| NET Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1"These are the decisions that you will set before them: | 1“These are the regulations you must present to Israel. |
| 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. | 2“If you buy a Hebrew slave, he may serve for no more than six years. Set him free in the seventh year, and he will owe you nothing for his freedom. |
| 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. | 3If he was single when he became your slave, he shall leave single. But if he was married before he became a slave, then his wife must be freed with him. |
| 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. | 4“If his master gave him a wife while he was a slave and they had sons or daughters, then only the man will be free in the seventh year, but his wife and children will still belong to his master. |
| 5But if the servant should declare, 'I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,' | 5But the slave may declare, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children. I don’t want to go free.’ |
| 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. | 6If he does this, his master must present him before God. Then his master must take him to the door or doorpost and publicly pierce his ear with an awl. After that, the slave will serve his master for life. |
| 7"If a man sells his daughter as a female servant, she will not go out as the male servants do. | 7“When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she will not be freed at the end of six years as the men are. |
| 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. | 8If she does not satisfy her owner, he must allow her to be bought back again. But he is not allowed to sell her to foreigners, since he is the one who broke the contract with her. |
| 9If he designated her for his son, then he will deal with her according to the customary rights of daughters. | 9But if the slave’s owner arranges for her to marry his son, he may no longer treat her as a slave but as a daughter. |
| 10If he takes another wife, he must not diminish the first one's food, her clothing, or her marital rights. | 10“If a man who has married a slave wife takes another wife for himself, he must not neglect the rights of the first wife to food, clothing, and sexual intimacy. |
| 11If he does not provide her with these three things, then she will go out free, without paying money. | 11If he fails in any of these three obligations, she may leave as a free woman without making any payment. Cases of Personal Injury |
| 12"Whoever strikes someone so that he dies must surely be put to death. | 12“Anyone who assaults and kills another person must be put to death. |
| 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. | 13But if it was simply an accident permitted by God, I will appoint a place of refuge where the slayer can run for safety. |
| 14But if a man willfully attacks his neighbor to kill him cunningly, you will take him even from my altar that he may die. | 14However, if someone deliberately kills another person, then the slayer must be dragged even from my altar and be put to death. |
| 15"Whoever strikes his father or his mother must surely be put to death. | 15“Anyone who strikes father or mother must be put to death. |
| 16"Whoever kidnaps someone and sells him, or is caught still holding him, must surely be put to death. | 16“Kidnappers must be put to death, whether they are caught in possession of their victims or have already sold them as slaves. |
| 17"Whoever treats his father or his mother disgracefully must surely be put to death. | 17“Anyone who dishonors father or mother must be put to death. |
| 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, | 18“Now suppose two men quarrel, and one hits the other with a stone or fist, and the injured person does not die but is confined to bed. |
| 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. | 19If he is later able to walk outside again, even with a crutch, the assailant will not be punished but must compensate his victim for lost wages and provide for his full recovery. |
| 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. | 20“If a man beats his male or female slave with a club and the slave dies as a result, the owner must be punished. |
| 21However, if the injured servant survives one or two days, the owner will not be punished, for he has suffered the loss. | 21But if the slave recovers within a day or two, then the owner shall not be punished, since the slave is his property. |
| 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. | 22“Now suppose two men are fighting, and in the process they accidentally strike a pregnant woman so she gives birth prematurely. If no further injury results, the man who struck the woman must pay the amount of compensation the woman’s husband demands and the judges approve. |
| 23But if there is serious injury, then you will give a life for a life, | 23But if there is further injury, the punishment must match the injury: a life for a life, |
| 24eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, | 24an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot, |
| 25burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise. | 25a burn for a burn, a wound for a wound, a bruise for a bruise. |
| 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. | 26“If a man hits his male or female slave in the eye and the eye is blinded, he must let the slave go free to compensate for the eye. |
| 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. | 27And if a man knocks out the tooth of his male or female slave, he must let the slave go free to compensate for the tooth. |
| 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. | 28“If an ox gores a man or woman to death, the ox must be stoned, and its flesh may not be eaten. In such a case, however, the owner will not be held liable. |
| 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. | 29But suppose the ox had a reputation for goring, and the owner had been informed but failed to keep it under control. If the ox then kills someone, it must be stoned, and the owner must also be put to death. |
| 30If a ransom is set for him, then he must pay the redemption for his life according to whatever amount was set for him. | 30However, the dead person’s relatives may accept payment to compensate for the loss of life. The owner of the ox may redeem his life by paying whatever is demanded. |
| 31If the ox gores a son or a daughter, the owner will be dealt with according to this rule. | 31“The same regulation applies if the ox gores a boy or a girl. |
| 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. | 32But if the ox gores a slave, either male or female, the animal’s owner must pay the slave’s owner thirty silver coins, and the ox must be stoned. |
| 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, | 33“Suppose someone digs or uncovers a pit and fails to cover it, and then an ox or a donkey falls into it. |
| 34the owner of the pit must repay the loss. He must give money to its owner, and the dead animal will become his. | 34The owner of the pit must pay full compensation to the owner of the animal, but then he gets to keep 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. | 35“If someone’s ox injures a neighbor’s ox and the injured ox dies, then the two owners must sell the live ox and divide the price equally between them. They must also divide the dead animal. |
| 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. | 36But if the ox had a reputation for goring, yet its owner failed to keep it under control, he must pay full compensation—a live ox for the dead one—but he may keep the dead ox. |
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