Exodus 21:12-27

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

The Law concerning Violence

¹² “Whoever strikes a person mortally shall be put to death.^{(A) 13} If it was not premeditated but came about by an act of God, then I will appoint for you a place to which the killer may flee.^{(B) 14} But if someone willfully attacks and kills another by treachery, you shall take the killer from my altar for execution.^(C)

¹⁵ “Whoever strikes father or mother shall be put to death.

¹⁶ “Whoever kidnaps a person, whether that person has been sold or is still held in possession, shall be put to death.^(D)

¹⁷ “Whoever curses father or mother shall be put to death.^(E)

¹⁸ “When individuals quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or fist so that the injured party, though not dead, is confined to bed ¹⁹ but recovers and walks around outside with the help of a staff, then the assailant shall be free of liability, except to pay for the loss of time and to arrange for full recovery.

²⁰ “When a slaveowner strikes a male or female slave with a rod and the slave dies immediately, the owner shall be punished. ²¹ But if the slave survives a day or two, there is no punishment, for the slave is the owner’s property.^(F)

²² “When people who are fighting injure a pregnant woman so that there is a miscarriage and yet no further harm follows, the one responsible shall be fined what the woman’s husband demands, paying as much as the judges determine. ²³ If any harm follows, then you shall give life for life,^{(G) 24} eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,^{(H) 25} burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

²⁶ “When a slaveowner strikes the eye of a male or female slave, destroying it, the owner shall let the slave go, a free person, to compensate for the eye. ²⁷ If the owner knocks out a tooth of a male or female slave, the slave shall be let go, a free person, to compensate for the tooth.