Exodus 20–23

¹‘And God speaketh all these words, saying, ²I am Jehovah thy God, who hath brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of a house of servants.

³‘Thou hast no other Gods before Me.

⁴‘Thou dost not make to thyself a graven image, or any likeness which is in the heavens above, or which is in the earth beneath, or which is in the waters under the earth. ⁵Thou dost not bow thyself to them, nor serve them: for I, Jehovah thy God, am a zealous God, charging iniquity of fathers on sons, on the third generation, and on the fourth, of those hating Me, ⁶and doing kindness to thousands, of those loving Me and keeping My commands.

⁷‘Thou dost not take up the name of Jehovah thy God for a vain thing, for Jehovah acquitteth not him who taketh up His name for a vain thing.

⁸‘Remember the Sabbath-day to sanctify it; ⁹six days thou dost labour, and hast done all thy work, ¹⁰and the seventh day is a Sabbath to Jehovah thy God; thou dost not do any work, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, thy man-servant, and thy handmaid, and thy cattle, and thy sojourner who is within thy gates,— ¹¹for six days hath Jehovah made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and resteth in the seventh day; therefore hath Jehovah blessed the Sabbath-day, and doth sanctify it.

¹²‘Honour thy father and thy mother, so that thy days are prolonged on the ground which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee.

¹³‘Thou dost not murder.

¹⁴‘Thou dost not commit adultery.

¹⁵‘Thou dost not steal.

¹⁶‘Thou dost not answer against thy neighbour a false testimony.

¹⁷‘Thou dost not desire the house of thy neighbour, thou dost not desire the wife of thy neighbour, or his man-servant, or his handmaid, or his ox, or his ass, or anything which is thy neighbour’s.’

¹⁸And all the people are seeing the voices, and the flames, and the sound of the trumpet, and the mount smoking; and the people see, and move, and stand afar off, ¹⁹and say unto Moses, ‘Speak thou with us, and we hear, and let not God speak with us, lest we die.’ ²⁰And Moses saith unto the people, ‘Fear not, for to try you hath God come, and in order that His fear may be before your faces—that ye sin not.’ ²¹And the people stand afar off, and Moses hath drawn nigh unto the thick darkness where God is.

²²And Jehovah saith unto Moses, ‘Thus dost thou say unto the sons of Israel: Ye—ye have seen that from the heavens I have spoken with you; ²³ye do not make with Me gods of silver, even gods of gold ye do not make to yourselves.

²⁴‘An altar of earth thou dost make for Me, and thou hast sacrificed on it thy burnt-offerings and thy peace-offerings, thy flock and thy herd; in every place where I cause My name to be remembered I come in unto thee, and have blessed thee.

²⁵‘And if an altar of stones thou dost make to Me, thou dost not build them of hewn work; when thy tool thou hast waved over it, then thou dost pollute it; ²⁶neither dost thou go up by steps on Mine altar, that thy nakedness be not revealed upon it.

Chapter 21

¹‘And these are the judgments which thou dost set before them:

²‘When thou buyest a Hebrew servant—six years he doth serve, and in the seventh he goeth out as a freeman for nought; ³if by himself he cometh in, by himself he goeth out; if he is owner of a wife, then his wife hath gone out with him; ⁴if his lord give to him a wife, and she hath borne to him sons or daughters—the wife and her children are her lord’s, and he goeth out by himself.

⁵‘And if the servant really say: I have loved my lord, my wife, and my sons—I do not go out free; ⁶then hath his lord brought him nigh unto God, and hath brought him nigh unto the door, or unto the side-post, and his lord hath bored his ear with an awl, and he hath served him—to the age.

⁷‘And when a man selleth his daughter for a handmaid, she doth not go out according to the going out of the men-servants; ⁸if evil in the eyes of her lord, so that he hath not betrothed her, then he hath let her be ransomed; to a strange people he hath not power to sell her, in his dealing treacherously with her.

⁹‘And if to his son he betroth her, according to the right of daughters he doth to her.

¹⁰‘If another woman he take for him, her food, her covering, and her habitation, he doth not withdraw; ¹¹and if these three he do not to her, then she hath gone out for nought, without money.

¹²‘He who smiteth a man so that he hath died, is certainly put to death; ¹³as to him who hath not laid wait, and God hath brought to his hand, I have even set for thee a place whither he doth flee.

¹⁴‘And when a man doth presume against his neighbour to slay him with subtilty, from Mine altar thou dost take him to die.

¹⁵‘And he who smiteth his father or his mother is certainly put to death.

¹⁶‘And he who stealeth a man, and hath sold him, and he hath been found in his hand, is certainly put to death.

¹⁷‘And he who is reviling his father or his mother is certainly put to death.

