Exodus 21

KING JAMES BIBLE	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 Now these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them.	1 "These are the rules you shall lay before them.
2 If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.	2 When you purchase a Hebrew slave, he is to serve you for six years, but in the seventh year he shall be given his freedom without cost.
3 If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself: if he were married, then his wife shall go out with him.	3 If he comes into service alone, he shall leave alone; if he comes with a wife, his wife shall leave with him.
4 If his master have given him a wife, and she have born him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out by himself.	4 But if his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children shall remain the master's property and the man shall leave alone.
5 And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free:	5 If, however, the slave declares, 'I am devoted to my master and my wife and children; I will not go free,'
6 Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall serve him for ever.	6 his master shall bring him to God and there, at the door or doorpost, he shall pierce his ear with an awl, thus keeping him as his slave forever.
7 And if a man sell his daughter to be a maidservant, she shall not go out as the menservants do.	7 "When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she shall not go free as male slaves do.
8 If she please not her master, who hath betrothed her to himself, then shall he let her be redeemed: to sell her unto a strange nation he shall have no power, seeing he hath dealt deceitfully with her.	8 But if her master, who had destined her for himself, dislikes her, he shall let her be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to a foreigner, since he has broken faith with her.
9 And if he have betrothed her unto his son, he shall deal with her after the manner of daughters.	9 If he destines her for his son, he shall treat her like a daughter.
10 If he take him another wife; her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage, shall he not diminish.	10 If he takes another wife, he shall not withhold her food, her clothing, or her conjugal rights.
11 And if he do not these three unto her, then shall she go out free without money.	11 If he does not grant her these three things, she shall be given her freedom absolutely, without cost to her.
12 He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death.	12 "Whoever strikes a man a mortal blow must be put to death.
13 And if a man lie not in wait, but God deliver him into his hand; then I will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee.	13 He, however, who did not hunt a man down, but caused his death by an act of God, may flee to a place which I will set apart for this purpose.
14 But if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbour, to slay him with guile; thou shalt take him from mine altar, that he may die.	14 But when a man kills another after maliciously scheming to do so, you must take him even from my altar and put him to death.
15 And he that smiteth his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death.	15 Whoever strikes his father or mother shall be put to death.
16 And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.	16 "A kidnaper, whether he sells his victim or still has him when caught, shall be put to death.
17 And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death.	17 "Whoever curses his father or mother shall be put to death.
18 And if men strive together, and one smite another with a stone, or with his fist, and he die not, but keepeth his bed:	18 "When men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist, not mortally, but enough to put him in bed,
19 If he rise again, and walk abroad upon his staff, then shall he that smote him be quit: only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall cause him to be thoroughly healed.	19 the one who struck the blow shall be acquitted, provided the other can get up and walk around with the help of his staff. Still, he must compensate him for his enforced idleness and provide for his complete cure.
20 And if a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand; he shall be surely punished.	20 "When a man strikes his male or female slave with a rod so hard that the slave dies under his hand, he shall be punished.
21 Notwithstanding, if he continue a day or two, he shall not be punished: for he is his money.	21 If, however, the slave survives for a day or two, he is not to be punished, since the slave is his own property.
22 If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman's husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine.	22 "When men have a fight and hurt a pregnant woman, so that she suffers a miscarriage, but no further injury, the guilty one shall be fined as much as the woman's husband demands of him, and he shall pay in the presence of the judges.
23 And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life,	23 But if injury ensues, you shall give life for life,
24 Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,	24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
25 Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.	25 burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
26 And if a man smite the eye of his servant, or the eye of his maid, that it perish; he shall let him go free for his eye's sake.	26 "When a man strikes his male or female slave in the eye and destroys the use of the eye, he shall let the slave go free in compensation for the eye.
27 And if he smite out his manservant's tooth, or his maidservant's tooth; he shall let him go free for his tooth's sake.	27 If he knocks out a tooth of his male or female slave, he shall let the slave go free in compensation for the tooth.
28 If an ox gore a man or a woman, that they die: then the ox shall be surely stoned, and his flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be quit.	28 "When an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox must be stoned; its flesh may not be eaten. The owner of the ox, however, shall go unpunished.
29 But if the ox were wont to push with his horn in time past, and it hath been testified to his owner, and he hath not kept him in, but that he hath killed a man or a woman; the ox shall be stoned, and his owner also shall be put to death.	29 But if an ox was previously in the habit of goring people and its owner, though warned, would not keep it in; should it then kill a man or a woman, not only must the ox be stoned, but its owner also must be put to death.
30 If there be laid on him a sum of money, then he shall give for the ransom of his life whatsoever is laid upon him.	30 If, however, a fine is imposed on him, he must pay in ransom for his life whatever amount is imposed on him.
31 Whether he have gored a son, or have gored a daughter, according to this judgment shall it be done unto him.	31 This law applies if it is a boy or a girl that the ox gores.
32 If the ox shall push a manservant or a maidservant; he shall give unto their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.	32 But if it is a male or a female slave that it gores, he must pay the owner of the slave thirty shekels of silver, and the ox must be stoned.
33 And if a man shall open a pit, or if a man shall dig a pit, and not cover it, and an ox or an ass fall therein;	33 "When a man uncovers or digs a cistern and does not cover it over again, should an ox or an ass fall into it,
34 The owner of the pit shall make it good, and give money unto the owner of them; and the dead beast shall be his.	34 the owner of the cistern must make good by restoring the value of the animal to its owner; the dead animal, however, he may keep.
35 And if one man's ox hurt another's, that he die; then they shall sell the live ox, and divide the money of it; and the dead ox also they shall divide.	35 "When one man's ox hurts another's ox so badly that it dies, they shall sell the live ox and divide this money as well as the dead animal equally between them.
36 Or if it be known that the ox hath used to push in time past, and his owner hath not kept him in; he shall surely pay ox for ox; and the dead shall be his own.	36 But if it was known that the ox was previously in the habit of goring and its owner would not keep it in, he must make full restitution, an ox for an ox; but the dead animal he may keep. (v 37) "When a man steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters or sells it, he shall restore five oxen for the one ox, and four sheep for the one sheep.