Exode 21
1 Ce sont ici les jugements que tu placeras devant eux:
“Here are some [other] instructions to give to [the Israeli people]:
2 Si tu achètes un serviteur hébreu, il servira six années, et, la septième, il sortira libre, gratuitement.
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 S’il est venu seul, il sortira seul; s’ il avait une femme, sa femme sortira avec lui.
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 Si son maître lui a donné une femme, et qu’elle lui ait enfanté des fils ou des filles, la femme et ses enfants seront à son maître, et lui, il sortira seul.
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 Mais si le serviteur dit positivement: J’aime mon maître, ma femme et mes enfants, je ne veux pas sortir libre;
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 alors son maître le fera venir devant les juges, et le fera approcher de la porte ou du poteau, et son maître lui percera l’oreille avec un poinçon; et il le servira à toujours.
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 Et si un homme vend sa fille pour être servante, elle ne sortira point comme sortent les serviteurs.
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 Si elle déplaît aux yeux de son maître qui se l’était fiancée, il la fera racheter; il n’aura pas le pouvoir de la vendre à un peuple étranger, après l’avoir trompée.
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 Et s’il l’a fiancée à son fils, il agira envers elle selon le droit des filles.
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 S’il en prend une autre, il ne retranchera rien pour elle à sa nourriture, à son vêtement, et à son droit conjugal.
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 Et s’il ne fait pas pour elle ces trois choses-là, elle sortira gratuitement, sans [payer aucun] argent.
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 Si quelqu’un frappe un homme, et qu’il en meure, il sera certainement mis à mort.
You must execute anyone who strikes another person with the result that the person who is struck dies.
13 Mais s’il ne lui a pas dressé d’embûche, et que Dieu l’ait fait tomber sous ses mains, je t’établirai un lieu où il s’enfuira.
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 Et si un homme s’élève de propos délibéré contre son prochain, pour le tuer par ruse, tu l’arracheras de mon autel, pour qu’il meure.
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 Et celui qui frappera son père ou sa mère sera certainement mis à mort.
Anyone who strikes his father or mother must surely be executed.
16 Et si quelqu’un vole un homme et qu’il le vende, ou qu’il soit trouvé en sa main, il sera certainement mis à mort.
Anyone who kidnaps another person, either in order to sell that person or to keep him as a slave, must be executed.
17 Et celui qui maudit son père ou sa mère sera certainement mis à mort.
Anyone who reviles/curses his father or his mother must be executed.
18 Et si des hommes contestent entre eux, et que l’un frappe l’autre avec une pierre ou avec le poing, et qu’il ne meure pas, mais tienne le lit:
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 s’il se lève et marche dehors sur son bâton, celui qui l’a frappé sera tenu pour quitte; seulement, il paiera son chômage, et le fera guérir complètement.
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 Et si quelqu’un frappe du bâton son serviteur ou sa servante, et qu’il meure sous sa main, il sera certainement vengé;
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 seulement, s’il reste debout un jour ou deux jours, il ne sera pas vengé, car il est son argent.
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 Et si des hommes se querellent, et que [l’un d’eux] heurte une femme enceinte et qu’elle accouche sans qu’il y ait de malheur, une amende sera payée selon ce que le mari de la femme lui imposera, et il la donnera suivant [la décision des] juges.
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 Et s’il arrive malheur, tu donneras vie pour vie,
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 œil pour œil, dent pour dent, main pour main, pied pour pied,
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 brûlure pour brûlure, blessure pour blessure, meurtrissure pour meurtrissure.
26 Et si un homme frappe l’œil de son serviteur, ou l’œil de sa servante, et le lui fasse perdre, il les laissera aller libres pour l’œil;
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 et s’il fait tomber la dent de son serviteur ou la dent de sa servante, il les laissera aller libres pour la dent.
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 Et si un bœuf frappe de ses cornes un homme ou une femme, et qu’ils en meurent, le bœuf sera certainement lapidé, et sa chair ne sera pas mangée; mais le maître du bœuf sera [tenu pour] non coupable.
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 Et si le bœuf frappait de ses cornes auparavant, et que son maître en ait été averti et qu’il ne l’ait pas tenu sous garde, et qu’il tue un homme ou une femme, le bœuf sera lapidé, et son maître aussi sera mis à mort.
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 Et si une indemnité lui est imposée, il donnera la rançon de sa vie selon tout ce qui lui sera imposé.
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 Soit qu’il ait frappé un fils, ou qu’il ait frappé une fille, il lui sera fait selon ce jugement.
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 Si le bœuf a frappé de ses cornes un serviteur ou une servante, le possesseur donnera à son maître 30 sicles d’argent, et le bœuf sera lapidé.
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 Et si un homme ouvre une fosse, ou si un homme creuse une fosse, et ne la couvre pas, et qu’un bœuf ou un âne y tombe,
Suppose someone has a pit/cistern and does not keep it covered, and someone’s bull or donkey falls into it [and dies].
34 le propriétaire de la fosse donnera une compensation, il remettra l’argent au maître de la [bête]; et la bête morte lui appartiendra.
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 Et si le bœuf d’un homme heurte le bœuf de son prochain, et qu’il en meure, ils vendront le bœuf vivant, et en partageront l’argent, et ils partageront aussi le mort.
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 Ou s’il était connu que le bœuf frappait de ses cornes auparavant, et que son maître ne l’ait pas tenu sous garde, il fera certainement compensation, bœuf pour bœuf; et le [bœuf] mort lui appartiendra.
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].”
