Exodus 21
21
1“These are the ordinances that you are to set before them:
Laws about Slaves
2“When you buy a Hebrew slave, he is to serve for six years; then in the seventh he is to leave as a free man # 21:2 Lit to go forth without paying anything. # 21:2 Dt 4:14; Jr 34:14 3If he arrives alone, he is to leave alone; if he arrives with # 21:3 Lit he is the husband of a wife, his wife is to leave with him. 4If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children belong to her master, and the man must leave alone.
5“But if the slave declares, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I do not want to leave as a free man,’ # 21:5 Dt 15:16–17 6his master is to bring him to the judges # 21:6 Or to God; that is, to his sanctuary or court and then bring him to the door or doorpost. His master will pierce his ear with an awl, and he will serve his master for life.
7“When a man sells his daughter as a concubine, # 21:7 Or servant she is not to leave as the male slaves do. # 21:7 Neh 5:5 8If she is displeasing to her master, who chose her for himself, then he must let her be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to foreigners because he has acted treacherously toward her. 9Or if he chooses her for his son, he must deal with her according to the customary treatment of daughters. 10If he takes an additional wife, he must not reduce the food, clothing, or marital rights of the first wife. # 21:10 1Co 7:5 11And if he does not do these three things for her, she may leave free of charge, without any payment. # 21:11 She doesn’t have to pay any redemption price.
Laws about Personal Injury
12“Whoever strikes a person so that he dies must be put to death. # 21:12 Gn 9:6; Mt 26:52 13But if he did not intend any harm, # 21:13 Lit he was not lying in wait and yet God allowed it to happen, I will appoint a place for you where he may flee. # 21:13 Nm 35:11,22–25; Dt 19:2–5; Jos 20:2–9; 1Sm 24:4,10,18 14If a person schemes and willfully # 21:14 Or maliciously acts against his neighbor to murder him, you must take him from my altar to be put to death. # 21:14 Dt 19:11–12; 1Kg 2:28–34
15“Whoever strikes his father or his mother must be put to death.
16“Whoever kidnaps a person must be put to death, whether he sells him or the person is found in his possession. # 21:16 Gn 37:28; Ex 22:4; Dt 24:7
17“Whoever curses his father or his mother must be put to death. # 21:17 Lv 20:9; Mt 15:4; Mk 7:10
18“When men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or his fist, and the injured man does not die but is confined to bed, 19if he can later get up and walk around outside leaning on his staff, then the one who struck him will be exempt from punishment. Nevertheless, he must pay for his lost work time # 21:19 Lit his inactivity and provide for his complete recovery.
20“When a man strikes his male or female slave with a rod, and the slave dies under his abuse, # 21:20 Lit hand the owner must be punished. # 21:20 Or must suffer vengeance 21However, if the slave can stand up after a day or two, the owner should not be punished # 21:21 Or not suffer vengeance because he is his owner’s property. # 21:21 Lit silver,# 21:21 Lv 25:44–46
22“When men get in a fight and hit a pregnant woman so that her children are born prematurely but there is no injury, the one who hit her must be fined as the woman’s husband demands # 21:22 Ex 21:30; Dt 22:18–19 from him, and he must pay according to judicial assessment. 23If there is an injury, then you must give life for life, 24eye for eye, tooth for tooth, # 21:24 Lv 24:20; Dt 19:21; Mt 5:38 hand for hand, foot for foot, 25burn for burn, bruise for bruise, wound for wound.
26“When a man strikes the eye of his male or female slave and destroys it, he must let the slave go free in compensation for his eye. 27If he knocks out the tooth of his male or female slave, he must let the slave go free in compensation for his tooth.
28“When an ox # 21:28 Or a bull, or a steer gores a man or a woman to death, the ox must be stoned, # 21:28 Gn 9:5 and its meat may not be eaten, but the ox’s owner is innocent. 29However, if the ox was in the habit of goring, and its owner has been warned yet does not restrain it, and it kills a man or a woman, the ox must be stoned, and its owner must also be put to death. 30If instead a ransom # 21:30 Nm 35:31 is demanded of him, he can pay a redemption price for his life in the full amount demanded from him. 31If it gores a son or a daughter, he is to be dealt with according to this same law. 32If the ox gores a male or female slave, he must give thirty shekels # 21:32 Zch 11:12; Mt 26:15; 27:3,9 of silver # 21:32 About one pound of silver to the slave’s master, and the ox must be stoned.
