Éxodo 21

1 “Éstas son las ordenanzas que les pondrás delante:

“Here are some [other] instructions to give to [the Israeli people]:

2 “Si compras un siervo hebreo, servirá seis años, y al séptimo saldrá libre sin pagar nada.

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 Si entra solo, saldrá solo. Si está casado, su mujer saldrá con él.

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 su amo le da una esposa y ella le da hijos o hijas, la esposa y sus hijos serán de su amo, y él saldrá solo.

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 Pero si el siervo dice claramente: “Amo a mi amo, a mi mujer y a mis hijos. No saldré 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 entonces su amo lo llevará a Dios, y lo traerá a la puerta o al poste de la puerta, y su amo le perforará la oreja con un punzón, y le servirá para siempre.

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 “Si un hombre vende a su hija para que sea sierva, no saldrá como los siervos.

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 no le gusta a su amo, que la ha casado consigo, entonces la dejará rescatar. No tendrá derecho a venderla a un pueblo extranjero, ya que ha actuado con engaño con ella.

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 Si la casa con su hijo, la tratará como a una hija.

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 Si toma otra esposa para sí, no disminuirá su comida, su ropa ni sus derechos matrimoniales.

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 Si no hace estas tres cosas por ella, podrá quedar libre sin pagar nada.

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 “El que golpee a un hombre de modo que muera, será ciertamente condenado a muerte,

You must execute anyone who strikes another person with the result that the person who is struck dies.

13 pero no si es involuntario, sino que Dios permite que ocurra; entonces te designaré un lugar donde huirá.

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 Si un hombre trama y se acerca presuntuosamente a su prójimo para matarlo, lo sacarás de mi altar para que muera.

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 “Cualquiera que ataque a su padre o a su madre será condenado a muerte.

Anyone who strikes his father or mother must surely be executed.

16 “Cualquiera que secuestre a alguien y lo venda, o si lo encuentra en su mano, será condenado a muerte.

Anyone who kidnaps another person, either in order to sell that person or to keep him as a slave, must be executed.

17 “Cualquiera que maldiga a su padre o a su madre será condenado a muerte.

Anyone who reviles/curses his father or his mother must be executed.

18 “Si los hombres riñen y uno golpea al otro con una piedra o con su puño, y no muere, sino que queda confinado en la cama;

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 si se levanta de nuevo y camina con su bastón, entonces el que lo golpeó quedará libre de culpa; sólo que pagará por la pérdida de su tiempo, y proveerá a su curación hasta que esté completamente curado.

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 “Si un hombre golpea a su siervo o a su sierva con una vara, y éste muere bajo su mano, el hombre será castigado.

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 Sin embargo, si su siervo se levanta después de uno o dos días, no será castigado, porque el siervo es de su propiedad.

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 “Si los hombres pelean y hieren a una mujer embarazada de modo que dé a luz prematuramente, y sin embargo no se produce ningún daño, se le impondrá la multa que el marido de la mujer exija y los jueces permitan.

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 Pero si se produce algún daño, entonces hay que quitar vida por vida,

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 ojo por ojo, diente por diente, mano por mano, pie por pie,

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 quemadura por quemadura, herida por herida y contusión por contusión.

26 “Si un hombre golpea el ojo de su siervo o de su sierva y lo destruye, lo dejará libre por su ojo.

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 Si golpea el diente de su siervo o de su sierva, lo dejará libre por su diente.

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 “Si un toro mata a un hombre o a una mujer de una cornada, el toro será apedreado y su carne no se comerá; pero el dueño del toro no será responsable.

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 Pero si el toro ha tenido la costumbre de cornear en el pasado, y esto ha sido atestiguado a su dueño, y éste no lo ha guardado, pero ha matado a un hombre o a una mujer, el toro será apedreado, y su dueño también será condenado a muerte.

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 Si se le impone un rescate, deberá dar por la redención de su vida lo que se le imponga.

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 Tanto si ha corneado a un hijo como si ha corneado a una hija, según este juicio se hará con él.

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 el toro cornea a un siervo o a una sierva, se darán treinta siclos de plata a su amo, y el buey será apedreado.

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 “Si un hombre abre una fosa, o si un hombre cava una fosa y no la cubre, y un toro o un asno cae en ella,

Suppose someone has a pit/cistern and does not keep it covered, and someone’s bull or donkey falls into it [and dies].

34 el dueño de la fosa deberá repararla. Dará dinero a su dueño, y el animal muerto será suyo.

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 “Si el toro de un hombre hiere al de otro, de modo que muera, entonces venderán el toro vivo y dividirán su precio; y también dividirán el animal muerto.

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 O si se sabe que el toro tenía la costumbre de corneado en el pasado, y su dueño no lo ha guardado, pagará ciertamente toro por toro, y el animal muerto será suyo.

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].”