²‘If you buy a Hebrew slave, he will serve six years, and in the seventh he will go out as free for nothing.^a ³If he comes in single, he will go out single. If he is the husband of a wife, his wife will go out with him. ⁴If his master gives him a wife and she bears for him sons or daughters, the wife and her children will belong to her master, and the slave will go out single. ⁵But if the slave explicitly says, “I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,” ⁶his master will present him to God^b and bring him to the door or to the doorpost, and his master will pierce his ear with an awl, and he will serve him forever.

⁷“ ‘And if a man sells his daughter as a slave woman, she will not go out as male slaves go out. ⁸If she does not please her master^c who selected her, he will allow her to be redeemed; he has no authority to sell her to foreign people, since he has dealt treacherously with her. ⁹And if he selects her for his son, he shall do for her according to the regulations for daughters. ¹⁰If he takes for himself another, he will not reduce her food, her clothing, or her right of cohabitation. ¹¹And if he does not do for her these three, she shall go out for nothing; there will not be silver^d paid for her.

Regulations Regarding Murder, Manslaughter, and Various Injuries

¹²“ ‘Whoever strikes someone^e and he dies will surely be put to death. ¹³But if he did not lie in wait and it was an accident,^f I will appoint for you a place to which he may flee. ¹⁴But if a man schemes against his neighbor to kill him by treachery,^g you will take him from my altar to die. ¹⁵And whoever strikes^h his father or his mother will surely be put to death.

¹⁶“ ‘And whoever kidnaps someoneⁱ and sells him, or he is found in his possession,^j he will surely be put to death.

¹⁷“ ‘And one who curses his father or his mother will surely be put to death.

¹⁸“ ‘And if men quarrel and a man strikes his neighbor with a stone or with a fist and he does not die, but he is confined to bed,^k ¹⁹if he stands and walks about in the outside on his staff, the striker will be unpunished; he will only pay for his inactivity^l toward his full recovery.”^m ²⁰And if a man strikes his male slave or his female slave with the rod and he dies under his hand, he will surely be avenged. ²¹Yet if he survives a day or two days, he will not be avenged, because he is his money.ⁿ

²²“ ‘And if men fight and they injure a pregnant woman, and her children go out and there is not serious injury, he will surely be fined as the woman’s husband demands concerning him and as the judges determine.^o ²³And if there is serious injury, you will give life in place of life, ²⁴eye in place of eye, tooth in place of tooth, hand in place of hand, foot in place of foot, ²⁵burn in place of burn, wound in place of wound, bruise in place of bruise.

²⁶“ ‘And if a man strikes the eye of his male slave or the eye of his female slave and destroys it, he shall release him as free in place of his eye. ²⁷And if he causes the tooth of his male slave or the tooth of his female slave to fall out, he will release him as free in place of his tooth.

²⁸“ ‘And if an ox gores a man or a woman and he dies, the ox will surely be stoned, and its meat will not be eaten, and the owner of the ox is innocent. ²⁹But if it was a goring ox before^p and its owner was warned and did not restrain it and it kills a man or a woman, the ox will be stoned, and the owner also will be put to death. ³⁰If a ransom is set on him, he will pay the redemption money for his life according to all that is set on him. ³¹If it gores a son or it gores a daughter, according to this regulation it shall be done to him. ³²If the ox gores a male slave or a female slave, he will give thirty shekels of silver to his master, and the ox will be stoned.

³³“ ‘If a man opens a pit or if a man digs a pit and he does not cover it and an ox or a donkey falls into it, ³⁴the owner of the pit will pay restitution; he will pay silver to its owner, but the dead animal will be for him.^q ³⁵And if a man’s ox injures the ox of his neighbor and it dies, they will sell the living ox and divide the money,^r and they will also divide the dead one. ³⁶Or if it was known that it was a goring ox before^s and its owner did not restrain it, he will surely make restitution, an ox in place of the ox, and the dead one will be for him.

Regulations Regarding Theft, Borrowing, and Accidental Damage or Loss

22^a “ ‘If a man steals an ox or small livestock and slaughters it or sells it, he will make restitution with five cattle in place of the ox and with four sheep or goats in place of the small livestock. ²“ ‘If a thief is found in the act of breaking in and he is struck and he dies, there is not bloodguilt for him. ³(If the sun has risen over him, there is bloodguilt for him. He will make full restitution. If he does not have enough,^b he will be sold for his theft. ⁴If indeed the stolen item is found in his possession^c alive, from ox to donkey to small livestock, he will make double restitution.

