Exodus 21
1 'And these [are] the judgments which thou dost set before them:
“Now these are the decrees that you must set before them:
2 'When thou buyest a Hebrew servant — six years he doth serve, and in the seventh he goeth out as a freeman for nought;
'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.
3 if by himself he cometh in, by himself he goeth out; if he [is] owner of a wife, then his wife hath gone out with him;
If he came by himself, he must go free by himself; if he is married, then his wife must go free with him.
4 if his lord give to him a wife, and she hath borne to him sons or daughters — the wife and her children are her lord's, and he goeth out by himself.
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.
5 'And if the servant really say: I have loved my lord, my wife, and my sons — I do not go out free;
But if the servant plainly says, “I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,”
6 then hath his lord brought him nigh unto God, and hath brought him nigh unto the door, or unto the side-post, and his lord hath bored his ear with an awl, and he hath served him — to the age.
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.
7 'And when a man selleth his daughter for a handmaid, she doth not go out according to the going out of the men-servants;
If a man sells his daughter as a female servant, she must not go free as the male servants do.
8 if evil in the eyes of her lord, so that he hath not betrothed her, then he hath let her be ransomed; to a strange people he hath not power to sell her, in his dealing treacherously with her.
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.
9 'And if to his son he betroth her, according to the right of daughters he doth to her.
If her master designates her as a wife for his son, he must treat her the same as if she were his daughter.
10 'If another [woman] he take for him, her food, her covering, and her habitation, he doth not withdraw;
If he takes another wife for himself, he must not diminish her food, clothing, or her marital rights.
11 and if these three he do not to her, then she hath gone out for nought, without money.
But if he does not provide these three things for her, then she can go free without paying any money.
12 'He who smiteth a man so that he hath died, is certainly put to death;
Whoever strikes a man so that he dies, that person must surely be put to death.
13 as to him who hath not laid wait, and God hath brought to his hand, I have even set for thee a place whither he doth flee.
If the man did not do it with premeditation, but instead by accident, then I will fix a place to where he can flee.
14 'And when a man doth presume against his neighbour to slay him with subtilty, from Mine altar thou dost take him to die.
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.
15 'And he who smiteth his father or his mother is certainly put to death.
Whoever hits his father or mother must surely be put to death.
16 'And he who stealeth a man, and hath sold him, and he hath been found in his hand, is certainly put to death.
Whoever kidnaps a person—whether the kidnapper sells him, or that person is found in his hand—that kidnapper must be put to death.
17 'And he who is reviling his father or his mother is certainly put to death.
Whoever curses his father or his mother must surely be put to death.
18 'And when men contend, and a man hath smitten his neighbour with a stone, or with the fist, and he die not, but hath fallen on the bed;
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;
19 if he rise, and hath gone up and down without on his staff, then hath the smiter been acquitted; only his cessation he giveth, and he is thoroughly healed.
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.
20 'And when a man smiteth his man-servant or his handmaid, with a rod, and he hath died under his hand — he is certainly avenged;
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.
21 only if he remain a day, or two days, he is not avenged, for he [is] his money.
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.
22 'And when men strive, and have smitten a pregnant woman, and her children have come out, and there is no mischief, he is certainly fined, as the husband of the woman doth lay upon him, and he hath given through the judges;
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.
23 and if there is mischief, then thou hast given life for life,
But if there is serious injury, then you must give 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 burn for a burn, a wound for a wound, or a bruise for a bruise.
26 'And when a man smiteth the eye of his man-servant, or the eye of his handmaid, and hath destroyed it, as a freeman he doth send him away for his eye;
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.
27 and if a tooth of his man-servant or a tooth of his handmaid he knock out, as a freeman he doth send him away for his tooth.
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.
28 'And when an ox doth gore man or woman, and they have died, the ox is certainly stoned, and his flesh is not eaten, and the owner of the ox [is] acquitted;
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.
29 and if the ox is [one] accustomed to gore heretofore, and it hath been testified to its owner, and he doth not watch it, and it hath put to death a man or woman, the ox is stoned, and its owner also is put to death.
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.
30 'If atonement is laid upon him, then he hath given the ransom of his life, according to all that is laid upon him;
If a payment is required for his life, he must pay whatever he is required to pay.
31 whether it gore a son or gore a daughter, according to this judgment it is done to him.
If the ox has gored a man's son or daughter, the ox's owner must do what this decree requires him to do.
32 'If the ox gore a man-servant or a handmaid, thirty silver shekels he doth give to their lord, and the ox is stoned.
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.
33 'And when a man doth open a pit, or when a man doth dig a pit, and doth not cover it, and an ox or ass hath fallen thither, —
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,
34 the owner of the pit doth repay, money he doth give back to its owner, and the dead is his.
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.
35 'And when a man's ox doth smite the ox of his neighbour, and it hath died, then they have sold the living ox, and halved its money, and also the dead one they do halve;
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.
36 or, it hath been known that the ox is [one] accustomed to gore heretofore, and its owner doth not watch it, he certainly repayeth ox for ox, and the dead is his.
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.
