²“Whenever you buy a Hebrew slave, he will be your slave for six years. In the seventh year he may leave as a free man, without paying for his freedom. ³If he comes to you by himself, he must leave by himself. If he comes as a married man, his wife may leave with him. ⁴If his master gives him a wife and she gives birth to sons or daughters, the wife and her children belong to the master, and the slave must leave by himself. ⁵But if he makes this statement: ‘I hereby declare my love for my master, my wife, and my children. I don’t want to leave as a free man,’ ⁶then his master must bring him to God. The master must bring him to the door or the doorframe and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his slave for life.

⁷“Whenever a man sells his daughter into slavery, she will not go free the way male slaves do. ⁸If she doesn’t please the master who has chosen her as a wife,^ahe must let her be bought back by one of her close relatives. He has no right to sell her to foreigners, since he has treated her unfairly. ⁹But if he has chosen her for his son, he must treat her like a daughter. ¹⁰If that son marries another woman, he must not deprive the first wife of food, clothes, or sex. ¹¹If he doesn’t give her these three things, she can go free, without paying any money for her freedom.

Laws Concerning Injury to People

¹²“Whoever strikes someone and kills him must be put to death. ¹³If it wasn’t done intentionally, but God let it happen, the killer should flee to a place I will set aside for you. ¹⁴But whenever someone becomes so angry that he plans to kill his neighbor, you must take him away from my altar and put him to death.

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

¹⁶“Whoever kidnaps another person must be put to death, whether he has sold the kidnapped person or still has him.

¹⁷“Whoever curses his father or mother must be put to death.

¹⁸“This is what you must do whenever men quarrel and one hits the other with a rock or with his fist and injures him so that he has to stay in bed. ¹⁹If the injured man can get up again and walk around outside with a cane, the one who hit him must not be punished. He must pay the injured man for the loss of his time and for all his medical expenses.

²⁰“Whenever an owner hits his male or female slave with a stick so that the slave dies from the beating, the owner must be punished. ²¹But if the slave gets up in a day or two, the owner must not be punished. The slave is his property.

²²“This is what you must do whenever men fight and injure a pregnant woman so that she gives birth prematurely. If there are no other injuries, the offender must pay whatever fine the court allows the woman’s husband to demand. ²³If anyone is injured, the offender must pay a life for a life,

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Footnotes

a 21:8 Or “master so that he does not choose her as a wife.”