Ordinances for the People

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

“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. 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. 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. But (C)if the slave 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 [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.

“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. 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. 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.

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 21:3 Lit by himself
  2. Exodus 21:3 Lit by himself
  3. Exodus 21:4 Lit by himself
  4. Exodus 21:6 Or the judges (who acted in God’s name)
  5. Exodus 21:6 I.e., a pointed tool
  6. Exodus 21:7 Lit go out
  7. Exodus 21:7 Lit go out
  8. Exodus 21:8 Lit bad
  9. Exodus 21:8 Another reading is so that he did not designate her
  10. Exodus 21:8 Lit dealing treacherously
  11. Exodus 21:10 Lit flesh
  12. Exodus 21:11 Lit out
  13. Exodus 21:13 Lit he who
  14. Exodus 21:16 Lit steals
  15. Exodus 21:16 Lit hand
  16. Exodus 21:18 Lit lies in
  17. Exodus 21:19 Lit his sitting
  18. Exodus 21:19 Lit healing, he shall cause to be healed
  19. Exodus 21:20 Lit under
  20. Exodus 21:20 Lit suffer vengeance
  21. Exodus 21:21 Lit stands
  22. Exodus 21:21 Lit money
  23. Exodus 21:22 Or an untimely birth occurs; lit her children come out
  24. Exodus 21:22 Lit lays on him
  25. Exodus 21:22 Lit by arbitration
  26. Exodus 21:25 Lit welt
  27. Exodus 21:26 Lit him go...his eye
  28. Exodus 21:27 Lit causes to fall
  29. Exodus 21:27 Lit him go...his tooth
  30. Exodus 21:28 Lit so that he dies
  31. Exodus 21:30 Lit laid on him
  32. Exodus 21:30 Lit laid on him
  33. Exodus 21:31 Lit gores a daughter
  34. Exodus 21:31 Lit this judgment
  35. Exodus 21:32 Lit he
  36. Exodus 21:32 About 15 oz. or 425 gm
  37. Exodus 21:33 Lit if a man digs
  38. Exodus 21:34 Lit give back

Instructions about slaves

21 These are the case laws that you should set before them:

When you buy a male Hebrew slave, he will serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he will go free without any payment. If he came in single, he will leave single. If he came in married, then his wife will leave with him. If his master gave him a wife and she bore him sons or daughters, the wife and her children will belong to her master. He will leave single. However, if the slave clearly states, “I love my master, my wife, and my children, and I don’t want to go free,” then his master will bring him before God. He will bring him to the door or the doorpost. There his master will pierce his ear with a pointed tool, and he will serve him as his slave for life.

When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she shouldn’t be set free in the same way as male slaves are set free. If she doesn’t please her master who chose her for himself, then her master must let her be bought back by her family. He has no right to sell her to a foreign people since he has treated her unfairly. If he assigns her to his son, he must give her the rights of a daughter. 10 If he takes another woman for himself, he may not reduce her food, clothing, or marital rights. 11 If he doesn’t do these three things for her, she will go free without any payment, for no money.

Instructions about human violence

12 Anyone who hits and kills someone should be put to death. 13 If the killing wasn’t on purpose but an accident allowed by God, then I will designate a place to which the killer can run away. 14 But if someone plots and kills another person on purpose, you should remove the killer from my altar and put him to death.

15 Anyone who violently hits their father or mother should be put to death.

16 Anyone who kidnaps a person, whether they have been sold or are still being held, should be put to death.

17 Anyone who curses their father or mother should be put to death.

18 When two people are fighting and one hits the other with a stone or with his fist so that he is in bed for a while but doesn’t die— 19 if he recovers and is able to walk around outside with a cane, then the one who hit him shouldn’t be punished, except to pay for the loss of time from work and to pay for his full recovery.

20 When a slave owner hits a male or female slave with a rod and the slave dies immediately, the owner should be punished. 21 But if the slave gets up after a day or two, the slave owner shouldn’t be punished because the slave is the owner’s property.

22 When people who are fighting injure a pregnant woman so that she has a miscarriage but no other injury occurs, then the guilty party will be fined what the woman’s husband demands, as negotiated with the judges. 23 If there is further injury, then you will give a life for a life, 24 an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot, 25 a burn for a burn, a bruise for a bruise, a wound for a wound.

26 When a slave owner hits and blinds the eye of a male or female slave, he should let the slave go free on account of the eye. 27 If he knocks out a tooth of a male or female slave, he should let the slave go free on account of the tooth.

Instructions about animals and property

28 When an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox should be stoned to death, and the meat of the ox shouldn’t be eaten. But the owner of the ox shouldn’t be punished. 29 However, if the ox had gored people in the past and its owner had been warned but didn’t watch out for it, and the ox ends up killing a man or a woman, then the ox should be stoned to death, and its owner should also be put to death. 30 If the owner has to pay compensation instead, he must pay the agreed amount to save his life. 31 If the ox gores a boy or a girl, this same case law applies to the owner. 32 If the ox gores a male or female slave, the owner will pay thirty silver shekels to the slave’s owner, and the ox will be stoned to death.

33 When someone leaves a pit open or digs a pit and doesn’t cover it and an ox or a donkey falls into the pit, 34 the owner of the pit must make good on the loss. He should pay money to the ox’s owner, but he may keep the dead animal.

35 When someone’s ox hurts someone else’s ox and it dies, then they should sell the live ox and divide its price. They should also divide the dead animal between them. 36 But if the ox was known for goring in the past and its owner hadn’t watched out for it, the owner must make good the loss, an ox for an ox, but may keep the dead animal.