| Berean Study Bible | NET Bible |
| 1“These are the ordinances that you are to set before them: | 1"These are the decisions that you will set before them: |
| 2If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free without paying anything. | 2"If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years, but in the seventh year he will go out free without paying anything. |
| 3If he arrived alone, he is to leave alone; if he arrived with a wife, she is to leave with him. | 3If he came in by himself he will go out by himself; if he had a wife when he came in, then his wife will go out with him. |
| 4If 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. | 4If his master gave him a wife, and she bore sons or daughters, the wife and the children will belong to her master, and he will go out by himself. |
| 5But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children; I do not want to go free,’ | 5But if the servant should declare, 'I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,' |
| 6then his master is to bring him before the judges. And he shall take him to the door or doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he shall serve his master for life. | 6then his master must bring him to the judges, and he will bring him to the door or the doorposts, and his master will pierce his ear with an awl, and he shall serve him forever. |
| 7And if a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as the menservants do. | 7"If a man sells his daughter as a female servant, she will not go out as the male servants do. |
| 8If she is displeasing in the eyes of her master who had designated her for himself, he must allow her to be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to foreigners, since he has broken faith with her. | 8If she does not please her master, who has designated her for himself, then he must let her be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to a foreign nation, because he has dealt deceitfully with her. |
| 9And if he chooses her for his son, he must deal with her as with a daughter. | 9If he designated her for his son, then he will deal with her according to the customary rights of daughters. |
| 10If he takes another wife, he must not reduce the food, clothing, or marital rights of his first wife. | 10If he takes another wife, he must not diminish the first one's food, her clothing, or her marital rights. |
| 11If, however, he does not provide her with these three things, she is free to go without monetary payment. | 11If he does not provide her with these three things, then she will go out free, without paying money. |
| 12Whoever strikes and kills a man must surely be put to death. | 12"Whoever strikes someone so that he dies must surely be put to death. |
| 13If, however, he did not lie in wait, but God allowed it to happen, then I will appoint for you a place where he may flee. | 13But if he does not do it with premeditation, but it happens by accident, then I will appoint for you a place where he may flee. |
| 14But if a man schemes and acts willfully against his neighbor to kill him, you must take him away from My altar to be put to death. | 14But if a man willfully attacks his neighbor to kill him cunningly, you will take him even from my altar that he may die. |
| 15Whoever strikes his father or mother must surely be put to death. | 15"Whoever strikes his father or his mother must surely be put to death. |
| 16Whoever kidnaps another man must be put to death, whether he sells him or the man is found in his possession. | 16"Whoever kidnaps someone and sells him, or is caught still holding him, must surely be put to death. |
| 17Anyone who curses his father or mother must surely be put to death. | 17"Whoever treats his father or his mother disgracefully must surely be put to death. |
| 18If men are quarreling and one strikes the other with a stone or a fist, and he does not die but is confined to bed, | 18"If men fight, and one strikes his neighbor with a stone or with his fist and he does not die, but must remain in bed, |
| 19then the one who struck him shall go unpunished, as long as the other can get up and walk around outside with his staff. Nevertheless, he must compensate the man for his lost work and see that he is completely healed. | 19and then if he gets up and walks about outside on his staff, then the one who struck him is innocent, except he must pay for the injured person's loss of time and see to it that he is fully healed. |
| 20If a man strikes his manservant or maidservant with a rod, and the servant dies by his hand, he shall surely be punished. | 20"If a man strikes his male servant or his female servant with a staff so that he or she dies as a result of the blow, he will surely be punished. |
| 21However, if the servant gets up after a day or two, the owner shall not be punished, since the servant is his property. | 21However, if the injured servant survives one or two days, the owner will not be punished, for he has suffered the loss. |
| 22If men who are fighting strike a pregnant woman and her child is born prematurely, but there is no further injury, he shall surely be fined as the woman’s husband demands and as the court allows. | 22"If men fight and hit a pregnant woman and her child is born prematurely, but there is no serious injury, he will surely be punished in accordance with what the woman's husband demands of him, and he will pay what the court decides. |
| 23But if a serious injury results, then you must require a life for a life— | 23But if there is serious injury, then you will give a life for a life, |
| 24eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, | 24eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, |
| 25burn for burn, wound for wound, and stripe for stripe. | 25burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise. |
| 26If a man strikes and blinds the eye of his manservant or maidservant, he must let the servant go free as compensation for the eye. | 26"If a man strikes the eye of his male servant or his female servant so that he destroys it, he will let the servant go free as compensation for the eye. |
| 27And if he knocks out the tooth of his manservant or maidservant, he must let the servant go free as compensation for the tooth. | 27If he knocks out the tooth of his male servant or his female servant, he will let the servant go free as compensation for the tooth. |
| 28If an ox gores a man or woman to death, the ox must surely be stoned, and its meat must not be eaten. But the owner of the ox shall not be held responsible. | 28"If an ox gores a man or a woman so that either dies, then the ox must surely be stoned and its flesh must not be eaten, but the owner of the ox will be acquitted. |
| 29But if the ox has a habit of goring, and its owner has been warned yet does not restrain it, and it kills a man or woman, then the ox must be stoned and its owner must also be put to death. | 29But if the ox had the habit of goring, and its owner was warned, and he did not take the necessary precautions, and then it killed a man or a woman, the ox must be stoned and the man must be put to death. |
| 30If payment is demanded of him instead, he may redeem his life by paying the full amount demanded of him. | 30If a ransom is set for him, then he must pay the redemption for his life according to whatever amount was set for him. |
| 31If the ox gores a son or a daughter, it shall be done to him according to the same rule. | 31If the ox gores a son or a daughter, the owner will be dealt with according to this rule. |
| 32If the ox gores a manservant or maidservant, the owner must pay thirty shekels of silver to the master of that servant, and the ox must be stoned. | 32If the ox gores a male servant or a female servant, the owner must pay thirty shekels of silver, and the ox must be stoned. |
| 33If a man opens or digs a pit and fails to cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it, | 33"If a man opens a pit or if a man digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it, |
| 34the owner of the pit shall make restitution; he must pay its owner, and the dead animal will be his. | 34the owner of the pit must repay the loss. He must give money to its owner, and the dead animal will become his. |
| 35If a man’s ox injures his neighbor’s ox and it dies, they must sell the live one and divide the proceeds; they also must divide the dead animal. | 35If the ox of one man injures the ox of his neighbor so that it dies, then they will sell the live ox and divide its proceeds, and they will also divide the dead ox. |
| 36But if it was known that the ox had a habit of goring, yet its owner failed to restrain it, he shall pay full compensation, ox for ox, and the dead animal will be his. | 36Or if it is known that the ox had the habit of goring, and its owner did not take the necessary precautions, he must surely pay ox for ox, and the dead animal will become his. |
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