Exodus 21
1 Now these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them.
“These are the judgments which you shall place before them:
2 If thou shalt buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall depart free for nothing.
If you buy a Hebrew servant, six years shall he serve you; in the seventh, he shall depart freely, without charge.
3 If he came in by himself, he shall depart by himself: if he was married, then his wife shall depart with him.
With whatever clothing he arrived, with the like let him depart. If he has a wife, his wife also shall depart, at the same time.
4 If his master hath given him a wife, and she hath borne him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall depart by himself.
But if his lord gave him a wife, and she has borne sons and daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her lord. Yet still, he himself will go out with his clothing.
5 And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not depart free:
And if the servant will say, ‘I love my lord, and my wife and children, I will not depart freely,’
6 Then his master shall bring him to the judges; he shall also 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 for ever.
then his lord shall make an offering for him to the heavens, and it shall be applied to the door and the posts, and he will pierce his ear with an awl. And he shall be his servant in perpetuity.
7 And if a man shall sell his daughter to be a female slave, she shall not depart as the male slaves do.
If anyone sells his daughter to be a servant, she shall not depart as a female servant is accustomed to go out.
8 If she shall not please her master, who hath betrothed her to himself, then shall he let her be redeemed: to sell her to a strange nation he shall have no power, seeing he hath dealt deceitfully with her.
If she displeases the eyes of her lord, to whom she had been delivered, he shall dismiss her. But he shall have no authority to sell her to a foreign people, even if he despises her.
9 And if he hath betrothed her to his son, he shall deal with her after the manner of daughters.
But if he has betrothed her to his son, he shall treat her according to the custom with daughters.
10 If he shall take him another wife; her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage, shall he not diminish.
And if he takes another for him, he shall provide to the maiden a marriage, and clothing, and he shall not refuse the price of her chastity.
11 And if he shall not perform these three things for her, then shall she depart free without money.
If he does not do these three things, she shall depart freely, without money.
12 He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death.
Whoever strikes a man, intending to murder, shall be put to death.
13 And if a man shall not lie in wait, but God shall deliver him into his hand; then I will appoint thee a place where he shall flee.
But if he did not lie in wait for him, but God delivered him into his hands, then I will appoint for you a place to which he must flee.
14 But if a man shall come presumptuously upon his neighbour, to slay him with guile; thou shalt take him from my altar, that he may die.
If someone murders his neighbor with deliberation, by lying in wait, you shall tear him away from my altar, so that he may die.
15 And he that smiteth his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death.
Whoever strikes his father or mother shall die a death.
16 And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he shall be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.
Whoever will have stolen a man and sold him, having been convicted of the crime, shall be put to death.
17 And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death.
Whoever speaks evil of his father or mother shall die a death.
18 And if men contend together, and one shall smite another with a stone, or with his fist, and he shall not die, but keepeth to his bed:
If men will have quarreled, and one of them has struck his neighbor with a stone or a fist, and he does not die, but lies in bed,
19 If he shall rise again, and walk abroad upon his staff, then shall he that smote him be clear: only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall cause him to be thoroughly healed.
if he gets up again and can walk outside on his staff, he who struck him will be innocent, but only if he makes sufficient restitution for his deeds and for the cost of the physicians.
20 And if a man shall smite his male or female servant, with a rod, and he shall die under his hand; he shall be surely punished.
Whoever strikes his male or female servant with a staff, and if they have died by his hands, he shall be guilty of a crime.
21 However, if he shall continue a day or two, he shall not be punished: for he is his money.
But if he survives for one day or two, he shall not be subject to punishment, because it is his money.
22 If men shall contend, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit shall depart from her, and yet no harm follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman’s husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine.
If men will have quarreled, and one of them has struck a pregnant woman, and as a result she miscarries, but she herself survives, he shall be subject to as much damage as the husband of the woman shall petition from him, or as arbitrators shall judge.
23 And if any harm shall follow, then thou shalt give life for life,
But if her death will have followed, he will repay 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 scrape for a scrape, a wound for a wound, a bruise for a bruise.
26 And if a man shall smite the eye of his male servant, or the eye of his female servant, that it shall perish; he shall let him go free for his eye’s sake.
If anyone will have struck the eye of his male or female servant, having left them with one eye, he shall release them freely, because of the eye that he has put out.
27 And if he shall smite out his male servant’s tooth, or his female servant’s tooth; he shall let him go free for his tooth’s sake.
Likewise, if he knocks out a tooth of his male or female servant, he shall similarly release them freely.
28 If an ox shall gore a man or a woman, that they die: then the ox shall be surely stoned, and his flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be clear.
If an ox has struck a man or a woman with his horn, and if they die, it shall be stoned. And its flesh shall not be eaten; also, the owner of the ox will be innocent.
29 But if the ox was accustomed to push with his horn in time past, and it hath been testified to his owner, and he hath not restrained him, but that he hath killed a man or a woman; the ox shall be stoned, and his owner also shall be put to death.
But if the ox had been pushing with his horn, from yesterday and the day before, and they warned his owner, but he did not confine it, and it will have killed a man or a woman, then the ox shall be stoned, and his owner shall be killed.
30 If there shall be laid on him a sum of money, then he shall give for the ransom of his life whatever is laid upon him.
But if they have imposed a price on him, he shall give, in exchange for his life, whatever is asked.
31 Whether he hath gored a son, or hath gored a daughter, according to this judgment shall it be done to him.
Likewise, if it has struck a son or a daughter with its horns, it shall be subject to a similar verdict.
32 If the ox shall push a male or female servant; he shall give to their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.
If it attacks a male or female servant, he shall give thirty shekels of silver to their lord, yet truly the ox shall be stoned.
33 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 shall fall into it;
If a man digs or opens a cistern, and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it,
34 The owner of the pit shall make payment, and give money to the owner of them; and the dead beast shall be his.
then the owner of the cistern shall repay the price of the beasts, and what is dead will belong to him.
35 And if one man’s ox shall hurt another’s, that he shall die; then they shall sell the live ox, and divide the money of it; and the dead ox also they shall divide.
If the ox of a stranger wounds the ox of another, and it has died, then they shall sell the live ox and divide the price, but the carcass of the dead one they shall distribute between them.
36 Or if it shall be known that the ox was accustomed to push in time past, and his owner hath not restrained him; he shall surely pay ox for ox; and the dead shall be his own.
But if he knew that his ox had pushed with its horns, yesterday and the day before, and its owner did not confine it, then he shall repay an ox for an ox, and he will receive the whole carcass.”
