Exodus 21
1 And these are the laws of justice which thou shalt set before them.
“Here are some [other] instructions to give to [the Israeli people]:
2 If thou buy a Hebrew servant, six years shall he serve; and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.
When/If you buy a Hebrew slave, he is to serve you for [only] six years. In the seventh year you must free him [from being your slave], and he is not required to pay you anything [for setting him free].
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.
If he was not married before he became your slave, and if he marries [someone while he is your slave], his wife is not to be set free [with him]. But if he was married before he became your slave, you must free both him and his wife.
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.
If a slave’s master gives him a wife, and she gives birth to sons or daughters [while her husband is a slave], only the man is to be freed. His wife and children will continue to be slaves of their master.
5 And if the servant should plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free:
But when it is time for the slave to be set free, if the slave says, ‘I love my master and my wife and my children, and I do not want to be set free,’
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 master must take him to [the place where they worship] God (OR, to [the owner’s] house). There he must make the slave stand against the door or the doorpost. Then the master will use an (awl/pointed metal rod) to make a hole in the slave’s ear. Then [he will fasten a tag to the slave’s ear to indicate that] (he will own that slave for the rest of his life/he will own the slave as long as the slave lives).
7 And if a man sell his daughter for a maid-servant, she shall not go out as the men-servants go out.
If a man sells his daughter to become a slave, she should not be set free [after six years], as the male slaves are.
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 the man who bought her wanted her to be his wife, but if [later] he is not pleased with her, he must sell her back to her father. He must not sell her to a foreigner, because that would be breaking the contract/agreement [he made with the girl’s father].
9 And if he should assign her unto his son, then shall he do unto her after the right of the daughters.
If the man who buys her wants her to be a wife for his son, he must then treat her as though she were his own daughter.
10 If he take himself another wife, her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage, shall he not diminish.
If the master takes another slave girl to be another wife for himself, he must continue to give the first slave wife the same amount of food and clothing that he gave to her before, and he must continue to have sex [EUP] with her as before.
11 And if he do not these three things unto her, then shall she go out free, without money.
If he does not do all these three things for her, he must free her [from being a slave], and she is not required to pay anything [for being set free].
12 He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall surely be put to death.
You must execute anyone who strikes another person with the result that the person who is struck dies.
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 the one who struck the other did not intend to kill that person, the one who struck him can escape to a place that I will choose for you, [and he will be safe there].
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.
But if someone gets angry with another person and kills him, even if the murderer runs to the altar, [a place that God designated as a place to be safe], you must execute him.
15 And he that smiteth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death.
Anyone who strikes his father or mother must surely be executed.
16 And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, and he be found in his hand, shall surely be put to death.
Anyone who kidnaps another person, either in order to sell that person or to keep him as a slave, must be executed.
17 And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death.
Anyone who reviles/curses his father or his mother must be executed.
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:
Suppose two people fight, and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist. And suppose the person he strikes does not die but is injured and has to stay in bed [for a while],
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.
and later he is able to walk outside using a cane. Then the person who struck him does not have to be punished. However, he must pay the injured person the money he could not earn [while he was recovering], and he must also pay the injured person’s medical expenses until that person is well.
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.
If someone strikes his male or female slave with a stick, if the slave dies (immediately/as a result) [IDM], the one who struck him must be punished.
21 Nevertheless, if he continue alive a day or two, it shall not be avenged; for he is his money.
But if the slave lives for a day or two after he is struck [and then dies], you must not punish the one who struck him. Not having that slave to be able to work for him any longer is enough punishment.
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.
Suppose two people are fighting and they hurt a pregnant woman with the result that (she has a miscarriage/her baby is born prematurely and dies). If the woman is not harmed in any other way, the one who injured her must pay a fine. He must pay whatever the woman’s husband demands, after a judge approves of the fine.
23 And if any mischief follow, then shalt thou give life for life.
But if the woman is injured in some additional way, the one who injured her must be caused to suffer in exactly the same way [that he caused her to suffer]. If she dies, he must be executed.
24 Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
If her eye is injured or destroyed, or if he knocks out one of her teeth, or her hand or foot is injured, or if she is burned or bruised, the one who injured her must be injured in the same way.
25 Burning for burning, wound for wound, bruise for 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 the owner of a slave strikes the eye of his male or female slave and ruins it, he must free that slave because of [what he did to] the slave’s eye.
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.
If someone knocks out one of his slave’s teeth, he must free the slave because of [what he did to] the slave’s tooth.
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 a bull gores a man or woman with the result that the person dies, you [must kill the bull by] throwing stones at it, but you must not punish the owner of the bull.
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 suppose the bull had attacked people several times before, and its owner had been warned, but he did not keep the bull inside a fence. Then you [must kill the bull by] throwing stones at it, but you must also execute its owner.
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.
However, if the owner of the bull is allowed to pay a fine (to save his own life/in order not to be executed), he must pay the full amount that the judges say that he must pay.
31 If he gore a son, or gore a daughter, according to this judgment shall be done unto him.
If someone’s bull attacks and gores another person’s son or daughter, you must treat the bull’s owner according to that same rule.
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 a bull attacks and gores a male or female slave, its owner must pay to the slave’s owner 30 pieces of silver. Then you must [kill the bull by] throwing stones at it.
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:
Suppose someone has a pit/cistern and does not keep it covered, and someone’s bull or donkey falls into it [and dies].
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 pit/cistern must pay for the animal that died. He must give the money to the animal’s owner, but then he can take away the animal that died and [do whatever he wants to with it].
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 someone’s bull hurts another person’s bull with the result that it dies, the owners of both bulls must sell the bull that is living, and they must divide [between them] the money [that they receive] for it. They must also divide [between them the meat of] the animal that died.
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.
However, if people know that the bull often attacked other animals previously, and its owner did not keep it inside a fence, then the owner of that bull must give the owner of the bull that died one of his own bulls, but he can take away the animal that died [and do with it whatever he wants to do].”
