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Exodus 21
New American Standard Bible
Exodus 21
New American Standard Bible
Ordinances for the People
21 “Now these are the (A)ordinances which you are to set before them:
2 “If you buy (B)a Hebrew slave, he shall serve for six years; but on the seventh he shall leave as a free man without a payment to you. 3 If he comes [a]alone, he shall leave [b]alone; if he is the husband of a wife, then his wife shall leave with him. 4 If his master gives him a wife, and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall belong to her master, and he shall leave [c]alone. 5 But (C)if the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not leave as a free man,’ 6 then his master shall bring him to [d]God, then he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall pierce his ear with an [e]awl; and he shall serve him permanently.
7 “Now (D)if a man sells his daughter as a female slave, she is not to [f]go free (E)as the male slaves [g]do. 8 If she is [h]displeasing in the eyes of her master [i]who designated her for himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He does not have authority to sell her to a foreign people, because of his [j]unfairness to her. 9 And if he designates her for his son, he shall deal with her according to the custom of daughters. 10 If he takes to himself another woman, he may not reduce her [k]food, her clothing, or (F)her conjugal rights. 11 But if he will not do these three things for her, then she shall go [l]free for nothing, without payment of money.
Personal Injuries
12 “(G)He who strikes someone so that he dies shall certainly be put to death. 13 (H)Yet [m]if he did not lie in wait for him, but (I)God caused him to fall into his hand, then I will appoint you a place to which he may flee. 14 (J)If, however, someone is enraged against his neighbor, so as to kill him in a cunning way, you are to take him even from My altar, to be put to death.
15 “And one who strikes his father or his mother shall certainly be put to death.
16 “Now (K)one who [n]kidnaps someone, whether he sells him or he is found in his [o]possession, shall certainly be put to death.
17 “And (L)one who curses his father or his mother shall certainly be put to death.
18 “Now if people have a quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or with a fist, and he does not die but [p]is confined to bed, 19 if he gets up and walks around outside on his staff, then he who struck him shall go unpunished; he shall only pay for his [q]loss of time, and [r]shall pay for his care until he is completely healed.
20 “And if someone strikes his male or female slave with a rod and the slave dies [s]at his hand, he shall [t]be punished. 21 If, however, the slave [u]survives a day or two, no vengeance shall be taken; (M)for the slave is his [v]property.
22 “Now if people struggle with each other and strike a pregnant woman so that [w]she gives birth prematurely, but there is no injury, the guilty person shall certainly be fined as the woman’s husband [x]may demand of him, and he shall (N)pay [y]as the judges decide. 23 But if there is any further injury, (O)then you shall appoint as a penalty life for life, 24 (P)eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, [z]bruise for bruise.
26 “And if someone strikes the eye of his male or female slave and destroys it, he shall let [aa]the slave go free on account of the eye. 27 And if he [ab]knocks out a tooth of his male or female slave, he shall let [ac]the slave go free on account of the tooth.
28 “Now if an ox gores a man or a woman [ad]to death, (Q)the ox shall certainly be stoned and its flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall go unpunished. 29 If, however, an ox was previously in the habit of goring and its owner has been warned, yet he does not confine it and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned and its owner also shall be put to death. 30 If a ransom is [ae]demanded of him, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is [af]demanded of him. 31 Whether it gores a son or [ag]a daughter, it shall be done to him according to [ah]the same rule. 32 If the ox gores a male or female slave, [ai]the owner shall give his or her master [aj](R)thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.
Property Rights
33 “Now if someone opens a pit, or [ak]digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it, 34 the owner of the pit shall make restitution; he shall [al]give money to its owner, and the dead animal shall become his.
35 “And if someone’s ox injures another’s ox so that it dies, then they shall sell the live ox and divide its proceeds equally; and they shall also divide the dead ox. 36 Or if it is known that the ox was previously in the habit of goring, yet its owner has not confined it, he must make restitution of ox for ox, and the dead animal shall become his.
