Exodus 21

1 Now these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them.

“Here are some [other] instructions to give to [the Israeli people]:

2 If thou shalt buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall depart free for nothing.

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].

3 If he came in by himself, he shall depart by himself: if he was married, then his wife shall depart with him.

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.

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.

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.

5 And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not depart free:

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,’

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 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).

7 And if a man shall sell his daughter to be a female slave, she shall not depart as the male slaves do.

If a man sells his daughter to become a slave, she should not be set free [after six years], as the male slaves are.

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 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].

9 And if he hath betrothed her to his son, he shall deal with her after the manner of daughters.

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.

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

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.

11 And if he shall not perform these three things for her, then shall she depart free without money.

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].

12 He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death.

You must execute anyone who strikes another person with the result that the person who is struck dies.

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 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].

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.

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.

15 And he that smiteth his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death.

Anyone who strikes his father or mother must surely be executed.

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.

Anyone who kidnaps another person, either in order to sell that person or to keep him as a slave, must be executed.

17 And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death.

Anyone who reviles/curses his father or his mother must be executed.

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:

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],

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.

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.

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.

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.

21 However, if he shall continue a day or two, he shall not be punished: for he is his money.

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.

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.

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.

23 And if any harm shall follow, then thou shalt give life for life,

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.

24 Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,

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.

25 Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

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 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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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 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.

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.

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.

31 Whether he hath gored a son, or hath gored a daughter, according to this judgment shall it be done to him.

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.

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 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.

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;

Suppose someone has a pit/cistern and does not keep it covered, and someone’s bull or donkey falls into it [and dies].

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 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].

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 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.

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.

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].”