Exodus 21:12-27
New American Standard Bible
Personal Injuries
12 “(A)He who strikes someone so that he dies shall certainly be put to death. 13 (B)Yet [a]if he did not lie in wait for him, but (C)God caused him to fall into his hand, then I will appoint you a place to which he may flee. 14 (D)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 (E)one who [b]kidnaps someone, whether he sells him or he is found in his [c]possession, shall certainly be put to death.
17 “And (F)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 [d]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 [e]loss of time, and [f]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 [g]at his hand, he shall [h]be punished. 21 If, however, the slave [i]survives a day or two, no vengeance shall be taken; (G)for the slave is his [j]property.
22 “Now if people struggle with each other and strike a pregnant woman so that [k]she gives birth prematurely, but there is no injury, the guilty person shall certainly be fined as the woman’s husband [l]may demand of him, and he shall (H)pay [m]as the judges decide. 23 But if there is any further injury, (I)then you shall appoint as a penalty life for life, 24 (J)eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, [n]bruise for bruise.
26 “And if someone strikes the eye of his male or female slave and destroys it, he shall let [o]the slave go free on account of the eye. 27 And if he [p]knocks out a tooth of his male or female slave, he shall let [q]the slave go free on account of the tooth.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Exodus 21:13 Lit he who
- Exodus 21:16 Lit steals
- Exodus 21:16 Lit hand
- Exodus 21:18 Lit lies in
- 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 stands
- Exodus 21:21 Lit money
- 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 21:25 Lit welt
- Exodus 21:26 Lit him go...his eye
- Exodus 21:27 Lit causes to fall
- Exodus 21:27 Lit him go...his tooth
Exodus 21:12-27
International Standard Version
Laws Concerning Personal Injury and Homicide
12 “Whoever strikes a man so that he dies is certainly to be put to death. 13 If he didn’t lie in wait, but God let him fall into his reach,[a] then I’ll appoint for you a place to which he may flee. 14 If a man acts deliberately against his neighbor, to kill him by treachery, you are to take him to die even if he’s at[b] my altar.
15 “Whoever strikes his father or his mother is certainly to be put to death.
16 “Whoever kidnaps a person, whether he has sold him or whether the victim[c] is still in his possession, is certainly to be put to death.
17 “Whoever curses his father or his mother is certainly to be put to death.
18 “If people quarrel and one strikes the other with a rock or his fist, and he does not die but ends up[d] in bed, 19 and the injured person[e] then gets up and walks around outside with the help of his staff,[f] the one who struck him is not liable, except that he is to compensate him for his loss of time[g] and take care of his complete recovery.
20 “If a man strikes his male or female servant with a stick and he or she dies as a direct result,[h] the master must be punished.[i] 21 But if the servant[j] survives a day or two, the master[k] is not to be punished because the servant[l] is his property.
22 “If two men are fighting and they strike a pregnant woman and her children are born prematurely,[m] but there is no harm, he is certainly to be fined as the husband of the woman demands of him, and he will pay as the court decides.[n] 23 If there is harm, then you are to require[o] life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, and bruise for bruise.
26 “If a man strikes the eye of his male or female servant and destroys it, he is to release him as a free man in exchange for his eye. 27 If he knocks out the tooth of his male[p] or female servant,[q] he is to release him as a free man in exchange for his tooth.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Exodus 21:13 Lit. hand; i.e. the event was not premeditated by the accused
- Exodus 21:14 Lit. even from
- Exodus 21:16 Lit. he
- Exodus 21:18 Lit. falls
- Exodus 21:19 Lit. he
- Exodus 21:19 Lit. with his staff
- Exodus 21:19 Lit. his rest
- Exodus 21:20 Lit. under his hand
- Exodus 21:20 Lit. suffer vengeance
- Exodus 21:21 Lit. he
- Exodus 21:21 Lit. he
- Exodus 21:21 Lit. he
- Exodus 21:22 Lit. children come out
- Exodus 21:22 Or according to the assessment
- Exodus 21:23 Lit. give
- Exodus 21:27 Lit. male servant
- Exodus 21:27 Lit. tooth of his female servant
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