Exodus 21

“These are the laws that you are to place before them:

“Now these are the ordinances (laws) which you shall set before the Israelites:

“When you buy a Hebrew slave, he will serve six years. The

seventh year he goes free, for nothing. If he came in single he leaves single. If he came in married he leaves with his wife. If the master gives him a wife and she gave him sons and daughters, the wife and children stay with the master and he leaves by himself. But suppose the slave should say, ‘I love my master and my wife and children—I don’t want my freedom,’ then his master is to bring him before God and to a door or doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl, a sign that he is a slave for life.

“If you purchase a Hebrew servant [because of his debt or poverty], he shall serve six years, and in the seventh [year] he shall leave as a free man, paying nothing.

If he came [to you] alone, he shall leave alone; if he came married, then his wife shall leave with him.

If his master gives him a wife, and she gives birth to sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall belong to her master, and he shall leave [your service] alone.

But if the servant plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife and my children; I will not leave as a free man,’

then his master shall bring him to God [that is, to the judges who act in God’s name], then he shall bring him to the door or doorpost. And his master shall pierce his ear with an awl (strong needle); and he shall serve him for life.

“When a man sells his daughter to be a handmaid, she doesn’t go free after six years like the men. If she doesn’t please her master, her family must buy her back; her master doesn’t have the right to sell her to foreigners since he broke his word to her. If he turns her over to his son, he has to treat her like a daughter. If he marries another woman, she retains all her full rights to meals, clothing, and marital relations. If he won’t do any of these three things for her, she goes free, for nothing.

“If a man sells his daughter to be a female servant, she shall not go free [after six years] as male servants do.

If she does not please her master who has chosen her for himself [as a wife], he shall let her be redeemed [by her family]. He does not have the authority to sell her to a foreign people, because he has been unfair to her.

If her master chooses her [as a wife] for his son, he shall act toward her as if she were legally his daughter.

If her master marries another wife, he may not reduce her food, her clothing, or her privilege as a wife.

If he does not do these three things for her, then shall she leave free, without payment of money.

Personal Injuries

“If someone hits another and death results, the penalty is death. But if there was no intent to kill—if it was an accident, an ‘act of God’—I’ll set aside a place to which the killer can flee for refuge. But if the murder was premeditated, cunningly plotted, then drag the killer away, even if it’s from my Altar, to be put to death.

“Whoever strikes a man so that he dies must be put to death.

However, ^[a]if he did not lie in wait [for him], but God allowed him to fall into his hand, then I will establish for you a ^[b]place to which he may escape [for protection until duly tried].

But if a man acts intentionally against another and kills him by [design through] treachery, you are to take him from My altar [to which he may have fled for protection], so that he may be put to death.

“If someone hits father or mother, the penalty is death.

“Whoever strikes his father or his mother must be put to death.

“If someone kidnaps a person, the penalty is death, regardless of whether the person has been sold or is still held in possession.

“Whoever kidnaps a man, whether he sells him or is found with him in his possession, must be put to death.

“If someone curses father or mother, the penalty is death.

“Whoever ^[c]curses his father or his mother or treats them contemptuously must be put to death.

“If a quarrel breaks out and one hits the other with a rock or a fist and the injured one doesn’t die but is confined to bed and then later gets better and can get about on a crutch, the one who hit him is in the clear, except to pay for the loss of time and make sure of complete recovery.

“If men quarrel and one strikes another with a stone or with his fist, and he does not die but is confined to bed,

if he gets up and walks around leaning on his cane, then the one who struck him shall be left [physically] unpunished; he must only pay for his loss of time [at work], and the costs [of treatment and recuperation] until he is thoroughly healed.

“If a slave owner hits a slave, male or female, with a stick and the slave dies on the spot, the slave must be avenged. But if the slave survives a day or two, he’s not to be avenged—the slave is the owner’s property.

“If a man strikes his male or his female servant with a staff and the servant dies at his hand, he must be punished.

If, however, the servant survives for a day or two, the offender shall not be punished, for the [injured] servant is his own property.

“When there’s a fight and in the fight a pregnant woman is hit so that she miscarries but is not otherwise hurt, the one responsible has to pay whatever the husband demands in compensation. But if there is further damage, then you must give life for life—eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.

“If men fight with each other and injure a pregnant woman so that she gives birth prematurely [and the baby lives], yet there is no further injury, the one who hurt her must be punished with a fine [paid] to the woman’s husband, as much as the judges decide.

But if there is any further injury, then you shall require [as a penalty] life for life,

^[d]eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,

burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.

“If a slave owner hits the eye of a slave or handmaid and ruins it, the owner must let the slave go free because of the eye. If the owner knocks out the tooth of the male or female slave, the slave must be released and go free because of the tooth.

“If a man hits the eye of his male servant or female servant and it is destroyed, he must let the servant go free because of [the loss of] the eye.

And if he knocks out the tooth of his male servant or female servant, he must let the servant go free because of [the loss of] the tooth.

“If an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox must be stoned. The meat cannot be eaten but the owner of the ox is in the clear. But if the ox has a history of goring and the owner knew it and did nothing to guard against it, then if the ox kills a man or a woman, the ox is to be stoned and the owner given the death penalty. If a ransom is agreed upon instead of death, he must pay it in full as a redemption for his life. If a son or daughter is gored, the same judgment holds. If it is a slave or a handmaid the ox gores, thirty shekels of silver is to be paid to the owner and the ox stoned.

“If an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox must be stoned and its meat shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be cleared [of responsibility].

But if the ox has tried to gore on a previous occasion, and its owner has been warned, but has not kept it confined and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned and its owner shall be put to death as well.

If a ransom is demanded of him [in return for his life], then he shall give whatever is demanded for the redemption of his life.

If the ox has gored another’s son or daughter, he shall be dealt with according to this same rule.

If the ox gores a male or a female servant, the owner shall give to the servant’s master thirty shekels of silver [the purchase price for a slave], and the ox shall be stoned.

“If someone uncovers a cistern or digs a pit and leaves it open and an ox or donkey falls into it, the owner of the pit must pay whatever the animal is worth to its owner but can keep the dead animal.

“If a man leaves a pit open, or digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it,

the owner of the pit shall make restitution; he shall give money to the animal’s owner, but the dead [animal] shall be his.

“If someone’s ox injures a neighbor’s ox and the ox dies, they must sell the live ox and split the price; they must also split the dead animal. But if the ox had a history of goring and the owner knew it and did nothing to guard against it, the owner must pay an ox for an ox but can keep the dead animal.”

“If one man’s ox injures another’s so that it dies, then they shall sell the live ox and divide the proceeds equally; they shall also divide the dead ox [between them].

Or if it is known that the ox was previously in the habit of goring, and its owner has not kept it confined, he must make restitution of ox for ox, and the dead [animal] shall be his.