Exodus 21

1 “These are the laws you are to set before them:

Hebrew Servants

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.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.

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.
5 “But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,’

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.
7 “If a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as menservants do.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.9 If he selects her for his son, he must grant her the rights of a daughter.10 If he marries another woman, he must not deprive the first one of her food, clothing and marital rights.

11 If he does not provide her with these three things, she is to go free, without any payment of money.

Personal Injuries

12 “Anyone who strikes a man and kills him shall surely be put to death.13 However, if he does not do it intentionally, but God lets it happen, he is to flee to a place I will designate.

14 But if a man schemes and kills another man deliberately, take him away from my altar and put him to death.

15 “Anyone who attacks his father or his mother must be put to death.

16 “Anyone who kidnaps another and either sells him or still has him when he is caught must be put to death.

17 “Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.
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,

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.
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 but he is not to be punished if the slave gets up after a day or two, since the slave is his property.
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.23 But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life,24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,

25 burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.
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.

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.
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.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.30 However, if payment is demanded of him, he may redeem his life by paying whatever is demanded.31 This law also applies if the bull gores a son or daughter.

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.
33 “If a man uncovers a pit or digs one and fails to cover it and an ox or a donkey falls into it,

34 the owner of the pit must pay for the loss; he must pay its owner, and the dead animal will be his.
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.

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.

EXODUS 21

Hebrew Slaves

(Deuteronomy 15.12-18)

1 The [Lord] gave Moses the following laws for his people:
2  t If you buy a Hebrew slave, he must remain your slave for six years. But in the seventh year you must set him free, without cost to him. 3 If he was single at the time you bought him, he alone must be set free. But if he was married at the time, both he and his wife must be given their freedom.

4 If you give him a wife, and they have children, only the man himself must be set free; his wife and children remain the property of his owner.
5 But suppose the slave loves his wife and children and his owner so much that he won't leave them.

6 Then he must stand beside either the door or the doorpost at the place of worship, t while his owner punches a small hole through one of his ears with a sharp metal rod. This makes him a slave for life.
7 A young woman who was sold by her father doesn't gain her freedom in the same way that a man does. 8 If she doesn't please the man who bought her to be his wife, he must let her be bought back.t He cannot sell her to foreigners; this would break the contract he made with her.

9 If he selects her as a wife for his son, he must treat her as his own daughter.
10 If the man later marries another woman, he must continue to provide food and clothing for the one he bought and to treat her as a wife.

11 If he fails to do any of these things, she must be given her freedom without paying for it.

Murder //and Other Violent Crimes

The [Lord] said:

14 If you plan in advance to murder someone, there's no escape, not even by holding on to my altar.t You will be dragged off and killed.

15 Death is the punishment for attacking your father or mother.

16  t Death is the punishment for kidnapping. If you sell the person you kidnapped, or if you are caught with that person, the penalty is death.

17  t Death is the punishment for cursing your father or mother.
18 Suppose two of you are arguing, and you hit the other with either a rock or your fist, without causing a fatal injury. If the victim has to stay in bed,

19 and later has to use a stick when walking outside, you must pay for the loss of time and do what you can to help until the injury is completely healed. That's your only responsibility.
20 Death is the punishment for beating to death any of your slaves.

21 However, if the slave lives a few days after the beating, you are not to be punished. After all, you have already lost the services of that slave who was your property.
22 Suppose a pregnant woman suffers a miscarriaget as the result of an injury caused by someone who is fighting. If she isn't badly hurt, the one who injured her must pay whatever fine her husband demands and the judges approve. 23 But if she is seriously injured, the payment will be life for life, 24 t eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,

25 burn for burn, cut for cut, and bruise for bruise.
26 If you hit one of your slaves and cause the loss of an eye, the slave must be set free.

27 The same law applies if you knock out a slave's tooth—the slave goes free.

28 A bull that kills someone with its horns must be killed and its meat destroyed, but the owner of the bull isn't responsible for the death.
29 Suppose you own a bull that has been in the habit of attacking people, but you have refused to keep it fenced in. If that bull kills someone, both you and the bull must be put to death by stoning. 30 However, you may save your own life by paying whatever fine is demanded. 31 This same law applies if the bull gores someone's son or daughter.

32 If the bull kills a slave, you must pay the slave owner 30 pieces of silver for the loss of the slave, and the bull must be killed by stoning.
33 Suppose someone's ox or donkey is killed by falling into an open pit that you dug or left uncovered on your property.

34 You must pay for the dead animal, and it becomes yours.

35 If your bull kills someone else's, yours must be sold. Then the money from your bull and the meat from the dead bull must be divided equally between you and the other owner.
36 If you refuse to fence in a bull that is known to attack others, you must replace any animal it kills, but the dead animal will belong to you.