Exodus 21
1 “Here are some [other] instructions to give to [the Israeli people]:
“These are the ordinances that you are to set before them:
2 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].
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 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.
If he arrived alone, he is to leave alone; if he arrived with a wife, she is to leave with him.
4 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.
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 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,’
But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children; I do not want to go free,’
6 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).
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 If a man sells his daughter to become a slave, she should not be set free [after six years], as the male slaves are.
And if a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as the menservants do.
8 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].
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 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.
And if he chooses her for his son, he must deal with her as with a daughter.
10 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.
If he takes another wife, he must not reduce the food, clothing, or marital rights of his first wife.
11 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].
If, however, he does not provide her with these three things, she is free to go without monetary payment.
12 You must execute anyone who strikes another person with the result that the person who is struck dies.
Whoever strikes and kills a man must surely be put to death.
13 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].
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 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.
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 Anyone who strikes his father or mother must surely be executed.
Whoever strikes his father or mother must surely be put to death.
16 Anyone who kidnaps another person, either in order to sell that person or to keep him as a slave, must be executed.
Whoever kidnaps another man must be put to death, whether he sells him or the man is found in his possession.
17 Anyone who reviles/curses his father or his mother must be executed.
Anyone who curses his father or mother must surely be put to death.
18 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],
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 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.
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 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.
If a man strikes his manservant or maidservant with a rod, and the servant dies by his hand, he shall surely be punished.
21 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.
However, if the servant gets up after a day or two, the owner shall not be punished, since the servant is his property.
22 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.
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 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.
But if a serious injury results, then you must require a life for a life—
24 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.
eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
burn for burn, wound for wound, and stripe for stripe.
26 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.
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 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.
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 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.
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 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.
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 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.
If payment is demanded of him instead, he may redeem his life by paying the full amount demanded of him.
31 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.
If the ox gores a son or a daughter, it shall be done to him according to the same rule.
32 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.
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 Suppose someone has a pit/cistern and does not keep it covered, and someone’s bull or donkey falls into it [and dies].
If a man opens or digs a pit and fails to cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it,
34 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].
the owner of the pit shall make restitution; he must pay its owner, and the dead animal will be his.
35 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.
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 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].”
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.
