Old/New Testament
Parashat Mishpatim
Ordinances for the Covenant
21 “Now these are the ordinances which you will set before them.
2 “If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve for six years, and in the seventh he is to go free, without payment. 3 If he comes in by himself, he is to go out by himself. If he was married, then his wife will go out with him. 4 If his master gave him a wife, and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children will be her master’s, and he will go free by himself.
5 “But if the servant plainly states, ‘I love my master, my wife and my children, and I will not go out free,’ 6 then his master is to bring him to God,[a] then take him to a door or to a doorpost. His master is to pierce his ear through with an awl, and he will serve him forever.
7 “If a man sells his daughter to be a maidservant, she is not to go free as the male servants do. 8 If she does not please her master who has selected her for himself, then he is to allow her to be redeemed. He will have no power to sell her to a foreign people, seeing as he has dealt deceitfully toward her. 9 If he betroths her to his son, he must give her the rights of a daughter. 10 If he takes another wife, he is not to diminish her food, her clothing, or her marriage rights. 11 If he does not provide these three to her, then she is to go free without payment.
12 “Whoever strikes a man so that he dies must surely be put to death. 13 But if he did not hunt him down, yet God caused it to happen, then I will appoint for you a place where he may run. 14 If a man presumes to kill his neighbor with craftiness, you are to take him from My altar and put him to death.
15 “Anyone who strikes his father or his mother must surely be put to death.
16 “Anyone who steals a person and sells him, or is found with him under his hand, must surely be put to death.
17 “Whoever curses his father or his mother must surely be put to death.
18 “If people quarrel, and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist, and the other does not die but lies in bed, 19 if he rises again and walks around on his staff, then the one that struck him he will be cleared. But he must pay for the loss of his time and help him to be thoroughly healed.
20 “If a man strikes his male or female servant with a staff, who dies by his hand, he must surely be punished. 21 Notwithstanding, if the servant gets up in a day or two he will not be punished, for he is his property.[b]
22 “If men fight, and hit a pregnant woman so that her child is born early, yet no harm follows, the one who hit her is to be strictly fined, according to what the woman’s husband demands of him. He must pay as the judges determine. 23 But if any harm follows,[c] then you are to penalize life for life, 24 eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, blow for blow.
26 “If a man strikes the eye of his male or female slave and destroys it, he must let him go free for the sake of his eyesight. 27 If he strikes out his slave’s tooth, he must let him go free for the sake of his tooth.
28 “If an ox gores a man or a woman so that they die, the ox must surely be stoned, and its meat is not to be eaten, but the owner of the ox will be cleared. 29 If the ox was given to goring in times past, and a warning has been given to its owner, yet he has not kept it pent up, and it has killed a man or a woman, then the ox must be stoned and its owner must also be put to death. 30 If instead a ransom is placed on him, then he is to pay for the redemption of his life whatever is demanded. 31 Whether it has gored a son or daughter, this rule is to be applied to him. 32 If the ox gores a male or female slave, he is to pay 30 shekels of silver to their master, and the ox is to be stoned.
33 “If one uncovers a pit or digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls in, 34 the owner of the pit must pay compensation. He is to give money to the owner, and the dead animal will be his.
35 “If one man’s ox hurts another’s ox so that it dies, they are to sell the live ox and divide the price. They are also to divide the dead one. 36 Or if it becomes known that the ox was given to violence in times past, and its owner has not kept it pent up, he must surely pay ox for ox, and the dead animal will be his own. 37 [d] If a man steals an ox or a sheep, and kills it or sells it, he is to pay five oxen for one ox or four sheep for one sheep.
22 “If a thief found breaking in is struck so that he dies, there is no bloodguilt for him. 2 But if the sun has risen, there is bloodguilt, and he is to make full restitution. If he has nothing, then he must be sold for his theft. 3 If the item is found in his hand alive—whether ox, donkey or sheep—he is to pay double.
4 “If a man causes a field or vineyard to be eaten by letting his animal loose, and it feeds in another man’s field, then he is to make restitution from the best of his own field and the best of his own vineyard.
5 “If fire breaks out and spreads among thorns, so that stalks of grain, standing grain or the fields themselves are consumed, then the one who lit the fire must make full restitution.
