21
1 “Now
these are the
ordinances which you
shall set before
them:
2 “If
you buy a
Hebrew servant, he
shall serve six
years, and in
the seventh he
shall go out
free without
paying anything.
3 If
he comes in
by himself, he
shall go out
by himself. If
he is married,
then his wife
shall go out
with him.
4 If
his master gives
him a wife and
she bears him
sons or daughters,
the wife and her
children shall be
her master’s, and
he shall go
out 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;’
6 then
his master shall bring
him to God,
and shall bring
him to the
door or to
the doorpost, and
his master shall bore
his ear through
with an awl,
and he shall serve
him forever.
7 “If
a man sells his
daughter to be
a female servant,
she shall not
go out as
the male servants
do.
8 If she doesn’t
please her master,
who has married
her to himself,
then he shall
let her be
redeemed. He shall
have no right
to sell her
to a foreign
people, since he
has dealt deceitfully with
her.
9 If
he marries her to
his son, he
shall deal with
her as a
daughter.
10 If he
takes another wife
to himself, he
shall not diminish
her food, her
clothing, and
her marital rights.
11 If
he doesn’t do
these three things
for her, she
may go free
without paying any
money.
12 “One who
strikes a man
so that he
dies shall surely
be put to
death,
13 but
not if it
is unintentional, but
God allows it
to happen; then I
will appoint you
a place where
he shall flee.
14 If
a man schemes and
comes presumptuously
on his neighbor
to kill him,
you shall take
him from my
altar, that he
may die.
15 “Anyone who
attacks his father
or his mother
shall be surely
put to death.
16 “Anyone who
kidnaps someone
and sells him,
or if he is
found in his
hand, he shall
surely be put
to death.
17 “Anyone who
curses his father
or his mother
shall surely be
put to death.
18 “If men
quarrel and one
strikes the other
with a stone, or
with his fist, and
he doesn’t die,
but is confined to
bed;
19 if he
rises again and
walks around with
his staff, then
he who struck
him shall
be cleared; only
he shall pay
for the loss
of his time,
and shall provide
for his healing
until he is
thoroughly healed.
20 “If
a man strikes
his servant or
his maid with a
rod, and he
dies under his
hand, the man
shall surely be
punished.
21 Notwithstanding,
if his servant gets
up after a
day or two,
he shall not
be punished, for
the servant is his
property.
22 “If
men fight and
hurt a pregnant
woman so that
she gives birth
prematurely, and
yet no harm follows,
he shall be
surely fined as
much as the
woman’s husband
demands and the
judges allow.
23 But
if any
harm follows, then
you must take
life for life,
24 eye
for eye, tooth
for tooth, hand
for hand, foot
for foot,
25 burning
for burning, wound
for wound, and
bruise for bruise.
26 “If
a man strikes
his servant’s eye,
or his maid’s eye,
and destroys it,
he shall let
him go free
for his eye’s sake.
27 If
he strikes out his
male servant’s
tooth, or
his female servant’s
tooth, he shall
let the servant
go free for
his tooth’s sake.
28 “If
a bull gores
a man or
a woman to death,
the bull shall
surely be stoned,
and its meat
shall not be eaten;
but the owner
of the bull
shall not be held
responsible.
29 But
if the bull
had a habit
of goring in
the past, and
this has been
testified to its
owner, and he
has not kept
it in, but
it has killed
a man or
a woman, the bull
shall be stoned,
and its owner
shall also be
put to death.
30 If a
ransom is imposed
on him, then
he shall give
for the redemption
of his life
whatever is
imposed.
31 Whether it
has gored a
son or has
gored a daughter,
according to this
judgment it shall
be done to
him.
32 If the
bull gores a
male servant or
a female servant,
thirty shekels
of silver shall
be given to
their master, and
the ox shall
be stoned.
33 “If
a man opens
a pit, or if
a man digs
a pit and doesn’t
cover it, and
a bull or
a donkey falls
into it,
34 the
owner of the pit
shall make it
good. He shall
give money to
its owner, and
the dead animal
shall be his.
35 “If
one man’s bull
injures another’s,
so that it
dies, then they
shall sell the
live bull, and
divide its price;
and they shall
also divide the
dead animal.
36 Or
if it is
known that the
bull was in
the habit of
goring in the
past, and its
owner has not
kept it in,
he shall surely
pay bull for
bull, and the
dead animal shall
be his own.