1‘Here are the laws you must explain to the people of Israel.
Other laws
Set your Hebrew servants free
2‘Suppose you buy a Hebrew servant. He must serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, you must set him free. He does not have to pay anything.3If he does not have a wife when he comes, he must go free alone. But if he has a wife when he comes, she must go with him.4Suppose his master gives him a wife. And suppose she has sons or daughters by him. Then only the man will go free. The woman and her children will belong to her master.5‘But suppose the servant says, “I love my master and my wife and children. I don’t want to go free.”6Then his master must take him to the judges. His master must take him to the door or doorpost of his master’s house. His master must poke a hole through his servant’s earlobe into the door or doorpost. Then he will become his servant for life.7‘Suppose a man sells his daughter as a servant. Then she can’t go free as male servants do.8But what if the master who has chosen her does not like her? Then he must let the man buy her back. He has no right to sell her to strangers. He has broken his promise to her.9What if he chooses her to marry his son? Then he must grant her the rights of a daughter.10What if her master marries another woman? He must still give the first one her food and clothes and sleep with her.11If he does not provide her with those three things, she can go free. She does not have to pay anything.
Laws about harming others
12‘Anyone who hits and kills someone else must be put to death.13Suppose they did not do it on purpose. Suppose I let it happen. Then they can escape to a place I will choose.14But suppose they kill someone on purpose. Then take them away from my altar and put them to death.15‘Anyone who attacks their father or mother must be put to death.16‘Anyone who kidnaps and sells another person must be put to death. If they still have the person with them when they are caught, they must be put to death.17‘Anyone who asks for something bad to happen to their father or mother must be put to death.18‘Suppose two people get into a fight and argue with each other. One hits the other with a stone or his fist. And the person who was hit does not die but has to stay in bed.19And later that person gets up and walks around outside with a walking stick. Then the person who hit the other person will not be held responsible. But that person must pay the one who was hurt for the time spent in bed. The one who hit the other person must be sure that person is completely healed.20‘Suppose a person beats their male or female slave to death with a club. That person must be punished.21But they will not be punished if the slave gets up after a day or two. After all, the slave is their property.22‘Suppose some people are fighting and one of them hits a pregnant woman. And suppose she has her baby early but is not badly hurt. Then the one who hurt her must pay a fine. That person must pay what the woman’s husband asks for and the court allows.23But if someone is badly hurt, a life must be taken for a life.24An eye must be put out for an eye. A tooth must be knocked out for a tooth. A hand must be cut off for a hand and a foot for a foot.25A burn must be given for a burn, a wound for a wound, and a bruise for a bruise.26‘Suppose an owner hits a male or female slave in the eye and destroys it. Then the owner must let the slave go free to pay for the eye.27Suppose an owner knocks out the tooth of a male or female slave. Then he must let the slave go free to pay for the tooth.28‘Suppose a bull kills a man or woman with its horns. Then you must kill the bull by throwing stones at it. Its meat must not be eaten. But the owner of the bull will not be held accountable.29But suppose the bull has had the habit of attacking people. And suppose the owner has been warned but has not kept it fenced in. Then if it kills a man or woman, you must kill it with stones. The owner must also be put to death.30But suppose payment is required of him instead. Then the owner can save his life by paying what is required.31The same law applies if the bull wounds a son or daughter with its horns.32Suppose the bull wounds a male or female slave. Then the owner must pay the slave’s master 360 grams of silver. You must kill the bull with stones.33‘Suppose someone uncovers a pit or digs one and does not cover it. And suppose an ox or donkey falls into it.34Then the person who opened the pit must pay the animal’s owner for the loss. The dead animal will belong to the person who opened the pit.35‘Suppose someone’s bull wounds a neighbour’s bull and it dies. Then the owner and the neighbour must sell the live one. And they must share the money and the dead animal equally.36But suppose people knew that the bull had the habit of attacking. And suppose the owner did not keep it fenced in. Then the owner must give another animal to pay for the dead animal. And the dead animal will belong to the owner.
Exodus 21
English Standard Version
Laws About Slaves
1“Now these are the rules that you shall set before them. (Ex 24:3; De 4:14; De 6:1)2When you buy a Hebrew slave,[1] he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing. (Le 25:39; De 15:12; Jer 34:14)3If he comes in single, he shall go out single; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him.4If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out alone.5But if the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’ (De 15:16)6then his master shall bring him to God, and he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall be his slave forever. (Ps 82:6; Joh 10:34)7“When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do. (Ne 5:5)8If she does not please her master, who has designated her[2] for himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has broken faith with her.9If he designates her for his son, he shall deal with her as with a daughter.10If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, or her marital rights. (1Co 7:5)11And if he does not do these three things for her, she shall go out for nothing, without payment of money.12“Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death. (Ge 9:6; Le 24:17; Nu 35:30; Mt 26:52)13But if he did not lie in wait for him, but God let him fall into his hand, then I will appoint for you a place to which he may flee. (Nu 35:11; Nu 35:22; De 4:41; De 19:2; De 19:4; Jos 20:2)14But if a man willfully attacks another to kill him by cunning, you shall take him from my altar, that he may die. (1Ki 2:28)15“Whoever strikes his father or his mother shall be put to death.16“Whoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found in possession of him, shall be put to death. (Ex 22:4; De 24:7; 1Ti 1:10)17“Whoever curses[3] his father or his mother shall be put to death. (Le 20:9; De 27:16; Pr 20:20; Pr 30:11; Mt 15:4; Mr 7:10)18“When men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist and the man does not die but takes to his bed,19then if the man rises again and walks outdoors with his staff, he who struck him shall be clear; only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall have him thoroughly healed.20“When a man strikes his slave, male or female, with a rod and the slave dies under his hand, he shall be avenged.21But if the slave survives a day or two, he is not to be avenged, for the slave is his money. (Le 25:45)22“When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman’s husband shall impose on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine. (De 22:18; Job 31:11)23But if there is harm,[4] then you shall pay life for life, (De 19:21)24eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, (Le 24:20; De 19:21; Mt 5:38)25burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.26“When a man strikes the eye of his slave, male or female, and destroys it, he shall let the slave go free because of his eye.27If he knocks out the tooth of his slave, male or female, he shall let the slave go free because of his tooth.28“When an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox shall be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten, but the owner of the ox shall not be liable. (Ge 9:5)29But if the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past, and its owner has been warned but has not kept it in, and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned, and its owner also shall be put to death.30If a ransom is imposed on him, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is imposed on him. (Ex 21:22; Ex 30:12; Nu 35:31)31If it gores a man’s son or daughter, he shall be dealt with according to this same rule.32If the ox gores a slave, male or female, the owner shall give to their master thirty shekels[5] of silver, and the ox shall be stoned. (Ex 21:28; Zec 11:12; Mt 26:15)
Laws About Restitution
33“When a man opens a pit, or when a man digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it,34the owner of the pit shall make restoration. He shall give money to its owner, and the dead beast shall be his.35“When one man’s ox butts another’s, so that it dies, then they shall sell the live ox and share its price, and the dead beast also they shall share.36Or if it is known that the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past, and its owner has not kept it in, he shall repay ox for ox, and the dead beast shall be his.