⁵“ ‘If a man grazes his livestock in a field or a vineyard and he releases his livestock and it grazes in the field of another, he will make restitution from the best of his field and the best of his vineyard.

⁶“ ‘If a fire is started and finds thorn bushes and a stack of sheaves or the standing grain or the field is consumed, the one who started the fire will surely make restitution.

⁷“ ‘If a man gives to his neighbor money or objects to watch over and it is stolen from the house of the man, if the thief is found, he will make double restitution. ⁸If the thief is not found, the owner of the house will be brought to the sanctuary^d to learn whether or not he reached out his hand to his neighbor’s possession. ⁹Concerning every account of transgression—concerning an ox, concerning a donkey, concerning small livestock, concerning clothing, concerning all lost property—where someone says, “This belongs to me,” the matter of the two of them will come to God;^e whomever God declares guilty will make double restitution to his neighbor.

¹⁰“ ‘If a man gives to his neighbor a donkey or an ox or small livestock or any beast to watch over and it dies or is injured or is captured when there is no one who sees, ¹¹the oath of Yahweh will be between the two of them concerning whether or not he has reached out his hand to his neighbor’s possession, and its owner will accept this, and he will not make restitution. ¹²But if indeed it was stolen from him, he will make restitution to its owner. ¹³If indeed it was torn to pieces, he will bring it as evidence—the mangled carcass; he will not make restitution.

¹⁴“ ‘If a man borrows from his neighbor and it is injured or dies while its owner is not with it, he will make restitution. ¹⁵If its owner was with it, he will not make restitution; if it was hired, it came with its hiring fee.

Regulations Regarding Various Offences

¹⁶“ ‘If a man seduces a virgin who is not engaged and he lies with her, he surely will give her bride price to have her as his wife.^f ¹⁷If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him, he will weigh out money according to the bride price for the virgin.

¹⁸“ ‘You will not let a witch live.

¹⁹“ ‘Anyone lying with an animal will surely be put to death.

²⁰“ ‘Whoever sacrifices to the gods—not to Yahweh, to him alone—will be destroyed.

Regulations Regarding Foreigners and the Poor

²¹“ ‘You will not mistreat an alien, and you will not oppress him, because you were aliens in the land of Egypt.

²²“ ‘You will not afflict any widow or orphan. ²³If you indeed afflict him, yes, if he cries out at all to me, I will certainly hear his cry of distress. ²⁴And I will become angry,^g and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives will be widows and your children orphans.

²⁵“ ‘If you lend money to my people, to the needy with you, you will not be to him as a creditor; you will not charge him interest.^h ²⁶If indeed you require the cloak of your neighbor as a pledge, you will return it to him at sundown, ²⁷because it is his only garment; it is his cloak for his skin. In what will he sleep? Andⁱ when he cries out to me, I will hear, because I am gracious.

Regulations Regarding Tribute and Holiness

²⁸“ ‘You will not curse God,^j and you will not curse a leader among your people.

²⁹“ ‘You will not delay the fullness of your harvest and the juice from your press; you will give me the firstborn of your sons. ³⁰You will do likewise for your ox and for your sheep and goats; seven days it will be with its mother; on the eighth, you will give it to me. ³¹And you will be men of holiness for me; and you will not eat meat from a carcass mangled in the field; you will throw it to the dog.

Read in Logos

Footnotes

aOr “for no payment”
bOr “present him to the judges”
cLiterally “bad in the eyes of her master”
dOr “money”
eLiterally “A striker of a man”
fLiterally “and God let him happen to his hand”
gOr “with cunning” or “craftily”
hLiterally “a striker of”
iLiterally “a stealer of a man”
jLiterally “in his hand”
kLiterally “he falls to bed”
lLiterally “his sitting”
mLiterally “and he indeed will recover”
nOr “property”; literally “his silver”
oLiterally “and he will give according to judgments” or “judges” or “arbitrators”
pLiterally “yesterday three days ago”
qOr “will belong to him”
rLiterally “its silver”
sLiterally “yesterday three days ago”
a Exodus 22:1–31 in the English Bible is 21:37–22:30 in the Hebrew Bible
bLiterally “there is not to him”
cLiterally “in his hand”
dLiterally “to God” or perhaps “to the judges”
eOr “the judges”
fLiterally “for him for a woman”
gLiterally “my nose will burn”
hLiterally “put on him interest”
iLiterally “And it will be”
jOr “a judge”