January 24
Exodus 21:1 —
23:19
21
“And
these are the judicial decisions that you are to set before them:
2 “In
case you should buy a Hebrew slave, he will be a slave six years, but in the
seventh he will go out as one set free without charge.
3 If
he should come in by himself, by himself he will go out. If he is the owner of a
wife, then his wife must go out with him.
4 If
his master should give him a wife and she does bear him sons or daughters, the
wife and her children will become her master’s and he will go out by himself.
5 But
if the slave should insistently say, ‘I really love my master, my wife and my
sons; I do not want to go out as one set free,’
6 then
his master must bring him near to the [true] God and must bring him up against
the door or the doorpost; and his master must pierce his ear through with an
awl, and he must be his slave to time indefinite.
7 “And
in case a man should sell his daughter as a slave girl, she will not go out in
the way that the slave men go out.
8 If
she is displeasing in the eyes of her master so that he does not designate her
as a concubine but causes her to be redeemed, he will not be entitled to sell
her to a foreign people in his treacherously dealing with her.
9 And
if it should be to his son that he designates her, he is to do to her according
to the due right of daughters.
10 If
he should take another wife for himself, her sustenance, her clothing and her
marriage due are not to be diminished.
11 If
he will not render these three things to her, then she must go out for nothing,
without money.
12 “One
who strikes a man so that he actually dies is to be put to death without fail.
13 But
where one does not lie in wait and the [true] God lets it occur at his hand,
then I must fix for you a place where he can flee.
14 And
in case a man becomes heated against his fellow to the point of killing him with
craftiness, you are to take him even from being at my altar to die.
15 And
one who strikes his father and his mother is to be put to death without fail.
16 “And
one who kidnaps a man and who actually sells him or in whose hand he has been
found is to be put to death without fail.
17 “And
one who calls down evil upon his father and his mother is to be put to death
without fail.
18 “And
in case men should get into a quarrel and one does strike his fellow with a
stone or a hoe and he does not die but must keep to his bed;
19 if
he gets up and does walk about out of doors upon some support of his, then the
one who struck him must be free from punishment; he will make compensation only
for the time lost from that one’s work until he gets him completely healed.
20 “And
in case a man strikes his slave man or his slave girl with a stick and that one
actually dies under his hand, that one is to be avenged without fail.
21 However,
if he lingers for a day or two days, he is not to be avenged, because he is his
money.
22 “And
in case men should struggle with each other and they really hurt a pregnant
woman and her children do come out but no fatal accident occurs, he is to have
damages imposed upon him without fail according to what the owner of the woman
may lay upon him; and he must give it through the justices.
23 But
if a fatal accident should occur, then you must give soul for soul,
24 eye
for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
25 branding
for branding, wound for wound, blow for blow.
26 “And
in case a man should strike the eye of his slave man or the eye of his slave
girl and he really ruins it, he is to send him away as one set free in
compensation for his eye.
27 And
if it should be the tooth of his slave man or the tooth of his slave girl that
he knocks out, he is to send him away as one set free in compensation for his
tooth.
28 “And
in case a bull should gore a man or a woman and that one actually dies, the bull
is to be stoned without fail, but its flesh is not to be eaten; and the owner of
the bull is free from punishment.
29 But
if a bull was formerly in the habit of goring and warning was served on its
owner but he would not keep it under guard, and it did put a man or a woman to
death, the bull is to be stoned and also its owner is to be put to death.
30 If
a ransom should be imposed upon him, then he must give the redemption price for
his soul according to all that may be imposed upon him.
31 Whether
it gored a son or gored a daughter, it is to be done to him according to this
judicial decision.
32 If
it was a slave man or a slave girl that the bull gored, he will give the price
of thirty shekels to that one’s master, and the bull will be stoned.
33 “And
in case a man should open a pit, or in case a man should excavate a pit and
should not cover it, and a bull or an ass does fall into it,
34 the
owner of the pit is to make compensation. The price he is to return to its
owner, and the dead animal will become his own.
35 And
in case a man’s bull should hurt another’s bull and it does die, then they must
sell the live bull and divide the price paid for it; and also the dead one they
should divide.
36 Or
if it was known that a bull was in the habit of goring formerly but its owner
would not keep it under guard, he should without fail make compensation with
bull for bull, and the dead one will become his own.
22
“In
case a man should steal a bull or a sheep and he does slaughter it or sell it,
he is to compensate with five of the herd for the bull and four of the flock for
the sheep.
2 (“If
a thief should be found in the act of breaking in and he does get struck and
die, there is no bloodguilt for him.
3 If
the sun has shone forth upon him, there is bloodguilt for him.)
“He is to make compensation without fail. If he has nothing, then he must be
sold for the things he stole.
4 If
there should be unmistakably found in his hand what was stolen, from bull to ass
and to sheep, alive, he is to make double compensation.
5 “If
a man causes a field or a vineyard to be grazed over and he does send out his
beasts of burden and cause a consuming in another field, he is to make
compensation with the best of his own field or with the best of his own
vineyard.
6 “In
case a fire should spread out and it does catch thorns, and sheaves or standing
grain or a field gets consumed, the one who started the fire is to make
compensation without fail [for what was burned].
7 “In
case a man should give his fellow money or articles to keep, and it gets stolen
from the man’s house, if the thief should be found, he is to make double
compensation.
