Exodus 20

The Decalogue

1 s God spoke all these words:s

2 “I,s the Lord, am your God,t who brought yout from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery.ts

3 “You shall have not other gods before me.t
4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved imaget or any likenesst of anythingt that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water below.t5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them,t for I, the Lord, your God, am a jealouss God, responding tot the transgression of fathers by dealing with children to the third and fourth generationst of those who reject me,t

6 and showing covenant faithfulnesst to a thousand generationst of those who love me and keep my commandments.

7 “You shall not taket the name of the Lord your God in vain,t for the Lord will not hold guiltlesst anyone who takes his name in vain.
8 “Remembert the Sabbatht day to set it apart as holy.t9 For six dayst you may labort and do all your work,t10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; on itt you shall not do any work, you,s or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your cattle, or the resident foreigner who is in your gates.s

11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, and he rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.

12 “Honort your father and your mother, that you may live a long timet in the lands the Lord your God is giving to you.

13 “You shall not murder.t

14 “You shall not commit adultery.s

15 “You shall not steal.s

16 “You shall not givet false testimonyt against your neighbor.

17 “You shall not covett your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that belongs to your neighbor.”s
18 All the people were seeingt the thundering and the lightning, and heardt the sound of the horn, and sawt the mountain smoking – and whent the people saw it they trembled with feart and kept their distance.t19 They said to Moses, “You speakt to us and we will listen, but do not let God speak with us, lest we die.”20 Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you,t that the fear of himt may be before you so that you do nott sin.”

21 The people keptt their distance, but Moses drew near the thick darknesss where God was.s

The Altar

22 s The Lord saidt to Moses: “Thus you will tell the Israelites: ‘You yourselves have seen that I have spoken with you from heaven.

23 You must not make gods of silver alongside me,t nor make gods of gold for yourselves.ts
24 ‘You must make for me an altar made of earth,s and you will sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings,s your sheep and your cattle. In every placet where I cause my name to be honoredt I will come to you and I will bless you.25 If you make me an altar of stone, you must not build itt of stones shaped with tools,t for if you use your tool on it you have defiled it.t

26 And you must not go up by steps to my altar, so that your nakedness is not exposed.’t

Exodus 21

The Decisions

1 s “These are the decisions that you will set before them:

Hebrew Servants

2 s “If you buyt a Hebrew servant,s he is to serve you for six years, but in the seventh year he will go out frees without paying anything.t3 If he camet in by himselft he will go out by himself; if he hadt a wife when he came in, then his wife will go out with him.4 If his master gaves him a wife, and she bore sons or daughters, the wife and the children will belong to her master, and he will go out by himself.5 But if the servant should declare,t ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go outt free,’

6 then his master must bring him to the judges,t and he will bring him to the door or the doorposts, and his master will pierce his ear with an awl, and he shall serve him forever.t
7 “If a man sells his daughters as a female servant,t she will not go out as the male servants do.8 If she does not pleaset her master, who has designated hert for himself, then he must let her be redeemed.t He has no rightt to sell her to a foreign nation, because he has dealt deceitfullys with her.9 If he designated her for his son, then he will deal with her according to the customary rightst of daughters.10 If he takes another wife,t he must not diminish the first one’s food,t her clothing, or her marital rights.s

11 If he does not provide her with these three things, then she will go out free, without paying money.s

Personal Injuries

12 s “Whoever strikes someonet so that he diest must surely be put to death.s13 But if he does not do it with premeditation,t but it happens by accident,t then I will appoint for you a place where he may flee.

14 But if a man willfully attacks his neighbor to kill him cunningly,t you will take him even from my altar that he may die.

15 “Whoever strikess his father or his mother must surely be put to death.

16 “Whoever kidnaps someonet and sells him,s or is caught still holding him,t must surely be put to death.

17 “Whoever treats his father or his mother disgracefullyt must surely be put to death.
18 “If men fight, and one strikes his neighbor with a stone or with his fist and he does not die, but must remain in bed,t

19 and thent if he gets up and walks aboutt outside on his staff, then the one who struck him is innocent, except he must payt for the injured person’st loss of timet and see to it that he is fully healed.
20 “If a man strikes his male servant or his female servant with a staff so that he or shet dies as a result of the blow,t he will surely be punished.t

21 However, if the injured servantt survives one or two days, the ownert will not be punished, for he has suffered the loss.t
22 “If men fight and hit a pregnant woman and her child is born prematurely,t but there is no serious injury, he will surely be punished in accordance with what the woman’s husband demands of him, and he will pay what the court decides.t23 But if there is serious injury, then you will give a life for a life,24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,

25 burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.s
26 “If a man strikes the eye of his male servant or his female servant so that he destroys it,t he will let the servantt go frees as compensation for the eye.