¹⁸‘And when men contend, and a man hath smitten his neighbour with a stone, or with the fist, and he die not, but hath fallen on the bed; ¹⁹if he rise, and hath gone up and down without on his staff, then hath the smiter been acquitted; only his cessation he giveth, and he is thoroughly healed.

²⁰‘And when a man smiteth his man-servant or his handmaid, with a rod, and he hath died under his hand—he is certainly avenged; ²¹only if he remain a day, or two days, he is not avenged, for he is his money.

²²‘And when men strive, and have smitten a pregnant woman, and her children have come out, and there is no mischief, he is certainly fined, as the husband of the woman doth lay upon him, and he hath given through the judges; ²³and if there is mischief, then thou hast given life for life, ²⁴eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, ²⁵burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

²⁶‘And when a man smiteth the eye of his man-servant, or the eye of his handmaid, and hath destroyed it, as a freeman he doth send him away for his eye; ²⁷and if a tooth of his man-servant or a tooth of his handmaid he knock out, as a freeman he doth send him away for his tooth.

²⁸‘And when an ox doth gore man or woman, and they have died, the ox is certainly stoned, and his flesh is not eaten, and the owner of the ox is acquitted; ²⁹and if the ox is one accustomed to gore heretofore, and it hath been testified to its owner, and he doth not watch it, and it hath put to death a man or woman, the ox is stoned, and its owner also is put to death.

³⁰‘If atonement is laid upon him, then he hath given the ransom of his life, according to all that is laid upon him; ³¹whether it gore a son or gore a daughter, according to this judgment it is done to him.

³²‘If the ox gore a man-servant or a handmaid, thirty silver shekels he doth give to their lord, and the ox is stoned.

³³‘And when a man doth open a pit, or when a man doth dig a pit, and doth not cover it, and an ox or ass hath fallen thither,— ³⁴the owner of the pit doth repay, money he doth give back to its owner, and the dead is his.

³⁵‘And when a man’s ox doth smite the ox of his neighbour, and it hath died, then they have sold the living ox, and halved its money, and also the dead one they do halve; ³⁶or, it hath been known that the ox is one accustomed to gore heretofore, and its owner doth not watch it, he certainly repayeth ox for ox, and the dead is his.

Chapter 22

¹‘When a man doth steal an ox or sheep, and hath slaughtered it or sold it, five of the herd he doth repay for the ox, and four of the flock for the sheep.

²‘If in the breaking through, the thief is found, and he hath been smitten, and hath died, there is no blood for him; ³if the sun hath risen upon him, blood is for him, he doth certainly repay; if he have nothing, then he hath been sold for his theft; ⁴if the theft is certainly found in his hand alive, whether ox, or ass, or sheep—double he repayeth.

⁵‘When a man depastureth a field or vineyard, and hath sent out his beast, and it hath pastured in the field of another, of the best of his field, and the best of his vineyard, he doth repay.

⁶‘When fire goeth forth, and hath found thorns, and a stack, or the standing corn, or the field, hath been consumed, he who causeth the burning doth certainly repay.

⁷‘When a man doth give unto his neighbour silver, or vessels to keep, and it hath been stolen out of the man’s house; if the thief is found, he repayeth double.

⁸‘If the thief is not found, then the master of the house hath been brought near unto God, whether he hath not put forth his hand against the work of his neighbour; ⁹for every matter of transgression, for ox, for ass, for sheep, for raiment, for any lost thing of which it is said that it is his; unto God cometh the matter of them both; he whom God doth condemn, he repayeth double to his neighbour.

¹⁰‘When a man doth give unto his neighbour an ass, or ox, or sheep, or any beast to keep, and it hath died, or hath been hurt, or taken captive, none seeing— ¹¹an oath of Jehovah is between them both, that he hath not put forth his hand against the work of his neighbour, and its owner hath accepted, and he doth not repay; ¹²but if it is certainly stolen from him, he doth repay to its owner; ¹³if it is certainly torn, he bringeth it in—a witness; the torn thing he doth not repay.

¹⁴‘And when a man doth ask anything from his neighbour, and it hath been hurt or hath died—its owner not being with it—he doth certainly repay; ¹⁵if its owner is with it, he doth not repay,—if it is a hired thing, it hath come for its hire.

¹⁶‘And when a man doth entice a virgin who is not betrothed, and hath lain with her, he doth certainly endow her to himself for a wife; ¹⁷if her father utterly refuse to give her to him, money he doth weigh out according to the dowry of virgins.

¹⁸‘A witch thou dost not keep alive.

¹⁹‘Whoever lieth with a beast is certainly put to death.

²⁰‘He who is sacrificing to a god, save to Jehovah alone, is devoted.

²¹‘And a sojourner thou dost not oppress, nor crush him, for sojourners ye have been in the land of Egypt.

²²‘Any widow or…