Éxodo 21

1 Ahora estas son las leyes que debes poner delante de ellos.

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

2 Si obtienes un siervo hebreo por dinero, él será tu siervo por seis años, y en el séptimo año debes dejarlo ir sin pago.

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 viene a ti solo, que se vaya solo: si está casado, que su esposa se vaya 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 él tiene hijos o hijas por ella, la esposa y sus hijos serán propiedad del amo, y el sirviente se irá 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: Mi amo, mi esposa y mis hijos son queridos por mí; No deseo ser 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 debe llevarlo ante los jueces de la casa, y en la puerta, o en su marco, debe hacerle un agujero en la oreja con un instrumento puntiagudo; y él será su siervo 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 Y si un hombre vende a su hija para ser sirviente, ella no debe irse libre como lo hacen 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 ella no agrada a su amo y no la ha tomado para sí, no podrá venderla y enviarla a una tierra extraña, porque la ha engañado.

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 Y si él la entrega a su hijo, él debe hacer todo por ella como si fuera su 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 Y si toma a otra mujer, su comida y vestimenta y sus derechos matrimoniales no deben ser menos.

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 Y si él no hace estas tres cosas por ella, ella tiene derecho a irse gratis sin pago.

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 da muerte a un hombre, él mismo debe ser muerto.

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

13 Pero si no tuvo un mal propósito contra él, y Dios lo entregó en su mano, te daré un lugar para que él pueda huir.

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 Pero si un hombre ataca a su prójimo a propósito, para matarlo por engaño, lo tomarán de mi altar y lo matarán.

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 Cualquier hombre que da un golpe a su padre o su madre sin duda será ejecutado.

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

16 Cualquier hombre que secuestra una persona y la vendiere o lo encuentran en su posesión, morirá.

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

17 Todo hombre que maldiga a su padre o a su madre será ejecutado.

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

18 Si, en una pelea, un hombre le da un golpe a otro con una piedra, o con la mano cerrada, no causándole la muerte, sino haciendo que se quede 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 puede levantarse de nuevo y andar con un palo, el otro será despedido; solo él tendrá que pagarle por la pérdida de su tiempo y asegurarse de que lo cuiden hasta que se recupere.

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 da a su siervo o su sierva golpes con una vara, causando la muerte, ciertamente 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 Pero, al mismo tiempo, si el sirviente continúa viviendo por un día o dos, el amo no recibirá el castigo, porque el sirviente 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, mientras luchan, hacen daño a una mujer encinta, causando la pérdida del niño, pero ningún otro mal viene a ella, el hombre tendrá que hacer un pago hasta la cantidad fijada por su marido, de acuerdo con la decisión de los jueces.

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 el daño viene a ella, se paga la 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, golpe por golpe.

26 Si un hombre le da un golpe en el ojo a un siervo o a su sierva, causando su destrucción, debe dejarlo ir libre a causa del daño a 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 O si la pérdida de un diente es causada por su golpe, lo dejará ir libre a causa de 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 buey llega a ser la causa de la muerte de un hombre o una mujer, el buey será apedreado, y su carne no se podrá usar para comer; pero el dueño no será juzgado 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 buey ha hecho frecuentemente tales daños en el pasado, y el dueño ha tenido noticias de ello y no lo ha mantenido bajo control, por lo que ha sido la causa de la muerte de un hombre o una mujer, no solo es el buey para ser apedreado, pero su dueño debe ser muerto.

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 pone precio a su vida, que pague el precio que se fije.

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 Si la muerte de un hijo o de una hija ha sido causada, el castigo debe ser de acuerdo con esta regla.

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 la muerte de un siervo o de una sierva es causada por el buey, el dueño deberá dar a su amo treinta siclos de plata, 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 hace un hoyo en la tierra sin cubrirlo, y un buey o un asno cayendo en él llega a su muerte;

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 del hoyo es responsable; tendrá que hacer un pago a su dueño, pero la bestia muerta será suya.

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 Y si el buey de un hombre daña al buey de otro hombre, causándole la muerte, entonces el buey viviente será cambiado por dinero, y la división será por el precio del mismo, y el precio del 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 Pero si es sabido que el buey frecuentemente ha hecho tal daño en el pasado, y su dueño no lo ha mantenido bajo control, tendrá que dar buey por buey; y la bestia muerta será suya.

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].”