Exodus 21
1 haec sunt iudicia quae propones eis
“Now these are the decrees that you must set before them:
2 si emeris servum hebraeum sex annis serviet tibi in septimo egredietur liber gratis
'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 cum quali veste intraverit cum tali exeat si habens uxorem et uxor egredietur simul
If he came by himself, he must go free by himself; if he is married, then his wife must go free with him.
4 sin autem dominus dederit illi uxorem et peperit filios et filias mulier et liberi eius erunt domini sui ipse vero exibit cum vestitu suo
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 quod si dixerit servus diligo dominum meum et uxorem ac liberos non egrediar liber
But if the servant plainly says, “I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,”
6 offeret eum dominus diis et adplicabitur ad ostium et postes perforabitque aurem eius subula et erit ei servus in saeculum
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 si quis vendiderit filiam suam in famulam non egredietur sicut ancillae exire consuerunt
If a man sells his daughter as a female servant, she must not go free as the male servants do.
8 si displicuerit oculis domini sui cui tradita fuerit dimittet eam populo autem alieno vendendi non habet potestatem si spreverit eam
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 sin autem filio suo desponderit eam iuxta morem filiarum faciet illi
If her master designates her as a wife for his son, he must treat her the same as if she were his daughter.
10 quod si alteram ei acceperit providebit puellae nuptias et vestimenta et pretium pudicitiae non negabit
If he takes another wife for himself, he must not diminish her food, clothing, or her marital rights.
11 si tria ista non fecerit egredietur gratis absque pecunia
But if he does not provide these three things for her, then she can go free without paying any money.
12 qui percusserit hominem volens occidere morte moriatur
Whoever strikes a man so that he dies, that person must surely be put to death.
13 qui autem non est insidiatus sed Deus illum tradidit in manu eius constituam tibi locum quo fugere debeat
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 si quis de industria occiderit proximum suum et per insidias ab altari meo evelles eum ut moriatur
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 qui percusserit patrem suum et matrem morte moriatur
Whoever hits his father or mother must surely be put to death.
16 qui furatus fuerit hominem et vendiderit eum convictus noxae morte moriatur
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 qui maledixerit patri suo et matri morte moriatur
Whoever curses his father or his mother must surely be put to death.
18 si rixati fuerint viri et percusserit alter proximum suum lapide vel pugno et ille mortuus non fuerit sed iacuerit in lectulo
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 si surrexerit et ambulaverit foris super baculum suum innocens erit qui percussit ita tamen ut operas eius et inpensas in medicos restituat
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 qui percusserit servum suum vel ancillam virga et mortui fuerint in manibus eius criminis reus erit
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 sin autem uno die supervixerit vel duobus non subiacebit poenae quia pecunia illius est
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 si rixati fuerint viri et percusserit quis mulierem praegnantem et abortivum quidem fecerit sed ipsa vixerit subiacebit damno quantum expetierit maritus mulieris et arbitri iudicarint
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 sin autem mors eius fuerit subsecuta reddet animam pro anima
But if there is serious injury, then you must give a life for a life,
24 oculum pro oculo dentem pro dente manum pro manu pedem pro pede
an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot,
25 adustionem pro adustione vulnus pro vulnere livorem pro livore
a burn for a burn, a wound for a wound, or a bruise for a bruise.
26 si percusserit quispiam oculum servi sui aut ancillae et luscos eos fecerit dimittet liberos pro oculo quem eruit
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 dentem quoque si excusserit servo vel ancillae suae similiter dimittet eos liberos
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 si bos cornu petierit virum aut mulierem et mortui fuerint lapidibus obruetur et non comedentur carnes eius dominusque bovis innocens erit
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 quod si bos cornipeta fuerit ab heri et nudius tertius et contestati sunt dominum eius nec reclusit eum occideritque virum aut mulierem et bos lapidibus obruetur et dominum illius occident
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 quod si pretium ei fuerit inpositum dabit pro anima sua quicquid fuerit postulatus
If a payment is required for his life, he must pay whatever he is required to pay.
31 filium quoque et filiam si cornu percusserit simili sententiae subiacebit
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 si servum ancillamque invaserit triginta siclos argenti dabit domino bos vero lapidibus opprimetur
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 si quis aperuerit cisternam et foderit et non operuerit eam cecideritque bos vel asinus in eam
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 dominus cisternae reddet pretium iumentorum quod autem mortuum est ipsius erit
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 si bos alienus bovem alterius vulnerarit et ille mortuus fuerit vendent bovem vivum et divident pretium cadaver autem mortui inter se dispertient
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 sin autem sciebat quod bos cornipeta esset ab heri et nudius tertius et non custodivit eum dominus suus reddet bovem pro bove et cadaver integrum accipiet
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.