27 If he knocks out the tooth of his male servant or his female servant, he will let the servantt go free as compensation for the tooth.

Laws about Animals

28 s “If an oxt gores a man or a woman so that either dies,t then the ox must surelyt be stoned and its flesh must not be eaten, but the owner of the ox will be acquitted.29 But if the ox had the habit of goring, and its owner was warned,t and he did not take the necessary precautions,t and then it killed a man or a woman, the ox must be stoned and the man must be put to death.30 If a ransom is set for him,s then he must pay the redemption for his life according to whatever amount was set for him.31 If the oxt gores a son or a daughter, the ownert will be dealt with according to this rule.t

32 If the ox gores a male servant or a female servant, the ownert must pay thirty shekels of silver,s and the ox must be stoned.s
33 “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,34 the owner of the pit must repayt the loss. He must give moneyt to its owner, and the dead animalt will become his.35 If the ox of one man injures the ox of his neighbor so that it dies, then they will sell the live ox and divide its proceeds,t and they will also divide the dead ox.t

36 Or if it is known that the ox had the habit of goring, and its owner did not take the necessary precautions, he must surely payt ox for ox, and the dead animal will become his.s

Exodus 22

Laws about Property

1 s “If a man steals an ox or a sheep and kills it or sells it, he must pay backt five head of cattle for the ox, and four sheep for the one sheep.t
2 “If a thief is caughtt breaking int and is struck so that he dies, there will be no blood guilt for him.ts3 If the sun has risen on him, then there is blood guilt for him. A thieft must surely make full restitution; if he has nothing, then he will be sold for his theft.

4 If the stolen item should in fact be foundt alive in his possession,t whether it be an ox or a donkey or a sheep, he must pay back double.s

5 “If a man grazest his livestockt in a field or a vineyard, and he lets the livestock loose and they graze in the field of another man, he must make restitution from the best of his own field and the best of his own vineyard.
6 “If a fire breaks out and spreadst to thorn bushes,s so that stacked grain or standing grain or the whole field is consumed, the one who startedt the fire must surely make restitution.7 “If a man gives his neighbor money or articlest for safekeeping,t and it is stolen from the man’s house, if the thief is caught,t he must repay double.8 If the thief is not caught,t then the owner of the house will be brought before the judgest to seet whether he has laidt his hand on his neighbor’s goods.9 In all cases of illegal possessions,t whether for an ox, a donkey, a sheep, a garment, or any kind of lost item, about which someone says ‘This belongs to me,’t the matter of the two of them will come before the judges,t and the one whomt the judges declare guiltyt must repay double to his neighbor.10 If a man gives his neighbor a donkey or an ox or a sheep or any beast to keep, and it dies or is hurtt or is carried awayt without anyone seeing it,t11 then there will be an oath to the Lordt between the two of them, that he has not laid his hand on his neighbor’s goods, and its owner will accept this, and he will not have to pay.12 But if it was stolent from him,s he will pay its owner.

13 If it is torn in pieces, then he will bring it for evidence,t and he will not have to pay for what was torn.
14 “If a man borrows an animalt from his neighbor, and it is hurt or dies when its owner was not with it, the man who borrowed itt will surely pay.

15 If its owner was with it, he will not have to pay; if it was hired, what was paid for the hire covers it.t

Moral and Ceremonial Laws

16 s “If a man seduces a virgint who is not engagedt and has sexual relations with her, he must surely endowt her to be his wife.17 If her father refuses to give her to him, he must pay money for the bride price of virgins.

18 “You must not allow a sorceress to live.s

19 “Whoever has sexual relationst with a beast must surely be put to death.
20 “Whoever sacrifices to a god other than the Lordt alone must be utterly destroyed.t

21 “You must not wrongt a foreignert nor oppress him, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
22 “You must not afflictt any widow or orphan.23 If you afflict themt in any wayt and they cry to me, I will surely heart their cry,

24 and my anger will burn and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives will be widows and your children will be fatherless.s
25 “If you lend money to any oft my people who are needy among you, do not be like a moneylenders to him; do not charget him interest.s26 If you do taket the garment of your neighbor in pledge, you must return it to him by the time the sun goes down,t

27 for it is his only covering – it is his garment for his body.t What else can he sleep in?t Andt when he cries out to me, I will hear, for I am gracious.

28 “You must not blasphemet Godt or curse the ruler of your people.
29 “Do not hold back offerings from your granaries or your vats.t You must give me the firstborn of your sons.

30 You must also do this for your oxen and for your sheep; seven days they may remain with their mothers, but give them to me on the eighth day.

31 “You will be holys people to me; you must not eat any meat torn by animals in the field.t You must throw it to the dogs.