Exodus 21

1 “Now these are the decrees that you must set before them:

Now these are the ordinances which thou shall set before them.

2 'If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve for six years, and in the seventh year he will go free without paying anything.

If thou buy a Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve, and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.

3 If he came by himself, he must go free by himself; if he is married, then his wife must go free with him.

If he comes in by himself, he shall go out by himself. If he be married, then his wife shall go out with him.

4 If his master gave him a wife and she bore him sons or daughters, the wife and her children will belong to her master, and he must go free by himself.

If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her sons shall be her master's, and he shall go out by himself.

5 But if the servant plainly says, “I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,”

But if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my sons, I will not go out free,

6 then his master must bring him to God. The master must bring him to a door or doorpost, and his master must bore his ear through with an awl. Then the servant will serve him for life.

then his master shall bring him to God, and shall bring him to the door, or to the door-post, and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall serve him forever.

7 If a man sells his daughter as a female servant, she must not go free as the male servants do.

And if a man sells his daughter to be a maid-servant, she shall not go out as the men-servants do.

8 If she does not please her master, who has designated her for himself, then he must let her be bought back. He has no right to sell her to a foreign people. He has no such right, since he has treated her deceitfully.

If she does not please her master, who has espoused her to himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no power to sell her to a foreign people, since he has dealt deceitfully with her.

9 If her master designates her as a wife for his son, he must treat her the same as if she were his daughter.

And if he espouses her to his son, he shall deal with her according to the manner of daughters.

10 If he takes another wife for himself, he must not diminish her food, clothing, or her marital rights.

If he takes him another wife, her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage, he shall not diminish.

11 But if he does not provide these three things for her, then she can go free without paying any money.

And if he does not do these three things to her, then she shall go out for nothing, without money.

12 Whoever strikes a man so that he dies, that person must surely be put to death.

He who smites a man, so that he dies, shall surely be put to death.

13 If the man did not do it with premeditation, but instead by accident, then I will fix a place to where he can flee.

And if a man does not lie in wait, but God delivers him into his hand, then I will appoint for thee a place where he shall flee.

14 If a man willfully attacks his neighbor and kills him according to a cunning plan, then you must take him, even if he is at God's altar, so that he may die.

And if a man comes presumptuously upon his neighbor, to kill him with guile, thou shall take him from my altar, that he may die.

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

And he who smites his father or his mother, shall surely be put to death.

16 Whoever kidnaps a person—whether the kidnapper sells him, or that person is found in his hand—that kidnapper must be put to death.

And he who steals a man, and sells him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.

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

And he who curses his father or his mother, shall surely be put to death.

18 If men fight and one hits the other with a stone or with his fist, and that person does not die, but is confined to his bed;

And if men contend, and one smites the other with a stone, or with his fist, and he does not die, but keeps his bed,

19 then if he recovers and is able to walk about using his staff, the man who struck him must pay for the loss of his time; he must also pay for his complete recovery. But that man is not guilty of murder.

if he rises again, and walks abroad upon his staff, then he who smote him shall be acquitted. Only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall cause him to be thoroughly healed.

20 If a man hits his male servant or his female servant with a staff, and if the servant dies as a result of the blow, then that man must surely be punished.

And if a man smites his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he dies under his hand, he shall surely be punished.

21 However, if the servant lives for a day or two, the master must not be punished, for he will have suffered the loss of the servant.

Notwithstanding, if he continues a day or two, he shall not be punished, for he is his money.

22 If men fight together and hurt a pregnant woman so that she miscarries, but there is no other injury to her, then the guilty man must surely be fined as the woman's husband demands it from him, and he must pay as the judges determine.

And if men strive together, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart, and yet no harm follow, he shall be surely fined, according as the woman's husband shall lay upon him, and he shall pay as the judges determine.

23 But if there is serious injury, then you must give a life for a life,

But if any harm follows, then thou shall give life for life,

24 an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot,

eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,

25 a burn for a burn, a wound for a wound, or a bruise for a bruise.

burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

26 If a man hits the eye of his male servant or of his female servant and destroys it, then he must let the servant go free in compensation for his eye.

And if a man smites the eye of his servant, or the eye of his maid, and destroys it, he shall let him go free for his eye's sake.

27 If he knocks out a tooth of his male servant or female servant, he must let the servant go free as compensation for the tooth.

And if he knocks out his man-servant's tooth, or his maid-servant's tooth, he shall let him go free for his tooth's sake.

28 If an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox must surely be stoned, and its flesh must not be eaten; but the ox's owner must be acquitted of guilt.

And if an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox shall surely be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten, but the owner of the ox shall be acquitted.

29 But if the ox had a habit of goring in the past, and its owner was warned but did not keep it in, and the ox has killed a man or a woman, that ox must be stoned, and its owner also must be put to death.

But if the ox was accustomed to gore in time past, and it has been testified to its owner, and he has not kept it in, but it has killed a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned, and its owner shall also be put to death.

30 If a payment is required for his life, he must pay whatever he is required to pay.

If a ransom is laid on him, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is laid upon him.

31 If the ox has gored a man's son or daughter, the ox's owner must do what this decree requires him to do.

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 male servant or a female servant, the ox's owner must pay thirty shekels of silver, and the ox must be stoned.

If the ox gores a man-servant or a maid-servant, there shall be given to their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.

33 If a man opens a pit, or if a man digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it,

And if a man shall open a pit, or if a man shall dig a pit and not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls in it,

34 the owner of the pit must repay the loss. He must give money to the dead animal's owner, and the dead animal will become his.

the owner of the pit shall make it good; he shall give money to the owner of it, and the dead beast shall be his.

35 If one man's ox hurts another man's ox so that it dies, then they must sell the live ox and divide its price, and they must also divide the dead ox.

And if one man's ox hurts another's, so that it dies, then they shall sell the live ox, and divide the price of it, and the dead they shall also divide.

36 But if it was known that the ox had a habit of goring in time past, and its owner has not kept it in, he must surely pay ox for ox, and the dead animal will become his own.

Or if it be known that the ox was accustomed to gore in time past, and its owner has not kept it in, he shall surely pay ox for ox, and the dead beast shall be his own.