Exodus 20:18-21:11

English Standard Version

¹⁸ Now when all the people saw ^(A)the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid^[a] and trembled, and they stood far off ¹⁹ and said to Moses, ^(B)“You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” ^20 (C)Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to ^(D)test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” ²¹ The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the ^(E)thick darkness where God was.

Laws About Altars

²² And the Lord said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the people of Israel: ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have ^(F)talked with you from heaven. ^23 (G)You shall not make gods of silver to be with me, nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold. ²⁴ An altar of earth you shall make for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. ^(H)In every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and ^(I)bless you. ^25 (J)If you make me an altar of stone, ^(K)you shall not build it of hewn stones, for if you wield your tool on it you profane it. ²⁶ And you shall not go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness be not exposed on it.’

Laws About Slaves

21 “Now these are the ^(L)rules that you shall set before them. ^2 (M)When you buy a Hebrew slave,^[b] he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing. ³ If he comes in single, he shall go out single; if he comes in 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 alone. ⁵ But ^(N)if the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’ ⁶ then his master shall bring him to ^(O)God, and he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall be his slave forever.

⁷ “When a man ^(P)sells his daughter as a slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do. ⁸ If she does not please her master, who has designated her^[c] for himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has broken faith with her. ⁹ If he designates her for his son, he shall deal with her as with a daughter. ¹⁰ If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, or ^(Q)her marital rights. ¹¹ And if he does not do these three things for her, she shall go out for nothing, without payment of money.