Exodus 21

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

“These are the regulations you are to present to 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 slave, he is to work for you for six years. But in the seventh year, he is to be freed without having to pay 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 was single when he came, he is to leave single. If he had a wife when he came, 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 provides him a wife and she has children with him, the woman and her children shall belong to her master, and only the man shall be freed.

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

However, if the slave formally states, ‘I love my master and my wife and children; I do not want to be freed,’

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 take him before the judges. Then he shall have him stand against the door or doorpost and use a metal tool to make a hole in his ear. Then he shall work for 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;

If a man sells his daughter as a slave, she is not to be freed in the same way as male slaves.

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 the man who chose her for himself is not pleased with her, he must let her be bought back. He is not permitted to sell her to foreigners, since he has been unfair to her.

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

If he chooses to give her to his son, he must treat her as 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 woman, he must not reduce the food and clothing allowances and marital rights of the first.

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

If he doesn't give her these three things, she is free to leave without paying anything.

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

Anyone who hits and kills someone else must be executed.

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.

However, if it wasn't intentional and God let it happen, then I will arrange a place for you where they can run to and be safe.

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

But if someone deliberately plans and purposely kills another, you must take them away from my altar and execute them.

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

Anyone who hits their father or mother must be executed.

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

Anyone who kidnaps someone else must be executed, whether the victim is sold or is still in their possessions.

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

Anyone who despises their father or mother must be executed.

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 fighting and one hits the other with a stone or with his fist, and the injured man doesn't die but has to stay in 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.

and then gets up and walks around outside with his walking stick, then the one who hit him won't be punished, Even so, he must still compensate the man for the time lost from his work and make sure that he's 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;

Anyone who hits their male or female slave with a rod, and the slave dies as a result, must be punished.

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

However, if after a day or two the slave gets better, the owner won't be punished because the slave is their 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 happen to hit a pregnant woman so she gives birth prematurely, but no serious injury occurs, he must be fined whatever amount the woman's husband demands and as permitted by the judges.

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

But if a serious injury does occur, then you must pay 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, stripe for stripe.

a burn for a burn, a wound for a wound, and a bruise for a bruise.

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;

Anyone who hits their male or female slave in the eye and blinds them must free the slave 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.

Anyone who knocks out the tooth of their male or female slave must free the slave 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 uses its horns to kill a man or woman, the ox must be stoned to death, and its meat must not be eaten. But the owner of the ox won't be punished.

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 repeatedly hurt people with its horns, and its owner has been warned but still doesn't keep it under control, and it kills a man or woman, then the ox must be stoned to death and its owner must also be executed.

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

But if instead the payment of compensation is required, the owner may buy back his or her life by paying the full amount of compensation demanded.

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

If the ox uses its horns and kills a son or a daughter the same rule is applicable.

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 uses its horns and kills a male or female slave, the owner of the ox must pay thirty shekels of silver to the slave's master, and the ox must be stoned to death.

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 someone removes the cover of a cistern or digs one and doesn't 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 must pay compensation to the animal's owner and keep the dead animal.

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 someone's ox injures another's ox and it dies, they must sell the live one and share money received; they must also share 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 repeatedly hurt people with its horns, and its owner had been warned but still didn't keep it under control, full compensation must be paid, ox for ox, but the owner can keep the dead animal.”