33“When a man uncovers a pit or digs a pit, and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it, 34the owner of the pit must give compensation; he must pay to its owner, but the dead animal will become his.
35“When a man’s ox injures his neighbor’s ox and it dies, they must sell the live ox and divide its proceeds; they must also divide the dead animal. 36If, however, it is known that the ox was in the habit of goring, yet its owner has not restrained it, he must compensate fully, ox for ox; the dead animal will become his.
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Exodus 21: CSB
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© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Exodus 21
21
Hebrew slaves
(Deuteronomy 15.12-18)
1The LORD gave Moses the following laws for his people:
2If you buy a Hebrew slave, he must remain your slave for six years. But in the seventh year you must set him free, without cost to him.#Lv 25.39-46. 3If he was single at the time you bought him, he alone must be set free. But if he was married at the time, both he and his wife must be given their freedom. 4If you give him a wife, and they have children, only the man himself must be set free; his wife and children remain the property of his owner.
5But suppose the slave loves his wife and children so much that he won't leave without them. 6Then he must stand beside either the door or the doorpost at the place of worship,#21.6 at the place of worship: The Hebrew text has “in the presence of God”, which probably refers to the place where God was worshipped. while his owner punches a small hole through one of his ears with a sharp metal rod. This makes him a slave for life.
7A young woman who was sold by her father doesn't gain her freedom in the same way that a man does. 8If she doesn't please the man who bought her to be his wife, he must let her be bought back.#21.8 bought back: Either by her family or by another Israelite who wanted to marry her. He cannot sell her to foreigners; this would break the contract he made with her. 9If he selects her as a wife for his son, he must treat her as his own daughter.
10If the man later marries another woman, he must continue to provide food and clothing for the one he bought and to treat her as a wife. 11If he fails to do any of these things, she must be given her freedom without cost.
Murder and other violent crimes
The LORD said:
12Death is the punishment for murder.#Lv 24.17. 13But if you did not intend to kill someone, and I, the LORD, let it happen anyway, you may run for safety to a place that I have set aside.#Nu 35.10-34; Dt 19.1-13; Js 20.1-9. 14If you plan in advance to murder someone, there's no escape, not even by holding on to my altar.#21.14 altar: As a rule, anyone who ran to the altar was safe from the death penalty, until proved guilty. You will be dragged off and killed.
15Death is the punishment for attacking your father or mother.
16Death is the punishment for kidnapping. If you sell the person you kidnapped, or if you are caught with that person, the penalty is death.#Dt 24.7.
17Death is the punishment for cursing your father or mother.#Lv 20.9; Mt 15.4; Mk 7.10.
18Suppose two of you are arguing, and you hit the other with either a rock or your fist, without causing a fatal injury. If the victim has to stay in bed, 19and later has to use a stick when walking outside, you must pay for the loss of time and do what you can to help until the injury is completely healed. That's your only responsibility.
20Death is the punishment for beating to death any of your slaves. 21However, if the slave lives a few days after the beating, you are not to be punished. After all, you have already lost the services of that slave who was your property.
22Suppose a pregnant woman suffers a miscarriage#21.22 suffers a miscarriage: Or “gives birth before her time”. as the result of an injury caused by someone who is fighting. If she isn't badly hurt, the one who injured her must pay whatever fine her husband demands and the judges approve. 23But if she is seriously injured, the payment will be life for life, 24eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,#Lv 24.19,20; Dt 19.21; Mt 5.38. 25burn for burn, cut for cut, and bruise for bruise.
26If you hit one of your slaves and cause the loss of an eye, the slave must be set free. 27The same law applies if you knock out a slave's tooth—the slave goes free.
28A bull that kills someone with its horns must be killed and its meat destroyed, but the owner of the bull isn't responsible for the death.
29Suppose you own a bull that has been in the habit of attacking people, but you have refused to keep it fenced in. If that bull kills someone, both you and the bull must be put to death by stoning. 30However, you may save your own life by paying whatever fine is demanded. 31This same law applies if the bull gores someone's son or daughter. 32If the bull kills a slave, you must pay the slave owner thirty pieces of silver for the loss of the slave, and the bull must be killed by stoning.
33Suppose someone's ox or donkey is killed by falling into an open pit that you dug or left uncovered on your property. 34You must pay for the dead animal, and it becomes yours.
35If your bull kills someone else's, yours must be sold. Then the money from your bull and the meat from the dead bull must be divided equally between you and the other owner.
36If you refuse to fence in a bull that is known to attack others, you must pay for any animal it kills, but the dead animal will belong to you.
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© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012