6 “If a man entrusts his neighbor with money or items for safekeeping, and it is stolen out of the man’s house, when the thief is found, he must pay double. 7 If the thief is not found, then the master of the house is to present himself to God, to see whether he has laid his hand on his neighbor’s goods. 8 For any transgression—whether ox, donkey, sheep, clothing, or anything else lost—when someone says, ‘This is mine!’ the case of both parties is to be brought before God. The one whom God convicts is to pay double to his neighbor.
9 “If a man entrusts his neighbor with a donkey, ox, sheep or any animal to care for, and it dies, is hurt or taken away with no one seeing, 10 then there must be an oath before Adonai between the two of them, to determine whether or not he has laid his hand on his neighbor’s goods. The owner is to accept it with no restitution. 11 But if indeed it was stolen from him, he is to make restitution to the owner. 12 If it is torn in pieces, let him bring it as evidence. He is not required to pay for what has been torn to pieces.
13 “If a man borrows anything belonging to his neighbor, and it is harmed or dies in the absence of the owner, he must make full restitution. 14 But if the owner is present, he is not required to pay restitution. If it was rented, it is covered by the rental fee.
15 “If a man seduces a virgin who is not engaged, and lies with her, he must pay a dowry for her to be his wife. 16 But if her father utterly refuses to give her to him, he must weigh out silver equal to the dowry for virgins.
17 “You must not permit a sorceress to live.
18 “Anyone who lies with an animal must surely be put to death.
19 “Anyone who sacrifices to the gods, except to Adonai alone, is to be put under a ban of destruction.
20 “You must not exploit or oppress an outsider, for you were outsiders in the land of Egypt.
21 “You must not mistreat any widow or orphan. 22 If you mistreat them in any way, and they cry out to Me, I will surely hear their cry. 23 My wrath will burn hot, and I will kill you with the sword. So your wives will become widows and your children will become orphans.
24 “If you lend money to any of My people, to the poor among you, you are not to act like a debt collector with him, and you are not to charge him interest. 25 If you ever take your neighbor’s cloak as a pledge, you are to return it to him before the sun goes down, 26 for that is his only covering, his cloak for his skin. What will he sleep in? When he cries out to Me I will hear, because I am gracious.
27 “Do not despise God, or curse a ruler of your people.
28 “Do not hold back the fullness of your crops or your vintage. You are to present the firstborn of your sons to Me. 29 “Do the same with your cattle and with your sheep. For seven days it is to be with its mother, and on the eighth day you are to give it to Me.
30 “You are to be a holy people for Me. You must not eat any flesh torn by beasts in the field. You may throw it out to the dogs.
Marriage and Covenant Faithfulness
19 Now when Yeshua had finished these words, He moved on from the Galilee and entered the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. 2 Large crowds followed Him, and He healed them there. 3 Pharisees came up to Yeshua, testing Him and saying, “Is it permitted for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?”
4 “Haven’t you read?” He answered. “He who created them from the beginning ‘made them male and female’ [a] 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ [b] 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no man separate.”
7 They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to ‘give her a certificate of divorce and put her away?’”[c]
8 Yeshua said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. 9 Now I tell you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”[d]
10 The disciples said to Him, “If that’s the case for a man and his wife, it’s better not to marry!”
11 But He said to them, “Not everyone can accept this saying—only those to whom it has been given. 12 For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother’s womb; and there are eunuchs who were made that way by men; and there are eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who can accept this, let him accept it.”
Receiving the Kingdom of Heaven
13 Then little children were brought to Yeshua so that He might lay hands upon them and pray. Then the disciples rebuked those who brought them. [e] 14 But Yeshua said, “Let the little children come to Me and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” 15 After laying His hands upon them, He went on from there.
16 Now behold, one came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good shall I do to have eternal life?”
17 “Why do you ask Me about what is good?” Yeshua said to him. “There is only One who is good; but if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”
18 “Which ones?” he said.
Yeshua said, “‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, 19 honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’”[f]
20 “All these I’ve kept,” the young man said to Him. “What do I still lack?”
21 Yeshua said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you own, and give to the poor; and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.” 22 But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving, for he had much property.
23 Then Yeshua said to His disciples, “Amen, I tell you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
25 When the disciples heard this, they were utterly astonished and said, “Then who can be saved?”
26 And looking, Yeshua said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”[g]
27 Then Peter said to Him, “Look, we’ve left everything to follow You! So what will we have?”
28 And Yeshua said to them, “Amen, I tell you, when the Son of Man sits on His glorious throne in the new world,[h] you who have followed Me shall also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property, for My name’s sake, will receive a hundred times as much, and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.