Exodus 21

1 And these [are] the judgments which you set before them:

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

2 When you buy a Hebrew servant, he serves [for] six years, and in the seventh he goes out as a freeman for nothing;

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.

3 if he comes in by himself, he goes out by himself; if he [is] owner of a wife, then his wife has gone out with him;

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

4 if his lord gives a wife to him, and she has borne sons or daughters to him—the wife and her children are her lord’s, and he goes out by himself.

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.

5 And if the servant really says: I have loved my lord, my wife, and my sons—I do not go out free,

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

6 then his lord has brought him near to God, and has brought him near to the door, or to the doorpost, and his lord has bored his ear with an awl, and he has served him for all time.

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.

7 And when a man sells his daughter for a handmaid, she does not go out according to the going out of the menservants;

And if a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as the menservants do.

8 if [it is] evil in the eyes of her lord, so that he has not betrothed her, then he has let her be ransomed; he has no power to sell her to a strange people, in his dealing treacherously with her.

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.

9 And if he betroths her to his son, he does to her according to the right of daughters.

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

10 If he takes another [woman] for him, he does not withdraw her food, her covering, and her habitation;

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

11 and if he does not do these three for her, then she has gone out for nothing, without money.

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

12 He who strikes a man so that he has died is certainly put to death;

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

13 as for him who has not laid wait, but God has brought [him] to his hand, I have even set a place for you to where he flees.

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.

14 And when a man presumes against his neighbor to slay him with subtlety, you take him from My altar to die.

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.

15 And he who strikes his father or his mother is certainly put to death.

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

16 And he who steals a man, and has sold him, and he has been found in his hand, is certainly put to death.

Whoever kidnaps another man must be put to death, whether he sells him or the man is found in his possession.

17 And he who is reviling his father or his mother is certainly put to death.

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

18 And when men contend, and a man has struck his neighbor with a stone, or with the fist, and he does not die, but has fallen on the bed;

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,

19 if he rises, and has gone up and down outside on his staff, then the striker has been acquitted; he only gives [for] his cessation, and he is thoroughly healed.

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.

20 And when a man strikes his manservant or his handmaid with a rod, and he has died under his hand—he is certainly avenged;

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

21 only if he remains a day, or two days, he is not avenged, for he [is] his money.

However, if the servant gets up after a day or two, the owner shall not be punished, since the servant is his property.

22 And when men strive, and have struck a pregnant woman, and her children have come out, and there is no harm [to them], he is certainly fined as the husband of the woman lays on him, and he has given through the judges;

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.

23 and if there is harm [to them], then you have given life for life,

But if a serious injury results, then you must require a life for a 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 burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

burn for burn, wound for wound, and stripe for stripe.

26 And when a man strikes the eye of his manservant, or the eye of his handmaid, and has destroyed it, he sends him away as a freeman for his eye;

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.

27 and if he knocks out a tooth of his manservant or a tooth of his handmaid, he sends him away as a freeman for his tooth.

And if he knocks out the tooth of his manservant or maidservant, he must let the servant go free as compensation for the tooth.

28 And when an ox gores 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;

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.

29 and if the ox is [one] accustomed to gore before, and it has been testified to its owner, and he does not watch it, and it has put to death a man or woman, the ox is stoned, and its owner is also put to death.

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.

30 If atonement is laid on him, then he has given the ransom of his life, according to all that is laid on him;

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

31 whether it gores a son or gores a daughter, according to this judgment it is done to him.

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

32 If the ox gores a manservant or a handmaid, he gives thirty silver shekels to their lord, and the ox is stoned.

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.

33 And when a man opens a pit, or when a man digs a pit, and does not cover it, and an ox or donkey has fallen [in] there—

If a man opens or digs a pit and fails to cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it,

34 the owner of the pit repays, he gives back money to its owner, and the dead is his.

the owner of the pit shall make restitution; he must pay its owner, and the dead animal will be his.

35 And when a man’s ox strikes the ox of his neighbor and it has died, then they have sold the living ox, and halved its money, and they also halve the dead one;

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.

36 or, [if] it has been known that the ox is [one] accustomed to gore before, and its owner does not watch it, he certainly repays ox for ox, and the dead is his.

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.