Exodus 21-22

New King James Version

The Law Concerning Servants^(A)

21 “Now these are the ^[a]judgments which you shall ^(B)set before them: ^2 (C)If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years; and in the seventh he shall go out free and pay nothing. ³ If he comes in by himself, he shall go out by himself; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him. ⁴ If his master has given him a wife, and she has borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself. ^5 (D)But if the servant plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’ ⁶ then his master shall bring him to the ^(E)judges. He shall also bring him to the door, or to the doorpost, and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him forever.

⁷ “And if a man ^(F)sells his daughter to be a female slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do. ⁸ If she ^[b]does not please her master, who has betrothed her to himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has dealt deceitfully with her. ⁹ And if he has betrothed her to his son, he shall deal with her according to the custom of daughters. ¹⁰ If he takes another wife, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, ^(G)and her marriage rights. ¹¹ And if he does not do these three for her, then she shall go out free, without paying money.

The Law Concerning Violence

^12 (H)“He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death. ¹³ However, ^(I)if he did not lie in wait, but God ^(J)delivered him into his hand, then ^(K)I will appoint for you a place where he may flee.

¹⁴ “But if a man acts with ^(L)premeditation against his neighbor, to kill him by treachery, ^(M)you shall take him from My altar, that he may die.

¹⁵ “And he who strikes his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.

^16 (N)“He who kidnaps a man and ^(O)sells him, or if he is ^(P)found in his hand, shall surely be put to death.

¹⁷ “And ^(Q)he who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.

¹⁸ “If men contend with each other, and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist, and he does not die but is confined to his bed, ¹⁹ if he rises again and walks about outside ^(R)with his staff, then he who struck him shall be ^[c]acquitted. He shall only pay for the loss of his time, and shall provide for him to be thoroughly healed.

²⁰ “And if a man beats his male or female servant with a rod, so that he dies under his hand, he shall surely be punished. ²¹ Notwithstanding, if he remains alive a day or two, he shall not be punished; for he is his ^(S)property.

²² “If men ^[d]fight, and hurt a woman with child, so that ^[e]she gives birth prematurely, yet no harm follows, he shall surely be punished accordingly as the woman’s husband imposes on him; and he shall ^(T)pay as the judges determine. ²³ But if any harm follows, then you shall give life for life, ^24 (U)eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, ²⁵ burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

²⁶ “If a man strikes the eye of his male or female servant, and destroys it, he shall let him go free for the sake of his eye. ²⁷ And if he knocks out the tooth of his male or female servant, he shall let him go free for the sake of his tooth.

Animal Control Laws

²⁸ “If an ox gores a man or a woman to death, then ^(V)the ox shall surely be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be ^[f]acquitted. ²⁹ But if the ox ^[g]tended to thrust with its horn in times past, and it has been made known to his owner, and he has not kept it confined, so that it has killed a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned and its owner also shall be put to death. ³⁰ If there is imposed on him a sum of money, then he shall pay ^(W)to redeem his life, whatever is imposed on him. ³¹ Whether it has gored a son or gored a daughter, according to this judgment it shall be done to him. ³² If the ox gores a male or female servant, he shall give to their master ^(X)thirty shekels of silver, and the ^(Y)ox shall be stoned.

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 in it, ³⁴ the owner of the pit shall make it good; he shall give money to their owner, but the dead animal shall be his.

³⁵ “If one man’s ox hurts another’s, so that it dies, then they shall sell the live ox and divide the money from it; and the dead ox they shall also divide. ³⁶ Or if it was known that the ox tended to thrust in time past, and its owner has not kept it confined, he shall surely pay ox for ox, and the dead animal shall be his own.

Responsibility for Property

22 “If a man steals an ox or a sheep, and slaughters it or sells it, he shall ^(Z)restore five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep. ² If the thief is found ^(AA)breaking in, and he is struck so that he dies, there shall be ^(AB)no guilt for his bloodshed. ³ If the sun has risen on him, there shall be guilt for his bloodshed. He should make full restitution; if he has nothing, then he shall be ^(AC)sold^[h] for his theft. ⁴ If the theft is certainly ^(AD)found alive in his hand, whether it is an ox or donkey or sheep, he shall ^(AE)restore double.

⁵ “If a man causes a field or vineyard to be grazed, and lets loose his animal, and it feeds in another man’s field, he shall make restitution from the best of his own field and the best of his own vineyard.

⁶ “If fire breaks out and catches in thorns, so that stacked grain, standing grain, or the field is consumed, he who kindled the fire shall surely make restitution.

⁷ “If a man ^(AF)delivers to his neighbor money or articles to keep, and it is stolen out of the man’s house, ^(AG)if the thief is found, he shall pay double. ⁸ If the thief is not found, then the master of the house shall be brought to the ^(AH)judges to see whether he has put his hand into his neighbor’s goods.

⁹ “For any kind of trespass, whether it concerns an ox, a donkey, a sheep, or clothing, or for any kind of lost thing which another claims to be his, the ^(AI)cause of both parties shall come before the judges; and whomever the judges condemn shall pay double to his neighbor. ¹⁰ If a man delivers to his neighbor a donkey, an ox, a sheep, or any animal to keep, and it dies, is hurt, or driven away, no one seeing it, ¹¹ then an ^(AJ)oath of the Lord shall be between them both, that he has not put his hand into his neighbor’s goods; and the owner of it shall accept that, and he shall not make it good. ¹² But ^(AK)if, in fact, it is stolen from him, he shall make restitution to the owner of it. ¹³ If it is ^(AL)torn to pieces by a beast, then he shall bring it as evidence, and he shall not make good what was torn.

¹⁴ “And if a man borrows anything from his neighbor, and it becomes injured or dies, the owner of it not being with it, he shall surely make it good. ¹⁵ If its owner was with it, he shall not make it good; if it was hired, it came for its hire.

Moral and Ceremonial Principles

^16 (AM)“If a man entices a virgin who is not betrothed, and lies with her, he shall surely pay the bride-price for her to be his wife. ¹⁷ If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money according to the ^(AN)bride-price of virgins.

^18 (AO)“You shall not permit a sorceress to live.

^19 (AP)“Whoever lies with an animal shall surely be put to death.

^20 (AQ)“He who sacrifices to any god, except to the Lord only, he shall be utterly destroyed.

^21 (AR)“You shall neither mistreat a ^[i]stranger nor oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

^22 (AS)“You shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child. ²³ If you afflict them in any way, and they ^(AT)cry at all to Me, I will surely ^(AU)hear their cry; ²⁴ and My ^(AV)wrath will become hot, and I will kill you with the sword; ^(AW)your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.

^25 (AX)“If you lend money to any of My people who are poor among you, you shall not be like a moneylender to him; you shall not charge him ^(AY)interest. ^26 (AZ)If you ever take your neighbor’s garment as a pledge, you shall return it to him before the sun goes down. ²⁷ For that is his only covering, it is his garment for his skin. What will he sleep in? And it will be that when he cries to Me, I will hear, for I am ^(BA)gracious.

^28 (BB)“You shall not revile God, nor curse a ^(BC)ruler of your people.

²⁹ “You shall not delay to offer ^(BD)the first of your ripe produce and your juices. ^(BE)The firstborn of your sons you shall give to Me. ^30 (BF)Likewise you shall do with your oxen and your sheep. It shall be with its mother ^(BG)seven days; on the eighth day you shall give it to Me.

³¹ “And you shall be ^(BH)holy men to Me: ^(BI)you shall not eat meat torn by beasts in the field; you shall throw it to the dogs.