21:1 “These are the laws you are to set before them:
21:2 “If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free, without paying anything.
21:3 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.
21:4 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.
21:5 “But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,’
21:6 then his master must take him before the judges. He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life.
21:7 “If a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as menservants do.
21:8 If she does not please the master who has selected her for himself, he must let her be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to foreigners, because he has broken faith with her.
21:9 If he selects her for his son, he must grant her the rights of a daughter.
21:10 If he marries another woman, he must not deprive the first one of her food, clothing and marital rights.
21:11 If he does not provide her with these three things, she is to go free, without any payment of money.
21:12 “Anyone who strikes a man and kills him shall surely be put to death.
21:13 However, if he does not do it intentionally, but God lets it happen, he is to flee to a place I will designate.
21:14 But if a man schemes and kills another man deliberately, take him away from my altar and put him to death.
21:15 “Anyone who attacks his father or his mother must be put to death.
21:16 “Anyone who kidnaps another and either sells him or still has him when he is caught must be put to death.
21:17 “Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.
21:18 “If men quarrel and one hits the other with a stone or with his fist and he does not die but is confined to bed,
21:19 the one who struck the blow will not be held responsible if the other gets up and walks around outside with his staff; however, he must pay the injured man for the loss of his time and see that he is completely healed.
21:20 “If a man beats his male or female slave with a rod and the slave dies as a direct result, he must be punished,
21:21 but he is not to be punished if the slave gets up after a day or two, since the slave is his property.
21:22 “If men who are fighting hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman’s husband demands and the court allows.
21:23 But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life,
21:24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
21:25 burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.
21:26 “If a man hits a manservant or maidservant in the eye and destroys it, he must let the servant go free to compensate for the eye.
21:27 And if he knocks out the tooth of a manservant or maidservant, he must let the servant go free to compensate for the tooth.
21:28 “If a bull gores a man or a woman to death, the bull must be stoned to death, and its meat must not be eaten. But the owner of the bull will not be held responsible.
21:29 If, however, the bull has had the habit of goring and the owner has been warned but has not kept it penned up and it kills a man or woman, the bull must be stoned and the owner also must be put to death.
21:30 However, if payment is demanded of him, he may redeem his life by paying whatever is demanded.
21:31 This law also applies if the bull gores a son or daughter.
21:32 If the bull gores a male or female slave, the owner must pay thirty shekels of silver to the master of the slave, and the bull must be stoned.
21:33 “If a man uncovers a pit or digs one and fails to cover it and an ox or a donkey falls into it,
21:34 the owner of the pit must pay for the loss; he must pay its owner, and the dead animal will be his.
21:35 “If a man’s bull injures the bull of another and it dies, they are to sell the live one and divide both the money and the dead animal equally.
21:36 However, if it was known that the bull had the habit of goring, yet the owner did not keep it penned up, the owner must pay, animal for animal, and the dead animal will be his.
21:1 Now these are the ordinances which you shall set before them.
21:2 If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years; but in the seventh he shall go out free without payment to you.
21:3 If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself; if he is the husband of a wife, then his wife shall go out with him.
21:4 If 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 by himself.
21:5 But if the servant plainly says, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free;
21:6 Then his master shall bring him to God and shall bring him to the door or to the doorpost, and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl; and he shall serve him forever.
21:7 And if a man sells his daughter as a female servant, she shall not go out as the male servants do.
21:8 If she displeases her master, who has designated her for himself, then he shall let her be redeemed; he has no right to sell her to a foreign people, because he has dealt with her unfaithfully.
21:9 And if he designated her for his son, he shall deal with her according to the custom of daughters.
21:10 If he take another woman for himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, or her marital rights.
21:11 And if he does not do these three things for her, then she shall go out for nothing, without payment of silver.
21:12 He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death.
21:13 But if he did not lie in wait for him, but God allowed him to fall by his hand, then I will appoint you a place where he may flee to.
21:14 And if a man acts presumptuously toward his neighbor, so as to slay him with guile, you shall take him even from My altar so that he may die.
21:15 And he who strikes his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.
21:16 And he who kidnaps a man, whether he sells him or he is found in his possession, shall surely be put to death.
21:17 And he who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.
21:18 And if men contend and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist so that he does not die but remains in bed;
21:19 If he can rise up and walk around outside on his staff, then he who struck him shall be guiltless; he shall only pay for the loss of his time, until he has made sure he is completely healed.
21:20 And if a man strikes his male servant or his female servant with a rod, and the servant dies under his hand, he shall surely be punished.
21:21 But if he survives a day or two, he shall not be punished; for he is his property.
21:22 And if men struggle together, and they hit a pregnant woman, so that she has a miscarriage, but there is no further mishap, he shall surely be fined what the woman s husband shall impose upon him, and he shall pay as the judges determine.
21:23 But if there is further mishap, then you shall give a life for a life,
21:24 An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot,
21:25 A burning for a burning, a wound for a wound, a stripe for a stripe.
21:26 And if a man strikes the eye of his male servant or the eye of his female servant and destroys it, he shall let that one go free on account of that one s eye.
21:27 And if he knocks out his male servant s tooth or his female servant s tooth, he shall let that one go free on account of that one s tooth.
21:28 And if an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox shall surely be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be guiltless.
21:29 But if the ox was accustomed to goring previously, and its owner had been warned, but he would not keep it in, and it killed a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned, and its owner shall also be put to death.
21:30 If a ransom is imposed on the owner, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is imposed upon him.
21:31 If either it gores a son or it gores a daughter, according to this judgment it shall be done to him.
21:32 If the ox gores a male servant or a female servant, thirty shekels of silver shall be given to their master, and the ox shall be stoned.
21:33 And if a man opens a pit or if a man digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it,
21:34 The owner of the pit shall make restitution; he shall give silver to its owner, and the dead animal shall be his.
21:35 And if one man s ox injures another s so that it dies, then they shall sell the live ox and divide its price; and they shall also divide the dead animal.
21:36 Or if it is known that the ox was accustomed to goring previously and its owner would not keep it in, he shall surely give restitution, an ox for an ox, and the dead animal shall become his.