21 “These are the laws^(A) you are to set before them:

Hebrew Servants^(B)(C)

² “If you buy a Hebrew servant,^(D) he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free,^(E) without paying anything. ³ If he comes alone, he is to go free alone; but if he has a wife when he comes, she is to go with him. ⁴ If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her master, and only the man shall go free.

⁵ “But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,’^{(F) 6} then his master must take him before the judges.^[a](G) He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce^(H) his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life.^(I)

⁷ “If a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as male servants do. ⁸ If she does not please the master who has selected her for himself,^[b] he must let her be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to foreigners, because he has broken faith with her. ⁹ If he selects her for his son, he must grant her the rights of a daughter. ¹⁰ If he marries another woman, he must not deprive the first one of her food, clothing and marital rights.^{(J) 11} If he does not provide her with these three things, she is to go free, without any payment of money.

²⁸ “If a bull gores a man or woman to death, the bull is to be stoned to death,^(A) and its meat must not be eaten. But the owner of the bull will not be held responsible. ²⁹ If, however, the bull has had the habit of goring and the owner has been warned but has not kept it penned up^(B) and it kills a man or woman, the bull is to be stoned and its owner also is to be put to death. ³⁰ However, if payment is demanded, the owner may redeem his life by the payment of whatever is demanded.^{(C) 31} This law also applies if the bull gores a son or daughter. ³² If the bull gores a male or female slave, the owner must pay thirty shekels^[a](D) of silver to the master of the slave, and the bull is to be stoned to death.

³³ “If anyone uncovers a pit^(E) or digs one and fails to cover it and an ox or a donkey falls into it, ³⁴ the one who opened the pit must pay the owner for the loss and take the dead animal in exchange.

³⁵ “If anyone’s bull injures someone else’s bull and it dies, the two parties are to sell the live one and divide both the money and the dead animal equally. ³⁶ However, if it was known that the bull had the habit of goring, yet the owner did not keep it penned up,^(F) the owner must pay, animal for animal, and take the dead animal in exchange.

⁵ “If anyone grazes their livestock in a field or vineyard and lets them stray and they graze in someone else’s field, the offender must make restitution^(A) from the best of their own field or vineyard.

⁶ “If a fire breaks out and spreads into thornbushes so that it burns shocks^(B) of grain or standing grain or the whole field, the one who started the fire must make restitution.^(C)

⁷ “If anyone gives a neighbor silver or goods for safekeeping^(D) and they are stolen from the neighbor’s house, the thief, if caught, must pay back double.^{(E) 8} But if the thief is not found, the owner of the house must appear before the judges,^(F) and they must^[a] determine whether the owner of the house has laid hands on the other person’s property. ⁹ In all cases of illegal possession of an ox, a donkey, a sheep, a garment, or any other lost property about which somebody says, ‘This is mine,’ both parties are to bring their cases before the judges.^[b](G) The one whom the judges declare^[c] guilty must pay back double to the other.

¹⁰ “If anyone gives a donkey, an ox, a sheep or any other animal to their neighbor for safekeeping^(H) and it dies or is injured or is taken away while no one is looking, ¹¹ the issue between them will be settled by the taking of an oath^(I) before the Lord that the neighbor did not lay hands on the other person’s property. The owner is to accept this, and no restitution is required. ¹² But if the animal was stolen from the neighbor, restitution^(J) must be made to the owner. ¹³ If it was torn to pieces by a wild animal, the neighbor shall bring in the remains as evidence and shall not be required to pay for the torn animal.^(K)

¹⁴ “If anyone borrows an animal from their neighbor and it is injured or dies while the owner is not present, they must make restitution.^{(L) 15} But if the owner is with the animal, the borrower will not have to pay. If the animal was hired, the money paid for the hire covers the loss.^(M)

Social Responsibility

¹⁶ “If a man seduces a virgin^(N) who is not pledged to be married and sleeps with her, he must pay the bride-price,^(O) and she shall be his wife. ¹⁷ If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him, he must still pay the bride-price for virgins.

²⁵ “If you lend money to one of my people among you who is needy, do not treat it like a business deal; charge no interest.^{(A) 26} If you take your neighbor’s cloak as a pledge,^(B) return it by sunset, ²⁷ because that cloak is the only covering your neighbor has. What else can they sleep in?^(C) When they cry out to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.^(D)

Restitution for Wrongs

⁵ The Lord said to Moses, ⁶ “Say to the Israelites: ‘Any man or woman who wrongs another in any way^[a] and so is unfaithful^(A) to the Lord is guilty^{(B) 7} and must confess^(C) the sin they have committed. They must make full restitution^(D) for the wrong they have done, add a fifth of the value to it and give it all to the person they have wronged. ⁸ But if that person has no close relative to whom restitution can be made for the wrong, the restitution belongs to the Lord and must be given to the priest, along with the ram^(E) with which atonement is made for the wrongdoer.^{(F) 9} All the sacred contributions the Israelites bring to a priest will belong to him.^{(G) 10} Sacred things belong to their owners, but what they give to the priest will belong to the priest.^(H)’”

Zelophehad’s Daughters^(A)

27 The daughters of Zelophehad^(B) son of Hepher,^(C) the son of Gilead,^(D) the son of Makir,^(E) the son of Manasseh, belonged to the clans of Manasseh son of Joseph. The names of the daughters were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milkah and Tirzah. They came forward ² and stood before Moses,^(F) Eleazar the priest, the leaders^(G) and the whole assembly at the entrance to the tent of meeting^(H) and said, ³ “Our father died in the wilderness.^(I) He was not among Korah’s followers, who banded together against the Lord,^(J) but he died for his own sin and left no sons.^{(K) 4} Why should our father’s name disappear from his clan because he had no son? Give us property among our father’s relatives.”

