Ordinances for the People

21 “Now these are the ^(A)ordinances which you are to set before them:

² “If you buy ^(B)a Hebrew slave, he shall serve for six years; but on the seventh he shall leave as a free man without a payment to you. ³ If he comes ^[a]alone, he shall leave ^[b]alone; if he is the husband of a wife, then his wife shall leave with him. ⁴ If 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 ^[c]alone. ⁵ But ^(C)if the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not leave as a free man,’ ⁶ then his master shall bring him to ^[d]God, then he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall pierce his ear with an ^[e]awl; and he shall serve him permanently.

⁷ “Now ^(D)if a man sells his daughter as a female slave, she is not to ^[f]go free ^(E)as the male slaves ^[g]do. ⁸ If she is ^[h]displeasing in the eyes of her master ^[i]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 ^[j]unfairness to her. ⁹ And if he designates her for his son, he shall deal with her according to the custom of daughters. ¹⁰ If he takes to himself another woman, he may not reduce her ^[k]food, her clothing, or ^(F)her conjugal rights. ¹¹ But if he will not do these three things for her, then she shall go ^[l]free for nothing, without payment of money.

Personal Injuries

¹² “^(G)He who strikes someone so that he dies shall certainly be put to death. ^13 (H)Yet ^[m]if he did not lie in wait for him, but ^(I)God caused him to fall into his hand, then I will appoint you a place to which he may flee. ^14 (J)If, 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 ^(K)one who ^[n]kidnaps someone, whether he sells him or he is found in his ^[o]possession, shall certainly be put to death.

¹⁷ “And ^(L)one 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 ^[p]is confined to bed, ¹⁹ if he gets up and walks around outside on his staff, then he who struck him shall go unpunished; he shall only pay for his ^[q]loss of time, and ^[r]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 ^[s]at his hand, he shall ^[t]be punished. ²¹ If, however, the slave ^[u]survives a day or two, no vengeance shall be taken; ^(M)for the slave is his ^[v]property.

²² “Now if people struggle with each other and strike a pregnant woman so that ^[w]she gives birth prematurely, but there is no injury, the guilty person shall certainly be fined as the woman’s husband ^[x]may demand of him, and he shall ^(N)pay ^[y]as the judges decide. ²³ But if there is any further injury, ^(O)then you shall appoint as a penalty life for life, ^24 (P)eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, ²⁵ burn for burn, wound for wound, ^[z]bruise for bruise.

²⁶ “And if someone strikes the eye of his male or female slave and destroys it, he shall let ^[aa]the slave go free on account of the eye. ²⁷ And if he ^[ab]knocks out a tooth of his male or female slave, he shall let ^[ac]the slave go free on account of the tooth.

²⁸ “Now if an ox gores a man or a woman ^[ad]to death, ^(Q)the ox shall certainly be stoned and its flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall go unpunished. ²⁹ If, 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. ³⁰ If a ransom is ^[ae]demanded of him, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is ^[af]demanded of him. ³¹ Whether it gores a son or ^[ag]a daughter, it shall be done to him according to ^[ah]the same rule. ³² If the ox gores a male or female slave, ^[ai]the owner shall give his or her master ^[aj](R)thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.

Property Rights

³³ “Now if someone opens a pit, or ^[ak]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 restitution; he shall ^[al]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. ³⁶ Or 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.

The Resurrection

24 ^(A)But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. ² And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, ³ but when they entered, they did not find the body of ^(B)the Lord Jesus. ⁴ While they were perplexed about this, behold, ^(C)two men suddenly ^(D)stood near them in gleaming clothing; ⁵ and as ^[a]the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why are you seeking the living One among the dead? ⁶ He is not here, but He ^(E)has ^[b]risen. Remember how He spoke to you ^(F)while He was still in Galilee, ⁷ saying that ^(G)the Son of Man must be handed over to sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise from the dead.” ⁸ And ^(H)they remembered His words, ⁹ and returned from the tomb and reported all these things to the eleven, and to all the rest. ¹⁰ Now these women were ^(I)Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James; also the other women with them were telling these things to ^(J)the apostles. ¹¹ But these words appeared ^[c]to them as nonsense, and they ^(K)would not believe ^[d]the women. ¹² Nevertheless, Peter got up and ^(L)ran to the tomb; and when he stooped and looked in, he *saw the linen wrappings ^[e]only; and he went away ^(M)to his ^[f]home, marveling at what had happened.