Footnotes
- Exodus 21:3 Lit by himself
- Exodus 21:3 Lit by himself
- Exodus 21:4 Lit by himself
- Exodus 21:6 Or the judges (who acted in God’s name)
- Exodus 21:6 I.e., a pointed tool
- Exodus 21:7 Lit go out
- Exodus 21:7 Lit go out
- Exodus 21:8 Lit bad
- Exodus 21:8 Another reading is so that he did not designate her
- Exodus 21:8 Lit dealing treacherously
- Exodus 21:10 Lit flesh
- Exodus 21:11 Lit out
- Exodus 21:13 Lit he who
- Exodus 21:16 Lit steals
- Exodus 21:16 Lit hand
- Exodus 21:18 Lit lies in
- Exodus 21:19 Lit his sitting
- Exodus 21:19 Lit healing, he shall cause to be healed
- Exodus 21:20 Lit under
- Exodus 21:20 Lit suffer vengeance
- Exodus 21:21 Lit stands
- Exodus 21:21 Lit money
- Exodus 21:22 Or an untimely birth occurs; lit her children come out
- Exodus 21:22 Lit lays on him
- Exodus 21:22 Lit by arbitration
- Exodus 21:25 Lit welt
- Exodus 21:26 Lit him go...his eye
- Exodus 21:27 Lit causes to fall
- Exodus 21:27 Lit him go...his tooth
- Exodus 21:28 Lit so that he dies
- Exodus 21:30 Lit laid on him
- Exodus 21:30 Lit laid on him
- Exodus 21:31 Lit gores a daughter
- Exodus 21:31 Lit this judgment
- Exodus 21:32 Lit he
- Exodus 21:32 About 15 oz. or 425 gm
- Exodus 21:33 Lit if a man digs
- Exodus 21:34 Lit give back
Exodus 21
New International Version
Exodus 21
New International Version
21 “These are the laws(A) you are to set before them:
Hebrew Servants(B)(C)
2 “If you buy a Hebrew servant,(D) he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free,(E) without paying anything. 3 If he comes alone, he is to go free alone; but if he has a wife when he comes, she is to go with him. 4 If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her master, and only the man shall go free.
5 “But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,’(F) 6 then his master must take him before the judges.[a](G) He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce(H) his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life.(I)
7 “If a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as male servants do. 8 If she does not please the master who has selected her for himself,[b] he must let her be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to foreigners, because he has broken faith with her. 9 If he selects her for his son, he must grant her the rights of a daughter. 10 If he marries another woman, he must not deprive the first one of her food, clothing and marital rights.(J) 11 If he does not provide her with these three things, she is to go free, without any payment of money.
Personal Injuries
12 “Anyone who strikes a person with a fatal blow is to be put to death.(K) 13 However, if it is not done intentionally, but God lets it happen, they are to flee to a place(L) I will designate. 14 But if anyone schemes and kills someone deliberately,(M) that person is to be taken from my altar and put to death.(N)
15 “Anyone who attacks[c] their father or mother is to be put to death.
16 “Anyone who kidnaps someone is to be put to death,(O) whether the victim has been sold(P) or is still in the kidnapper’s possession.
17 “Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.(Q)
18 “If people quarrel and one person hits another with a stone or with their fist[d] and the victim does not die but is confined to bed, 19 the one who struck the blow will not be held liable if the other can get up and walk around outside with a staff; however, the guilty party must pay the injured person for any loss of time and see that the victim is completely healed.
20 “Anyone who beats their male or female slave with a rod must be punished if the slave dies as a direct result, 21 but they are not to be punished if the slave recovers after a day or two, since the slave is their property.(R)
22 “If people are fighting and hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely[e] but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman’s husband demands(S) and the court allows. 23 But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life,(T) 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth,(U) hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.
26 “An owner who hits a male or female slave in the eye and destroys it must let the slave go free to compensate for the eye. 27 And an owner who knocks out the tooth of a male or female slave must let the slave go free to compensate for the tooth.
28 “If a bull gores a man or woman to death, the bull is to be stoned to death,(V) and its meat must not be eaten. But the owner of the bull will not be held responsible. 29 If, however, the bull has had the habit of goring and the owner has been warned but has not kept it penned up(W) and it kills a man or woman, the bull is to be stoned and its owner also is to be put to death. 30 However, if payment is demanded, the owner may redeem his life by the payment of whatever is demanded.(X) 31 This law also applies if the bull gores a son or daughter. 32 If the bull gores a male or female slave, the owner must pay thirty shekels[f](Y) of silver to the master of the slave, and the bull is to be stoned to death.
33 “If anyone uncovers a pit(Z) or digs one and fails to cover it and an ox or a donkey falls into it, 34 the one who opened the pit must pay the owner for the loss and take the dead animal in exchange.
35 “If anyone’s bull injures someone else’s bull and it dies, the two parties are to sell the live one and divide both the money and the dead animal equally. 36 However, if it was known that the bull had the habit of goring, yet the owner did not keep it penned up,(AA) the owner must pay, animal for animal, and take the dead animal in exchange.
Footnotes
- Exodus 21:6 Or before God
- Exodus 21:8 Or master so that he does not choose her
- Exodus 21:15 Or kills
- Exodus 21:18 Or with a tool
- Exodus 21:22 Or she has a miscarriage
- Exodus 21:32 That is, about 12 ounces or about 345 grams
New American Standard Bible (NASB) 
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.