⁵ So Moses brought their case^(L) before the Lord,^{(M) 6} and the Lord said to him, ⁷ “What Zelophehad’s daughters are saying is right. You must certainly give them property as an inheritance^(N) among their father’s relatives and give their father’s inheritance to them.^(O)

⁸ “Say to the Israelites, ‘If a man dies and leaves no son, give his inheritance to his daughter. ⁹ If he has no daughter, give his inheritance to his brothers. ¹⁰ If he has no brothers, give his inheritance to his father’s brothers. ¹¹ If his father had no brothers, give his inheritance to the nearest relative in his clan, that he may possess it. This is to have the force of law^(P) for the Israelites, as the Lord commanded Moses.’”

Vows

30 ^[a]Moses said to the heads of the tribes of Israel:^(A) “This is what the Lord commands: ² When a man makes a vow to the Lord or takes an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word but must do everything he said.^(B)

³ “When a young woman still living in her father’s household makes a vow to the Lord or obligates herself by a pledge ⁴ and her father hears about her vow or pledge but says nothing to her, then all her vows and every pledge by which she obligated herself will stand.^{(C) 5} But if her father forbids her^(D) when he hears about it, none of her vows or the pledges by which she obligated herself will stand; the Lord will release her because her father has forbidden her.

⁶ “If she marries after she makes a vow^(E) or after her lips utter a rash promise by which she obligates herself ⁷ and her husband hears about it but says nothing to her, then her vows or the pledges by which she obligated herself will stand. ⁸ But if her husband^(F) forbids her when he hears about it, he nullifies the vow that obligates her or the rash promise by which she obligates herself, and the Lord will release her.^(G)

⁹ “Any vow or obligation taken by a widow or divorced woman will be binding on her.

¹⁰ “If a woman living with her husband makes a vow or obligates herself by a pledge under oath ¹¹ and her husband hears about it but says nothing to her and does not forbid her, then all her vows or the pledges by which she obligated herself will stand. ¹² But if her husband nullifies them when he hears about them, then none of the vows or pledges that came from her lips will stand.^(H) Her husband has nullified them, and the Lord will release her. ¹³ Her husband may confirm or nullify any vow she makes or any sworn pledge to deny herself.^{[b] 14} But if her husband says nothing to her about it from day to day, then he confirms all her vows or the pledges binding on her. He confirms them by saying nothing to her when he hears about them. ¹⁵ If, however, he nullifies them^(I) some time after he hears about them, then he must bear the consequences of her wrongdoing.”

¹⁶ These are the regulations the Lord gave Moses concerning relationships between a man and his wife, and between a father and his young daughter still living at home.

Inheritance of Zelophehad’s Daughters^(A)

36 The family heads of the clan of Gilead^(B) son of Makir,^(C) the son of Manasseh, who were from the clans of the descendants of Joseph,^(D) came and spoke before Moses and the leaders,^(E) the heads of the Israelite families. ² They said, “When the Lord commanded my lord to give the land as an inheritance to the Israelites by lot,^(F) he ordered you to give the inheritance of our brother Zelophehad^(G) to his daughters. ³ Now suppose they marry men from other Israelite tribes; then their inheritance will be taken from our ancestral inheritance and added to that of the tribe they marry into. And so part of the inheritance allotted to us will be taken away. ⁴ When the Year of Jubilee^(H) for the Israelites comes, their inheritance will be added to that of the tribe into which they marry, and their property will be taken from the tribal inheritance of our ancestors.”

⁵ Then at the Lord’s command Moses gave this order to the Israelites: “What the tribe of the descendants of Joseph is saying is right. ⁶ This is what the Lord commands for Zelophehad’s daughters: They may marry anyone they please as long as they marry within their father’s tribal clan. ⁷ No inheritance^(I) in Israel is to pass from one tribe to another, for every Israelite shall keep the tribal inheritance of their ancestors. ⁸ Every daughter who inherits land in any Israelite tribe must marry someone in her father’s tribal clan,^(J) so that every Israelite will possess the inheritance of their ancestors. ⁹ No inheritance may pass from one tribe to another, for each Israelite tribe is to keep the land it inherits.”

¹⁰ So Zelophehad’s daughters did as the Lord commanded Moses. ¹¹ Zelophehad’s daughters—Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milkah and Noah^(K)—married their cousins on their father’s side. ¹² They married within the clans of the descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in their father’s tribe and clan.^(L)

¹³ These are the commands and regulations the Lord gave through Moses^(M) to the Israelites on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho.^(N)

¹¹ “‘Do not steal.^(A)

“‘Do not lie.^(B)

“‘Do not deceive one another.^(C)

¹² “‘Do not swear falsely^(D) by my name^(E) and so profane^(F) the name of your God. I am the Lord.