8 If
the thief should not be found, then the owner of the house must be brought near
to the [true] God to see whether he did not put his hand upon the goods of his
fellow.
9 As
regards any case of transgression, concerning a bull, an ass, a sheep, a
garment, anything lost of which he may say, ‘This is it!’ the case of them both
is to come to the [true] God. The one whom God will pronounce wicked is to make
double compensation to his fellow.
10 “In
case a man should give his fellow an ass or bull or sheep or any domestic animal
to keep, and it does die or get maimed or gets led off while nobody is looking,
11 an
oath by Jehovah is to take place between them both that he did not put his hand
on the goods of his fellow; and their owner must accept it, and the other is not
to make compensation.
12 But
if they should for a fact be stolen from him, he is to make compensation to
their owner.
13 If
it should for a fact be torn by a wild beast, he is to bring it as evidence. For
something torn by a wild beast he is not to make compensation.
14 “But
in case anybody should ask for something of his fellow, and it does get maimed
or die while its owner is not with it, he is to make compensation without fail.
15 If
its owner is with it, he is not to make compensation. If it is hired, it must
come in its hire.
16 “Now
in case a man seduces a virgin who is not engaged, and he actually lies down
with her, he is to obtain her without fail as his wife for the purchase price.
17 If
her father flatly refuses to give her to him, he is to pay over the money at the
rate of purchase money for virgins.
18 “You
must not preserve a sorceress alive.
19 “Anyone
lying down with a beast is positively to be put to death.
20 “One
who sacrifices to any gods but Jehovah alone is to be devoted to destruction.
21 “And
you must not maltreat an alien resident or oppress him, for YOU people became
alien residents in the land of Egypt.
22 “YOU
people must not afflict any widow or fatherless boy.
23 If
you should afflict him at all, then if he cries out to me at all, I shall
unfailingly hear his outcry;
24 and
my anger will indeed blaze, and I shall certainly kill YOU with the sword, and
YOUR wives must become widows and YOUR sons fatherless boys.
25 “If
you should lend money to my people, to the afflicted alongside you, you must not
become like a usurer to him. YOU must not lay interest upon him.
26 “If
you should at all seize the garment of your fellow as a pledge, you are to
return it to him at the setting of the sun.
27 For
it is his only covering. It is his mantle for his skin. In what will he lie
down? And it must occur that he will cry out to me, and I shall certainly hear,
because I am gracious.
28 “You
must not call down evil upon God nor curse a chieftain among your people.
29 “Your
full produce and the overflow of your press you must not give hesitantly. The
firstborn of your sons you are to give to me.
30 The
way you are to do with your bull and your sheep is this: Seven days it will
continue with its mother. On the eighth day you are to give it to me.
31 “And
YOU should prove yourselves holy men to me; and YOU must not eat flesh in the
field that is something torn by a wild beast. YOU should throw it to the dogs.
23
“You must not take up an untrue report. Do not cooperate with a wicked one by
becoming a witness who schemes violence.
2 You
must not follow after the crowd for evil ends; and you must not testify over a
controversy so as to turn aside with the crowd in order to pervert justice.
3 As
for the lowly one, you must not show preference in a controversy of his.
4 “Should
you come upon your enemy’s bull or his ass going astray, you are to return it
without fail to him.
5 Should
you see the ass of someone who hates you lying down under its load, then you
must refrain from leaving him. With him you are without fail to get it loose.
6 “You
are not to pervert the judicial decision of your poor man in his controversy.
7 “You
are to keep far from a false word. And do not kill the innocent and the
righteous, for I shall not declare the wicked one righteous.
8 “You
are not to accept a bribe, for the bribe blinds clear-sighted men and can
distort the words of righteous men.
9 “And
you must not oppress an alien resident, as YOU yourselves have known the soul of
the alien resident, because YOU became alien residents in the land of Egypt.
10 “And
for six years you are to sow your land with seed and you must gather its
produce.
11 But
the seventh year you are to leave it uncultivated and you must let it lie
fallow, and the poor ones of your people must eat of it; and what is left over
by them the wild beasts of the field are to eat. That is the way you are to do
with your vineyard and your olive grove.
12 “Six
days you are to do your work; but on the seventh day you are to desist, in order
that your bull and your ass may rest and the son of your slave girl and the
alien resident may refresh themselves.
13 “And
YOU are to be on your guard respecting all that I have said to YOU; and YOU must
not mention the name of other gods. It should not be heard upon your mouth.
14 “Three
times in the year you are to celebrate a festival to me.
15 You
will keep the festival of unfermented cakes. You will eat unfermented cakes
seven days, just as I have commanded you, at the appointed time in the month of
Abib, because in it you came out of Egypt. And they must not appear before me
empty-handed.
16 Also,
the festival of harvest of the first ripe fruits of your labors, of what you sow
in the field; and the festival of ingathering at the outgoing of the year, when
you gather in your labors from the field.
17 On
three occasions in the year every male of yours will appear before the face of
the [true] Lord, Jehovah.
18 “You
must not sacrifice along with what is leavened the blood of my sacrifice. And
the fat of my festival should not stay overnight until morning.
19 “The
best of the first ripe fruits of your ground you are to bring to the house of
Jehovah your God.
“You must not boil a kid in its mother’s milk.