another man's ox so that it dies, then they must sell the live ox and divide its price, and they must also divide the dead ox.

36 Or if it be known that the ox have gored heretofore, and its owner have not kept him in, he shall in any case restore ox for ox; and the dead shall be his.

But if it was known that the ox had a habit of goring in time past, and its owner has not kept it in, he must surely pay ox for ox, and the dead animal will become his own.