Exodus 21
Ordinances for the People
1 “Now these are the aordinances which you are to set before them: 2 “If you buy ba Hebrew slave, he shall serve for six years; but on the seventh he shall leave as a free man without a payment to you. 3If he comes ▼▼Lit by himself
alone, he shall leave ▼▼Lit by himself
alone; if he is the husband of a wife, then his wife shall leave with him. 4If his master gives him a wife, and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall belong to her master, and he shall leave ▼▼Lit by himself
alone. 5But fif the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not leave as a free man,’ 6then his master shall bring him to ▼▼Or the judges (who acted in God’s name)
God, then he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall pierce his ear with an ▼▼I.e., a pointed tool
awl; and he shall serve him permanently. 7 “Now iif a man sells his daughter as a female slave, she is not to ▼▼Lit go out
go free kas the male slaves ▼▼Lit go out
do. 8If she is ▼▼Lit bad
displeasing in the eyes of her master ▼▼Another reading is so that he did not designate her
who designated her for himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He does not have authority to sell her to a foreign people, because of his ▼▼Lit dealing treacherously
unfairness to her. 9And if he designates her for his son, he shall deal with her according to the custom of daughters. 10If he takes to himself another woman, he may not reduce her ▼▼Lit flesh
food, her clothing, or qher conjugal rights. 11But if he will not do these three things for her, then she shall go ▼▼Lit out
free for nothing, without payment of money. Personal Injuries
12 “ sHe who strikes someone so that he dies shall certainly be put to death. 13 tYet ▼▼Lit he who
if he did not lie in wait for him, but vGod caused him to fall into his hand, then I will appoint you a place to which he may flee. 14 wIf, however, someone is enraged against his neighbor, so as to kill him in a cunning way, you are to take him even from My altar, to be put to death. 15 “And one who strikes his father or his mother shall certainly be put to death. 16 “Now xone who ▼▼Lit steals
kidnaps someone, whether he sells him or he is found in his ▼▼Lit hand
possession, shall certainly be put to death. 17 “And aaone who curses his father or his mother shall certainly be put to death. 18 “Now if people have a quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or with a fist, and he does not die but ▼▼Lit lies in
is confined to bed, 19if he gets up and walks around outside on his staff, then he who struck him shall go unpunished; he shall only pay for his ▼▼Lit his sitting
loss of time, and ▼▼Lit healing, he shall cause to be healed
shall pay for his care until he is completely healed. 20 “And if someone strikes his male or female slave with a rod and the slave dies ▼▼Lit under
at his hand, he shall ▼▼Lit suffer vengeance
be punished. 21If, however, the slave ▼▼Lit stands
survives a day or two, no vengeance shall be taken; ahfor the slave is his ▼▼Lit money
property. 22 “Now if people struggle with each other and strike a pregnant woman so that ▼▼Or an untimely birth occurs; lit her children come out
she gives birth prematurely, but there is no injury, the guilty person shall certainly be fined as the woman’s husband ▼▼Lit lays on him
may demand of him, and he shall alpay ▼▼Lit by arbitration
as the judges decide. 23But if there is any further injury, anthen you shall appoint as a penalty life for life, 24 aoeye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25burn for burn, wound for wound, ▼▼Lit welt
bruise for bruise. 26 “And if someone strikes the eye of his male or female slave and destroys it, he shall let ▼▼Lit him go...his eye
the slave go free on account of the eye. 27And if he ▼▼Lit causes to fall
knocks out a tooth of his male or female slave, he shall let ▼▼Lit him go...his tooth
the slave go free on account of the tooth. 28 “Now if an ox gores a man or a woman ▼▼Lit so that he dies
to death, authe ox shall certainly be stoned and its flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall go unpunished. 29If, however, an ox was previously in the habit of goring and its owner has been warned, yet he does not confine it and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned and its owner also shall be put to death. 30If a ransom is ▼▼Lit laid on him
demanded of him, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is ▼▼Lit laid on him
demanded of him. 31Whether it gores a son or ▼▼Lit gores a daughter
a daughter, it shall be done to him according to ▼▼Lit this judgment
the same rule. 32If the ox gores a male or female slave, ▼▼Lit he
the owner shall give his or her master ▼▼About 15 oz. or 425 gm
,
bbthirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned. Property Rights
33 “Now if someone opens a pit, or ▼▼Lit if a man digs
digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it, 34the owner of the pit shall make restitution; he shall ▼▼Lit give back
give money to its owner, and the dead animal shall become his. 35 “And if someone’s ox injures another’s ox so that it dies, then they shall sell the live ox and divide its proceeds equally; and they shall also divide the dead ox. 36Or if it is known that the ox was previously in the habit of goring, yet its owner has not confined it, he must make restitution of ox for ox, and the dead animal shall become his.
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