Exodus 21
1 “Here are some [other] instructions to give to [the Israeli people]:
And these [are] the ordinances which thou shalt 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 thou buy a Hebrew servant, six years shall he serve thee, and in the seventh year he shall go forth free for nothing.
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 should have come in alone, he shall also go forth alone; and if his wife should have gone in together with him, his wife also shall go out.
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.
Moreover, if his master give him a wife, and she have [born] him sons or daughters, the wife and the children shall be his master's; and he shall go forth alone.
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,’
And if the servant should answer and say, I love my master and wife and children, I will not go away 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).
his master shall bring him to the judgment-seat of God, and then shall he bring him to the door, —to the door-post, and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall serve him for ever.
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 any one sell his daughter as a domestic, she shall not depart as the maid-servants depart.
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 be not pleasing to her master, after she has betrothed herself to him, he shall let her go free; but he is not at liberty to sell her to a foreign nation, because he has trifled 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 should have betrothed her to his son, he shall do to her according to the right of daughters.
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.
And if he take another to himself, he shall not deprive her of necessaries and her apparel, and her companionship [with him].
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].
And if he will not do these three things to her, she shall go out free without money.
12 You must execute anyone who strikes another person with the result that the person who is struck dies.
And if any man smite another and he die, let him be certainly 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].
But as for him that did it not willingly, but God delivered him into his hands, I will give thee a place whither the slayer 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.
And if any one lie in wait for his neighbour to slay him by craft, and he go for refuge, thou shalt take him from my altar to put him to death.
15 Anyone who strikes his father or mother must surely be executed.
Whoever smites his father or his mother, let him be certainly 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.
He that reviles his father or his mother shall surely die.
17 Anyone who reviles/curses his father or his mother must be executed.
Whosoever shall steal one of the children of Israel, and prevail over him and sell him, and he be found with him, let him certainly die.
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],
And if two men revile each other and smite the one the other with a stone or his fist, and he die not, but be laid upon his 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.
if the man arise and walk abroad on his staff, he that smote him shall be clear; only he shall pay for his loss of time, and for his healing.
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.
And if a man smite his man-servant or his maid-servant, with a rod, and [the party] die under his hands, he shall be surely 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.
But if [the servant] continue to live a day or two, let not [the master] be punished; for he is his money.
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.
And if two men strive and smite a woman with child, and her child be born imperfectly formed, he shall be forced to pay a penalty: as the woman's husband may lay upon him, he shall pay with a valuation.
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 it be perfectly formed, he shall give life for 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,
burning for burning, wound for wound, 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.
And if one smite the eye of his man-servant, or the eye of his maid-servant, and put it out, he shall let them go free for their eye's sake.
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 should smite out the tooth of his man-servant, or the tooth of his maid-servant, he shall send them away free for their tooth's sake.
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.
And if a bull gore a man or woman and they die, the bull shall be stoned with stones, and his flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the bull shall be clear.
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 bull should have been given to goring in former time, and men should have told his owner, and he have not removed him, but he should have slain a man or woman, the bull shall be stoned, and his owner shall die also.
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.
And if a ransom should be imposed on him, he shall pay for the ransom of his soul as much as they shall lay upon 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.
And if [the bull] gore a son or daughter, let them do to him according to this ordinance.
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.
And if the bull gore a man-servant or maid-servant, he shall pay to their master thirty silver didrachms, and the bull shall 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].
And if any one open a pit or dig a cavity in stone, and cover it not, and an ox or an ass fall in there,
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 compensation; he shall give money to their owner, and the dead shall be his own.
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.
And if any man's bull gore the bull of his neighbour, and it die, they shall sell the living bull and divide the money, and they shall divide the dead bull.
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 the bull be known to have been given to goring in time past, and they have testified to his owner, and he have not removed him, he shall repay bull for bull, but the dead shall be his own.
