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 [m]his loss of time, and [n]he 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
International Children’s Bible
Laws for Living
21 Then God said to Moses, “These are the laws for living that you will give to the Israelites:
2 “If you buy a Hebrew slave, he will serve you for six years. In the seventh year you are to set him free. And he will have to pay nothing. 3 He might not be married when he becomes your slave. Then he must leave without a wife. The man might be married when he becomes your slave. Then he may take his wife with him. 4 The slave’s master might give him a wife, and she might give birth to sons or daughters. Then the woman and her children will belong to the master. When the slave is set free, only he may leave.
5 “But the slave might say, ‘I love my master, my wife and my children. I don’t want to go free.’ 6 Then the slave’s master will take him to God. The master will take him to a door or doorframe. And he will punch a hole through the slave’s ear using a sharp tool. Then the slave will serve that master all his life.
7 “A man might sell his daughter as a slave. There are rules for setting her free. They are different from the rules for setting the men slaves free. 8 Maybe the master wanted to marry her but then decided he was not pleased with her. He must let one of her close relatives buy her back. He has no right to sell her to foreigners. This is because he has treated her unfairly. 9 The man who bought her might promise to let the woman marry his son. Then he must treat her as a daughter. 10 The man who bought her might marry another woman. Then he must not keep his slave woman from having food or clothing or physical relations. 11 If he does not give her these three things, she may go free. She owes him no money.
Injuries
12 “Anyone who hits a person and kills him must be put to death. 13 But if a person kills someone accidentally, God allowed that to happen. So the person must go to a place I will choose. 14 A person might plan and murder another person on purpose. Put him to death, even if he has run to my altar for safety.
15 “Anyone who hits his father or his mother must be put to death.
16 “A person might kidnap someone. Then he either sells him as a slave or still has him when he is caught. That person must be put to death.
17 “Anyone who says cruel things to his father or mother must be put to death.
18 “Two men might argue. And one might hit the other with a rock or with his fist. The hurt man might not be killed. But he might have to stay in bed. 19 Later he might be able to get up. And he might be able to walk around outside with his walking stick. Then the one who hit him is not to be punished. But he must pay the injured man for the loss of his time. And he must support the injured man until he is completely healed.
20 “A man might beat his male or female slave with a stick. And the slave might die on the spot. Then the owner must be punished. 21 But the slave might get well after a day or two. Then that owner will not be punished since the slave belongs to him.
22 “Two men might be fighting, and they might hit a pregnant woman so that the baby comes out. But there is no further injury. Then the man who caused the injury must pay money. He must pay what the woman’s husband says and the court allows. 23 But if there is further injury, then the punishment is that life must be paid for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth. It is also hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound and bruise for bruise.
26 “A man might hit his male or female slave in the eye. And the eye might be blinded. Then the man is to free the slave to pay for the eye. 27 A master might knock out a tooth of his male or female slave. Then the man is to free the slave to pay for the tooth.
28 “A man’s bull might kill a man or woman. Then you must kill that bull with stones. You should not eat the bull. But the owner of the bull is not guilty. 29 But the bull might have hurt people in the past. The owner might have been warned. If he did not keep it in a pen and then it kills a man or woman, the bull must be killed with stones. And the owner must also be put to death. 30 But the family of the dead man might accept money. Then the man who owned the bull may buy back his life. But he must pay whatever is demanded. 31 Use this same law if the bull kills a person’s son or daughter. 32 But the bull might kill a male or female slave. Then the owner must pay the master the price for a new slave. That is 12 ounces of silver. And the bull must also be killed with stones.
33 “A man might take the cover off a pit. Or he might dig one and not cover it. Another man’s ox or donkey might come and fall into it. 34 The owner of the pit must pay the owner of the animal for his loss. The dead animal will belong to the one who pays.
35 “One man’s bull might kill another man’s bull. Then they must sell the bull that is alive. Both men get half of the money. And both men will also get half of the bull that was killed. 36 A man’s bull might have hurt other animals in the past. But the owner might not have kept it in a pen. Then that owner must pay bull for bull. And the dead animal is his.
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