Exodus 21
1 And these are the laws of justice which thou shalt set before them.
“These are the judgments which you shall place before them:
2 If thou buy a Hebrew servant, six years shall he serve; and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.
If you buy a Hebrew servant, six years shall he serve you; in the seventh, he shall depart freely, without charge.
3 If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself; if he was the husband of a woman, then shall his wife go out with him.
With whatever clothing he arrived, with the like let him depart. If he has a wife, his wife also shall depart, at the same time.
4 If his master should give him a wife, and she bear him sons or daughters: the wife and her children shall belong to her master, and he shall go out by himself.
But if his lord gave him a wife, and she has borne sons and daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her lord. Yet still, he himself will go out with his clothing.
5 And if the servant should plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free:
And if the servant will say, ‘I love my lord, and my wife and children, I will not depart freely,’
6 Then shall his master bring him unto the judges, and he shall bring him to the door, or unto the door-post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl; and he shall serve him till the jubilee.
then his lord shall make an offering for him to the heavens, and it shall be applied to the door and the posts, and he will pierce his ear with an awl. And he shall be his servant in perpetuity.
7 And if a man sell his daughter for a maid-servant, she shall not go out as the men-servants go out.
If anyone sells his daughter to be a servant, she shall not depart as a female servant is accustomed to go out.
8 If she please not her master, to whom he hath assigned her, then shall he aid her to be redeemed: unto a strange nation he shall have no power to sell her, seeing he hath dealt faithlessly with her.
If she displeases the eyes of her lord, to whom she had been delivered, he shall dismiss her. But he shall have no authority to sell her to a foreign people, even if he despises her.
9 And if he should assign her unto his son, then shall he do unto her after the right of the daughters.
But if he has betrothed her to his son, he shall treat her according to the custom with daughters.
10 If he take himself another wife, her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage, shall he not diminish.
And if he takes another for him, he shall provide to the maiden a marriage, and clothing, and he shall not refuse the price of her chastity.
11 And if he do not these three things unto her, then shall she go out free, without money.
If he does not do these three things, she shall depart freely, without money.
12 He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall surely be put to death.
Whoever strikes a man, intending to murder, shall be put to death.
13 And if he did not lie in wait, but God let it come into his hand, then will I appoint thee a place whither he shall flee.
But if he did not lie in wait for him, but God delivered him into his hands, then I will appoint for you a place to which he must flee.
14 But if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbor, to slay him with guile, from my altar shalt thou take him, that he may die.
If someone murders his neighbor with deliberation, by lying in wait, you shall tear him away from my altar, so that he may die.
15 And he that smiteth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death.
Whoever strikes his father or mother shall die a death.
16 And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, and he be found in his hand, shall surely be put to death.
Whoever will have stolen a man and sold him, having been convicted of the crime, shall be put to death.
17 And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death.
Whoever speaks evil of his father or mother shall die a death.
18 And if men strive together, and one smite the other with a stone, or with the fist, and he die not, but keepeth his bed:
If men will have quarreled, and one of them has struck his neighbor with a stone or a fist, and he does not die, but lies in bed,
19 If he rise again, and walk abroad upon his crutch, then shall he that smote him be quit; only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall cause him to be thoroughly healed.
if he gets up again and can walk outside on his staff, he who struck him will be innocent, but only if he makes sufficient restitution for his deeds and for the cost of the physicians.
20 And if a man smite his servant or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand, it shall be surely avenged.
Whoever strikes his male or female servant with a staff, and if they have died by his hands, he shall be guilty of a crime.
21 Nevertheless, if he continue alive a day or two, it shall not be avenged; for he is his money.
But if he survives for one day or two, he shall not be subject to punishment, because it is his money.
22 If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her children depart from her, and yet no farther mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, [with a fine, ] according as the husband of the woman will lay upon him; and he shall pay this by the decision of the judges.
If men will have quarreled, and one of them has struck a pregnant woman, and as a result she miscarries, but she herself survives, he shall be subject to as much damage as the husband of the woman shall petition from him, or as arbitrators shall judge.
23 And if any mischief follow, then shalt thou give life for life.
But if her death will have followed, he will repay 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 Burning for burning, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.
a scrape for a scrape, a wound for a wound, a bruise for a bruise.
26 And if a man smite the eye of his servant, or the eye of his maid, that it perish, he shall let him go free for the sake of his eye.
If anyone will have struck the eye of his male or female servant, having left them with one eye, he shall release them freely, because of the eye that he has put out.
27 And if he strike out his man-servant's tooth, or his maid-servant's tooth, he shall let him go free for the sake of his tooth.
Likewise, if he knocks out a tooth of his male or female servant, he shall similarly release them freely.
28 If an ox gore a man or a woman, that he die: then shall the ox be surely stoned, and his flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be quit.
If an ox has struck a man or a woman with his horn, and if they die, it shall be stoned. And its flesh shall not be eaten; also, the owner of the ox will be innocent.
29 But if the ox were wont to gore in time past, and warning have been given to his owner, and he hath not kept him in, and he killeth a man or a woman: the ox shall be stoned, and his owner also should of right be put to death;
But if the ox had been pushing with his horn, from yesterday and the day before, and they warned his owner, but he did not confine it, and it will have killed a man or a woman, then the ox shall be stoned, and his owner shall be killed.
30 But there shall be laid on him a sum of money in atonement, and he shall give the ransom of his life whatsoever may be laid upon him.
But if they have imposed a price on him, he shall give, in exchange for his life, whatever is asked.
31 If he gore a son, or gore a daughter, according to this judgment shall be done unto him.
Likewise, if it has struck a son or a daughter with its horns, it shall be subject to a similar verdict.
32 If the ox gore a man-servant or a maid-servant, thirty shekels of silver shall he give to his master, and the ox shall be stoned.
If it attacks a male or female servant, he shall give thirty shekels of silver to their lord, yet truly the ox shall 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 therein:
If a man digs or opens a cistern, and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it,
34 The owner of the pit shall make it good, he shall make restitution in money unto the owner thereof; and the dead beast shall be his.
then the owner of the cistern shall repay the price of the beasts, and what is dead will belong to him.
35 And if one man's ox hurt the ox of another, that he die: then shall they sell the live ox, and divide his money; and the dead ox also they shall divide.
If the ox of a stranger wounds the ox of another, and it has died, then they shall sell the live ox and divide the price, but the carcass of the dead one they shall distribute between them.
36 But if it be known that the ox was wont to gore in time past, and his owner hath not kept him in: he shall surely pay ox for ox; and the dead shall belong to him.
But if he knew that his ox had pushed with its horns, yesterday and the day before, and its owner did not confine it, then he shall repay an ox for an ox, and he will receive the whole carcass.”
