Exodus 21

₁The Lord said to Moses: ‘Here are the laws that you must give to the Israelites: ₂When you buy a Hebrew slave, he must work for you for 6 years, but in the 7th year you must let him go free. He does not have to pay to become free. ₃If he came to you alone, then he must go away alone. If he was married when he came to you, then his wife must go with him. ₄If you gave him a wife and they had children, then the woman and her children belong to you. The man must go away alone.

₅If the slave says: “I love my owner and my wife and my children, and I do not want to go away,” ₆then you must take him to the place where you worship God. You must bring him to the door and make a hole through his ear with a sharp iron. Then he will always be your slave.

₇But if a man sells his daughter to become a slave, then she can not go free like other slaves. ₈If later her owner does not like her and he does not want to marry her, then someone else may buy her from him. But he may not sell her to someone from another nation because then he is not doing what he promised when he said he wanted to marry her. ₉If he wants his son to marry her, then she must be like a daughter to him, not like a slave.

₁₀If later he marries another woman, then he must still give food and clothes to his first wife who was a slave and he must also sleep with her. ₁₁If he does not do these 3 things for her, then she may go away and she does not have to pay him.’

₁₂‘If someone beats another man and the man dies, then you must kill him too. ₁₃If it was an accident and he did not plan to do it, then he may flee to a place that I will show you. ₁₄But if someone planned to kill another man, then you must take him away and you must also kill him, even if he holds onto the altar.

₁₅If someone beats his father or his mother, you must kill him.

₁₆If someone catches another person and sells or keeps him or her for himself, then you must kill him.

₁₇If someone curses his father or mother, you must kill him.’

₁₈‘Sometimes people fight and they beat each other with a stone or with their fists. If one man is not dead but he has to stay in bed ₁₉and he can get up later and walk outside with his staff, then you must not kill the man who has beaten him. But he must pay the man who was hurt and he must care for him until he is healthy again.

₂₀If someone beats his slave or slave girl with a stick and the slave dies immediately, then you must punish the owner. ₂₁If the slave is still_alive one or 2 days later, then you must not kill the owner, because the slave belongs to him.

₂₂When men fight and one of them pushes a pregnant woman and her baby dies, but the woman is not hurt very badly, then the man who pushed her must pay the woman's husband and the court must say how much he must pay. ₂₃But if the woman was hurt very badly, then you must punish the man in the same way. If she dies, then you must also kill him. ₂₄You must do the same to the man as he did to the woman. If she has lost an eye, you must take out his eye, if she has lost a tooth, take out his tooth, and if she has lost a hand or a foot, cut off his hand or foot. ₂₅If he burnt her or wounded her or cut her, you must burn, wound or cut him.

₂₆If someone beats his slave or slave girl on the eye and she becomes blind in her eye, then he must let the slave go free or he must pay for her eye. ₂₇If he hits his slave on the mouth and the slave loses a tooth, then he must let the slave go free or he must pay for his tooth.’

₂₈‘If a bull pushes someone with its horns and the man or woman dies, then you must kill the bull by throwing stones at it and you may not eat its meat. The owner of the bull is innocent. ₂₉But if the bull has pushed people before and they have warned his owner but he has not kept the bull in, then the owner is guilty. You must kill the bull by throwing stones at it and you must also kill its owner. ₃₀If you decide that the owner only needs to pay some money, then he must pay how much you say and he can live. ₃₁If the bull has killed a boy or a girl, then you must punish the owner in the same way. ₃₂If the bull has killed a slave or a slave girl, then the owner of the bull must pay 30 pieces_of_silver to the slave's owner. You must also kill the bull by throwing stones at it.’

₃₃‘If someone opens a water-well or he makes a hole in the ground but he does not cover it and an ox or donkey falls into the hole, ₃₄then the man who made the well must pay. He must pay the owner of the animal and then he may take the dead animal.’

₃₅‘If someone's bull kills another man's bull, then you must sell the living bull and divide the money between the 2 owners. You must also divide the meat of the dead bull. ₃₆If this was not the first time that the bull has fought with other animals and his owner has not kept the bull in, then the owner must give the other man another bull and then he may take the dead bull.’