Exodus 21
1 And these [are] the judgments which you set before them:
“Now these are the ordinances which you shall 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 shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out 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 comes in by himself, he shall go out by himself. If he is married, then his wife shall go out 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 wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself.
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 shall plainly say, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children. I will not go out 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 shall bring him to God, and shall bring him to the door or to the doorpost, and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall serve him forever.
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 to be a female servant, she shall not go out as the male servants 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 doesn’t please her master, who has married her to himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has dealt deceitfully with her.
9 And if he betroths her to his son, he does to her according to the right of daughters.
If he marries her to his son, he shall deal with 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 wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, and her marital rights.
11 and if he does not do these three for her, then she has gone out for nothing, without money.
If he doesn’t do these three things for her, she may go free without paying any money.
12 He who strikes a man so that he has died is certainly put to death;
“One who strikes a man so that he dies shall 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.
but not if it is unintentional, but God allows it to happen; then I will appoint you a place where he shall flee.
14 And when a man presumes against his neighbor to slay him with subtlety, you take him from My altar to die.
If a man schemes and comes presumptuously on his neighbor to kill him, you shall take him from my altar, that he may die.
15 And he who strikes his father or his mother is certainly put to death.
“Anyone who attacks his father or his mother shall be surely 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.
“Anyone who kidnaps someone and sells him, or if he is found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.
17 And he who is reviling his father or his mother is certainly put to death.
“Anyone who curses his father or his mother shall 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 quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone, or with his fist, and he doesn’t 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.
if he rises again and walks around with his staff, then he who struck him shall be cleared; only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall provide for his healing until he is thoroughly 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 servant or his maid with a rod, and he dies under his hand, the man shall surely be punished.
21 only if he remains a day, or two days, he is not avenged, for he [is] his money.
Notwithstanding, if his servant gets up after a day or two, he shall not be punished, for 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 fight and hurt a pregnant woman so that she gives birth prematurely, and yet no harm follows, he shall be surely fined as much as the woman’s husband demands and the judges allow.
23 and if there is harm [to them], then you have given life for life,
But if any harm follows, then you must take life for 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.
burning for burning, wound for wound, and bruise for 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;
“If a man strikes his servant’s eye, or his maid’s eye, and destroys it, he shall let him go free for his eye’s sake.
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.
If he strikes out his male servant’s tooth, or his female servant’s tooth, he shall let the servant go free for his tooth’s sake.
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 a bull gores a man or a woman to death, the bull shall surely be stoned, and its meat shall not be eaten; but the owner of the bull 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 bull had a habit of goring in the past, and this has been testified to its owner, and he has not kept it in, but it has killed a man or a woman, the bull shall be stoned, and its owner shall 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 a ransom is imposed on him, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is imposed.
31 whether it gores a son or gores a daughter, according to this judgment it is done to him.
Whether it has gored a son or has gored a daughter, according to this judgment it shall be done to him.
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 bull gores a male servant or a female servant, thirty shekels of silver shall be given to their master, and the ox shall 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 a pit, or if a man digs a pit and doesn’t cover it, and a bull 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 it good. He shall give money to its owner, and the dead animal shall 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 one man’s bull injures another’s, so that it dies, then they shall sell the live bull, and divide its price; and they shall also 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.
Or if it is known that the bull was in the habit of goring in the past, and its owner has not kept it in, he shall surely pay bull for bull, and the dead animal shall be his own.
