Exodus 21
Legacy Standard Bible
Judgments About Slaves
21 “Now these are the (A)judgments 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 go out as a free man without payment. 3 If he comes [a]alone, he shall go out [b]alone; if he is the husband of a wife, 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 belong to her master, and he shall go out [c]alone. 5 But (C)if the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out as a free man,’ 6 then his master shall bring him to [d]God, and he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. Then his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him permanently.
7 “(D)And if a man sells his daughter as a female slave, she is not to [e]go free (E)as the male slaves [f]do. 8 If she is [g]displeasing in the eyes of her master [h]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 treachery to her. 9 And if he designates her for his son, he shall do to her according to the custom of daughters. 10 If he takes for himself another woman, he may not reduce her [i]food, her clothing, or (F)her conjugal rights. 11 And if he will not do these three things for her, then she shall go out for nothing, without payment of money.
Judgments About Personal Injuries
12 “(G)He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death. 13 (H)But [j]if he did not lie in wait for him, but (I)God let him fall into his hand, then I will appoint you a place to which he may flee. 14 (J)If, however, a man acts presumptuously toward his neighbor, so as to kill him by deceit, you shall take him even from My altar, that he may die.
15 “And he who strikes his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.
16 “(K)He who [k]kidnaps a man, whether he sells him or he is found in his hand, shall surely be put to death.
17 “(L)And he who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.
18 “And if men contend with each other and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist, and he does not die but [l]remains in 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 [m]loss of time, and he [n]shall take care of him until he is completely healed.
20 “And if a man strikes his male or female slave with a rod and he dies [o]at his hand, he shall surely [p]be punished. 21 But if for a day or two he is able to stand, no punishment shall be taken; (M)for he is his [q]property.
22 “And if men struggle with each other and [r]strike a woman with child so that [s]she gives birth prematurely, yet there is no injury, he shall surely be fined as the woman’s husband [t]will set for him, and he shall (N)pay [u]as the judges decide. 23 But if there is any further injury, (O)then you shall pay life for life, 24 (P)eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, bruise for bruise, wound for wound.
26 “And if a man strikes the eye of his male or female slave and ruins it, he shall let him go free on account of his eye. 27 And if he [v]knocks out a tooth of his male or female slave, he shall let him go free on account of his tooth.
28 “And if an ox gores a man or a woman [w]to death, (Q)the ox shall surely 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 puts a man or a woman to death, the ox shall be stoned and its owner also shall be put to death. 30 If a ransom is [x]demanded of him, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is [y]demanded of him. 31 Whether it gores a son or [z]a daughter, it shall be done to him according to [aa]the same judgment. 32 If the ox gores a male or female slave, [ab]the owner shall give his or her master [ac](R)thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.
33 “And if a man opens a pit, or if a man digs a pit and does not cover it over, and an ox or a donkey falls into it, 34 the owner of the pit shall make restitution; he shall [ad]give money to its owner, and the dead animal shall become his.
35 “And if one man’s ox [ae]hurts another’s so that it dies, then they shall sell the live ox and divide its price equally; and also they shall 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 shall surely pay ox for ox, and the dead animal shall become his.
Footnotes
- Exodus 21:3 Lit by himself
- Exodus 21:3 Lit by himself
- Exodus 21:4 Lit by himself
- Exodus 21:6 Or the judges who acted in God’s name
- Exodus 21:7 Lit go out
- Exodus 21:7 Lit go out
- Exodus 21:8 Lit bad
- Exodus 21:8 Or so that he did not designate her
- Exodus 21:10 Lit flesh
- Exodus 21:13 Lit he who
- Exodus 21:16 Lit steals
- Exodus 21:18 Lit lies
- Exodus 21:19 Lit his sitting
- Exodus 21:19 Lit healing, he shall cause to be healed
- Exodus 21:20 Lit under
- Exodus 21:20 Lit suffer vengeance
- Exodus 21:21 Lit money
- Exodus 21:22 Lit smote
- Exodus 21:22 Or an untimely birth occurs; lit her children come out
- Exodus 21:22 Lit lays on him
- Exodus 21:22 Lit by arbitration
- Exodus 21:27 Lit causes to fall
- Exodus 21:28 Lit so that he dies
- Exodus 21:30 Lit laid on him
- Exodus 21:30 Lit laid on him
- Exodus 21:31 Lit gores a daughter
- Exodus 21:31 Lit this
- Exodus 21:32 Lit he
- Exodus 21:32 Approx. 12 oz. or 330 gm, a shekel was approx. 0.4 oz. or 11 gm
- Exodus 21:34 Lit give back
- Exodus 21:35 Lit smites
Exodus 21
English Standard Version
Laws About Slaves
21 “Now these are the (A)rules that you shall set before them. 2 (B)When you buy a Hebrew slave,[a] 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 (C)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 (D)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 (E)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[b] 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 (F)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.
12 (G)“Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death. 13 (H)But if he did not lie in wait for him, but God let him fall into his hand, then (I)I will appoint for you a place to which he may flee. 14 But if a man willfully attacks another to kill him by cunning, (J)you shall take him from my altar, that he may die.
15 “Whoever strikes his father or his mother shall be put to death.
16 (K)“Whoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found (L)in possession of him, shall be put to death.
17 (M)“Whoever curses[c] his father or his mother shall be put to death.
18 “When men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist and the man does not die but takes to his bed, 19 then if the man rises again and walks outdoors with his staff, he who struck him shall be clear; only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall have him thoroughly healed.
20 “When a man strikes his slave, male or female, with a rod and the slave dies under his hand, he shall be avenged. 21 But if the slave survives a day or two, he is not to be avenged, for the (N)slave is his money.
22 “When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman's husband shall impose on him, and (O)he shall pay as the (P)judges determine. 23 But if there is harm,[d] then you shall pay (Q)life for life, 24 (R)eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
26 “When a man strikes the eye of his slave, male or female, and destroys it, he shall let the slave go free because of his eye. 27 If he knocks out the tooth of his slave, male or female, he shall let the slave go free because of his tooth.
28 “When an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the (S)ox shall be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten, but the owner of the ox shall not be liable. 29 But if the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past, and its owner has been warned but has not kept it in, and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned, and its owner also shall be put to death. 30 If (T)a ransom is imposed on him, then (U)he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is imposed on him. 31 If it gores a man's son or daughter, he shall be dealt with according to this same rule. 32 If the ox gores a slave, male or female, the owner shall give to their master (V)thirty shekels[e] of silver, and (W)the ox shall be stoned.
Laws About Restitution
33 “When a man opens a pit, or when a man 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 restoration. He shall give money to its owner, and the dead beast shall be his.
35 “When one man's ox butts another's, so that it dies, then they shall sell the live ox and share its price, and the dead beast also they shall share. 36 Or if it is known that the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past, and its owner has not kept it in, he shall repay ox for ox, and the dead beast shall be his.
Footnotes
- Exodus 21:2 Or servant; the Hebrew term ‘ebed designates a range of social and economic roles; also verses 5, 6, 7, 20, 21, 26, 27, 32 (see Preface)
- Exodus 21:8 Or so that he has not designated her
- Exodus 21:17 Or dishonors; Septuagint reviles
- Exodus 21:23 Or so that her children come out and it is clear who was to blame, he shall be fined as the woman's husband shall impose on him, and he alone shall pay. 23If it is unclear who was to blame…
- Exodus 21:32 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
