Exodus 21
1 haec sunt iudicia quae propones eis
“Now these are the ordinances which you shall set before them:
2 si emeris servum hebraeum sex annis serviet tibi in septimo egredietur liber gratis
“If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free without paying anything.
3 cum quali veste intraverit cum tali exeat si habens uxorem et uxor egredietur simul
If he comes in by himself, he shall go out by himself. If he is married, then his wife shall go out 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 gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself.
5 quod si dixerit servus diligo dominum meum et uxorem ac liberos non egrediar liber
But if the servant shall plainly say, ‘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 shall bring him to God, and shall bring him to the door or to the doorpost, and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall serve him forever.
7 si quis vendiderit filiam suam in famulam non egredietur sicut ancillae exire consuerunt
“If a man sells his daughter to be a female servant, she shall not go out 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 doesn’t please her master, who has married her to himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has dealt deceitfully with her.
9 sin autem filio suo desponderit eam iuxta morem filiarum faciet illi
If he marries her to his son, he shall deal with her as a daughter.
10 quod si alteram ei acceperit providebit puellae nuptias et vestimenta et pretium pudicitiae non negabit
If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, and her marital rights.
11 si tria ista non fecerit egredietur gratis absque pecunia
If he doesn’t do these three things for her, she may go free without paying any money.
12 qui percusserit hominem volens occidere morte moriatur
“One who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death,
13 qui autem non est insidiatus sed Deus illum tradidit in manu eius constituam tibi locum quo fugere debeat
but not if it is unintentional, but God allows it to happen; then I will appoint you a place where he shall flee.
14 si quis de industria occiderit proximum suum et per insidias ab altari meo evelles eum ut moriatur
If a man schemes and comes presumptuously on his neighbour to kill him, you shall take him from my altar, that he may die.
15 qui percusserit patrem suum et matrem morte moriatur
“Anyone who attacks his father or his mother shall be surely put to death.
16 qui furatus fuerit hominem et vendiderit eum convictus noxae morte moriatur
“Anyone who kidnaps someone and sells him, or if he is found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.
17 qui maledixerit patri suo et matri morte moriatur
“Anyone who curses his father or his mother shall 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 quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone, or with his fist, and he doesn’t die, but is confined to bed;
19 si surrexerit et ambulaverit foris super baculum suum innocens erit qui percussit ita tamen ut operas eius et inpensas in medicos restituat
if he rises again and walks around with his staff, then he who struck him shall be cleared; only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall provide for his healing until he is thoroughly healed.
20 qui percusserit servum suum vel ancillam virga et mortui fuerint in manibus eius criminis reus erit
“If a man strikes his servant or his maid with a rod, and he dies under his hand, the man shall surely be punished.
21 sin autem uno die supervixerit vel duobus non subiacebit poenae quia pecunia illius est
Notwithstanding, if his servant gets up after a day or two, he shall not be punished, for the servant is his property.
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 and hurt a pregnant woman so that she gives birth prematurely, and yet no harm follows, he shall be surely fined as much as the woman’s husband demands and the judges allow.
23 sin autem mors eius fuerit subsecuta reddet animam pro anima
But if any harm follows, then you must take life for life,
24 oculum pro oculo dentem pro dente manum pro manu pedem pro pede
eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
25 adustionem pro adustione vulnus pro vulnere livorem pro livore
burning for burning, wound for wound, and bruise for bruise.
26 si percusserit quispiam oculum servi sui aut ancillae et luscos eos fecerit dimittet liberos pro oculo quem eruit
“If a man strikes his servant’s eye, or his maid’s eye, and destroys it, he shall let him go free for his eye’s sake.
27 dentem quoque si excusserit servo vel ancillae suae similiter dimittet eos liberos
If he strikes out his male servant’s tooth, or his female servant’s tooth, he shall let the servant go free for his tooth’s sake.
28 si bos cornu petierit virum aut mulierem et mortui fuerint lapidibus obruetur et non comedentur carnes eius dominusque bovis innocens erit
“If a bull gores a man or a woman to death, the bull shall surely be stoned, and its meat shall not be eaten; but the owner of the bull shall not be held responsible.
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 bull had a habit of goring in the past, and this has been testified to its owner, and he has not kept it in, but it has killed a man or a woman, the bull shall be stoned, and its owner shall also be put to death.
30 quod si pretium ei fuerit inpositum dabit pro anima sua quicquid fuerit postulatus
If a ransom is imposed on him, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is imposed.
31 filium quoque et filiam si cornu percusserit simili sententiae subiacebit
Whether it has gored a son or has gored a daughter, according to this judgement it shall be done to him.
32 si servum ancillamque invaserit triginta siclos argenti dabit domino bos vero lapidibus opprimetur
If the bull gores a male servant or a female servant, thirty shekels of silver shall be given to their master, and the ox shall 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 doesn’t cover it, and a bull or a donkey falls into it,
34 dominus cisternae reddet pretium iumentorum quod autem mortuum est ipsius erit
the owner of the pit shall make it good. He shall give money to its owner, and the dead animal shall be 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 bull injures another’s, so that it dies, then they shall sell the live bull, and divide its price; and they shall also divide the dead animal.
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
Or if it is known that the bull was in the habit of goring in the past, and its owner has not kept it in, he shall surely pay bull for bull, and the dead animal shall be his own.