The Road to Emmaus

¹³ And behold, on that very day ^(N)two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, which was ^[g]sixty stadia from Jerusalem. ¹⁴ And they were talking with each other about all these things which had taken place. ¹⁵ While they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself approached and began traveling with them. ¹⁶ But ^(O)their eyes were kept from recognizing Him. ¹⁷ And He said to them, “What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking?” And they came to a stop, looking sad. ¹⁸ One of them, named Cleopas, answered and said to Him, “Are You possibly the only one living near Jerusalem ^[h]who does not know about the things that happened here in these days?” ¹⁹ And He said to them, “What sort of things?” And they said to Him, “Those about ^(P)Jesus the Nazarene, who proved to be a ^(Q)prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people, ²⁰ and how the chief priests and our ^(R)rulers handed Him over to be sentenced to death, and crucified Him. ²¹ But we ^[i]were hoping that it was He who was going to ^(S)redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. ²² But also some women among us left us bewildered. ^(T)When they were at the tomb early in the morning, ²³ and did not find His body, they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said that He was alive. ²⁴ And so some of those who were with us went to the tomb, and found it just exactly as the women also had said; but Him they did not see.” ²⁵ And then He said to them, “^[j]You foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that ^(U)the prophets have spoken! ^26 (V)Was it not necessary for the ^[k]Christ to suffer these things and to come into His glory?” ²⁷ Then beginning ^[l]with ^(W)Moses and ^[m]with all the ^(X)Prophets, He explained to them the things written about Himself in all the Scriptures.

²⁸ And they approached the village where they were going, and ^(Y)He gave the impression that He was going farther. ²⁹ And so they strongly urged Him, saying, “Stay with us, for it is getting toward evening, and the day ^[n]is now nearly over.” So He went in to stay with them. ³⁰ And it came about, when He had reclined at the table with them, that He took the bread and ^(Z)blessed it, and He broke it and began giving it to them. ³¹ And then their ^(AA)eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from ^[o]their sight. ³² They said to one another, “^[p]Were our hearts not burning within us when He was speaking to us on the road, while He ^(AB)was ^[q]explaining the Scriptures to us?” ³³ And they got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and ^(AC)found the eleven gathered together and ^(AD)those who were with them, ³⁴ saying, “^(AE)The Lord has really risen and ^(AF)has appeared to Simon!” ³⁵ They began to relate ^[r]their experiences on the road, and how ^(AG)He was recognized by them at the breaking of the bread.

Other Appearances

³⁶ Now while they were telling these things, ^(AH)Jesus Himself suddenly stood in their midst and *said to them, “Peace be to you.” ³⁷ But they were startled and frightened, and thought that they were looking at ^(AI)a spirit. ³⁸ And He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why are doubts arising in your ^[s]hearts? ^39 (AJ)See My hands and My feet, that ^[t]it is I Myself; ^(AK)touch Me and see, because a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you plainly see that I have.” ⁴⁰ And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. ⁴¹ While they still ^[u](AL)could not believe it because of their joy and astonishment, He said to them, “^(AM)Have you anything here to eat?” ⁴² They served Him a piece of broiled fish; ⁴³ and He took it and ^(AN)ate it in front of them.

⁴⁴ Now He said to them, “^(AO)These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all the things that are written about Me in the ^(AP)Law of Moses and the Prophets and ^(AQ)the Psalms must be fulfilled.” ⁴⁵ Then He ^(AR)opened their ^[v]minds to understand the Scriptures, ⁴⁶ and He said to them, “^(AS)So it is written, that the ^[w]Christ would suffer and ^(AT)rise from the dead on the third day, ⁴⁷ and that ^(AU)repentance ^[x]for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed ^[y]in His name to ^(AV)all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. ⁴⁸ You are ^(AW)witnesses of these things. ⁴⁹ And behold, ^(AX)I am sending the promise of My Father upon you; but ^(AY)you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

The Ascension

⁵⁰ And He led them out as far as ^(AZ)Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. ⁵¹ While He was blessing them, He parted from them and was carried up into heaven. ⁵² And they, after worshiping Him, returned to Jerusalem with great joy, ⁵³ and were continually in the temple ^[z]praising God.