U-Eksodusi 21
1 “Nansi imithetho ozayethula phambi kwabo.”
“Now these are the decrees that you must set before them:
2 “Nxa ungathenga isisebenzi esingumHebheru kumele sikusebenzele okweminyaka eyisithupha. Kodwa emnyakeni wesikhombisa kuzamele usikhulule kungelanhlawulo.
'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 Nxa sifike sodwa, kumele sikhululwe sihambe sodwa kodwa nxa silomfazi ekufikeni kwasokumele sihambe laye.
If he came by himself, he must go free by himself; if he is married, then his wife must go free with him.
4 Nxa umqhatshi waso angasipha umfazi asizalele amadodana lamadodakazi, owesifazane labantwabakhe bazakuba ngabomqhatshi, njalo indoda izazihambela yodwa ikhululekile.
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 Kodwa nxa isisebenzi singathi, ‘Ngiyayithanda inkosi yami lomkami labantwabami, njalo kangifuni kukhululwa,’
But if the servant plainly says, “I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,”
6 ngakho inkosi yaso kumele isihambise kubahluleli. Izasisa emnyango kumbe emgubazini abesesibhoboza indlebe yaso ngosungulo. Ngakho-ke sizakuba yisisebenzi sayo okwempilo yaso yonke.
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 Nxa indoda ingathengisa indodakazi yayo njengesigqili, indodakazi kayingakhululeki njengalokho okwenza ezinye inceku.
If a man sells his daughter as a female servant, she must not go free as the male servants do.
8 Nxa singathokozisi umnini waso oyabe esikhethile ukuze sibe ngesakhe kumele asiyekele sihlengwe. Akalamvumo yokusithengisa kwabezizwe, ngoba esikhohlisile.
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 Angasikhethela indodana yakhe kumele asinike amalungelo alingana lawendodakazi yakhe.
If her master designates her as a wife for his son, he must treat her the same as if she were his daughter.
10 Angathatha omunye umfazi akumelanga asincitshe ukudla, izigqoko lamalungelo okwenda.
If he takes another wife for himself, he must not diminish her food, clothing, or her marital rights.
11 Angayekela ukusipha izinto lezi ezintathu sikhululekile ukuthi sizihambele kungahlawulwanga mali.”
But if he does not provide these three things for her, then she can go free without paying any money.
12 “Wonke umuntu otshaya omunye ambulale laye kumele abulawe.
Whoever strikes a man so that he dies, that person must surely be put to death.
13 Kodwa nxa engakwenzanga ngabomo, uNkulunkulu evumele ukuba kwenzakale, kumele abalekele endaweni engizayiphawula.
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 Kodwa umuntu angaceba ukubulala omunye ngabomo, msuseni e-alithareni lami liyembulala.
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 Wonke umuntu ohlasela uyise kumbe unina kumele abulawe.
Whoever hits his father or mother must surely be put to death.
16 Wonke umuntu othumba omunye abesemthengisa kumbe aficwe elaye kumele abulawe.
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 Wonke umuntu othuka uyise kumbe unina kumele abulawe.
Whoever curses his father or his mother must surely be put to death.
18 Nxa amadoda angaxabana omunye abesetshaya omunye ngelitshe kumbe ngenqindi, angafi kodwa agule alale phansi,
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 lowo ophose inqindi kasoze anikwe umlandu nxa omunye angavuka abesehambahamba ephethe intonga yakhe; lanxa kunjalo kumele ahlawule indoda elimeleyo ngokulahlekelwa yisikhathi njalo ayelaphise.
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 Nxa umuntu angatshaya isigqili sakhe sesilisa kumbe esesifazane ngomqwayi, isigqili besesisifa ngenxa yalesisenzo, kumele ajeziswe,
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 kodwa kasoze ajeziswe nxa isigqili singasila ngemva kwelanga elilodwa kumbe insuku ezimbili, ngoba isigqili siyimpahla yakhe.
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 Nxa amadoda alwayo angatshaya umfazi ozithweleyo abesebeletha isikhathi sakhe singakafiki, kodwa engalimalanga kakubi, owonileyo kumele ahlawuliswe lokho okuyabe kubizelwe yindoda yomfazi kwasekuvunywa ngumthethwandaba.
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 Kodwa kungangabi lokulimala okubi, kumele impilo ibhadalwe ngempilo,
But if there is serious injury, then you must give a life for a life,
24 ilihlo ngelihlo, izinyo ngezinyo, isandla ngesandla, unyawo ngonyawo.
an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot,
25 Ukutshiswa ngokutshiswa, isilonda ngesilonda, ukulimala ngokulimala.
a burn for a burn, a wound for a wound, or a bruise for a bruise.
26 Nxa umuntu angatshaya isigqili sakhe sesilisa kumbe esesifazane elihlweni alipatshaze, kumele asiyekele isisebenzi sizihambele kube yinhlawulo yelihlo.
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 Angatshaya akhumule izinyo lesigqili sesilisa kumbe esesifazane, kumele asiyekele isisebenzi sizihambele kube yinhlawulo yezinyo.
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 Nxa inkunzi ingahlaba indoda kumbe umfazi afe, leyonkunzi kumele itshaywe ngamatshe ize ife njalo inyama yayo kayingadliwa. Kodwa umnikazi wenkunzi akumelanga etheswe umlandu.
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 Kodwa nxa inkunzi ivele ilomkhuba wokuhlaba abantu, njalo umnikazi eseke wakhuzwa kodwa wekela ukuyivalela ibisibulala indoda kumbe umfazi, inkunzi kumele ibulawe ngamatshe lomnikazi abulawe.
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 Kodwa kungathiwa kahlawule, angahlenga impilo yakhe ngokuhlawula lokho okuyabe kubiziwe.
If a payment is required for his life, he must pay whatever he is required to pay.
31 Umthetho lo uyasebenza njalo nxa inkunzi ingahlaba indodana kumbe indodakazi.
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 Nxa inkunzi ingahlaba isigqili sesilisa kumbe esesifazane, umnikazi kumele ahlawule amashekeli angamatshumi amathathu esiliva kumnini wesigqili, njalo inkunzi kumele ibulawe ngamatshe.
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 Nxa umuntu etshiya umgodi ukhamisile, loba esimba umgodi angawusibekeli kuwele kuwo inkabi ingabe ubabhemi,
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 umninimgodi kahlawule; kahlawule umnikazi, isifuyo esifileyo besesisiba ngesakhe.
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 Nxa inkunzi yomuntu ingalimaza eyomunye kuzamele ukuthi bathengise leyo ephilayo, babelane imali lesidumbu saleyo efileyo ngokulinganayo.
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 Kodwa nxa kusaziwa ukuthi inkunzi ivele ilomkhuba wokuhlaba ezinye, kodwa umnikazi engayivaleli esibayeni, umnikazi kumele ahlawule isifuyo ngesinye isifuyo, njalo isifuyo esifileyo sizakuba ngesakhe.”
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.
