Exodus 21
1 Now these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them.
“Now these are the decrees that you must set before them:
2 If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.
'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 If he come in by himself, he shall go out by himself: if he be married, then his wife shall go out with him.
If he came by himself, he must go free by himself; if he is married, then his wife must go free with him.
4 If his master give him a wife, and she bear him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself.
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 But if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free:
But if the servant plainly says, “I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,”
6 then his master shall bring him unto God, and shall bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl; and he shall serve him for ever.
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 And if a man sell his daughter to be a maidservant, she shall not go out as the menservants do.
If a man sells his daughter as a female servant, she must not go free as the male servants do.
8 If she please not her master, who hath espoused her to himself, then shall he let her be redeemed: to sell her unto a strange people he shall have no power, seeing he hath dealt deceitfully with her.
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 And if he espouse her unto his son, he shall deal with her after the manner of daughters.
If her master designates her as a wife for his son, he must treat her the same as if she were his daughter.
10 If he take him another [wife]; her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage, shall he not diminish.
If he takes another wife for himself, he must not diminish her food, clothing, or her marital rights.
11 And if he do not these three unto her, then shall she go out for nothing, without money.
But if he does not provide these three things for her, then she can go free without paying any money.
12 He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall surely be put to death.
Whoever strikes a man so that he dies, that person must surely be put to death.
13 And if a man lie not in wait, but God deliver [him] into his hand; then I will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee.
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 And if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbour, to slay him with guile; thou shalt take him from mine altar, that he may die.
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 And he that smiteth his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death.
Whoever hits his father or mother must surely be put to death.
16 And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.
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 And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death.
Whoever curses his father or his mother must surely be put to death.
18 And if men contend, and one smiteth the other with a stone, or with his fist, and he die not, but keep his bed:
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 if he rise again, and walk abroad upon his staff, then shall he that smote him be quit: only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall cause him to be thoroughly healed.
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 And if a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand; he shall surely be punished.
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 Notwithstanding, if he continue a day or two, he shall not be punished: for he is his money.
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 And if men strive together, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely fined, according as the woman’s husband shall lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine.
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 But if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life,
But if there is serious injury, then you must give a life for a life,
24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot,
25 burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
a burn for a burn, a wound for a wound, or a bruise for a bruise.
26 And if a man smite the eye of his servant, or the eye of his maid, and destroy it; he shall let him go free for his eye’s sake.
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 And if he smite out his manservant’s tooth, or his maidservant’s tooth; he shall let him go free for his tooth’s sake.
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 And if an ox gore a man or a woman, that they die, the ox shall be surely stoned, and his flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be quit.
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 But if the ox were wont to gore in time past, and it hath been testified to his owner, and he hath not kept him in, but that he hath killed a man or a woman; the ox shall be stoned, and his owner also shall be put to death.
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 If there be laid on him a ransom, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatsoever is laid upon him.
If a payment is required for his life, he must pay whatever he is required to pay.
31 Whether he have gored a son, or have gored a daughter, according to this judgment shall it be done unto him.
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 If the ox gore a manservant or a maidservant; he shall give unto their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.
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 And if a man shall open a pit, or if a man shall dig a pit and not cover it, and an ox or an ass fall therein,
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 the owner of the pit shall make it good; he shall give money unto the owner of them, and the dead [beast] shall be his.
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 And if one man’s ox hurt another’s, that he die; then they shall sell the live ox, and divide the price of it; and the dead also they shall divide.
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 Or if it be known that the ox was wont to gore in time past, and his owner hath not kept him in; he shall surely pay ox for ox, and the dead [beast] shall be his own.
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.
