| New International Version | NET Bible |
| 1"These are the laws you are to set before them: | 1"These are the decisions that you will set before them: |
| 2"If 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 comes alone, he is to go free alone; but if he has a wife when he comes, she is to go 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. |
| 5"But if the servant declares, 'I love my master and my wife and children and 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 must take him before the judges. He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant 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. |
| 7"If a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as male servants do. | 7"If a man sells his daughter as a female servant, she will not go out as the male servants do. |
| 8If she does not please the master who has selected her for himself, he must let her be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to foreigners, because 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. |
| 9If he selects her for his son, he must grant her the rights of a daughter. | 9If he designated her for his son, then he will deal with her according to the customary rights of daughters. |
| 10If he marries another woman, he must not deprive the first one of her food, clothing and marital rights. | 10If he takes another wife, he must not diminish the first one's food, her clothing, or her marital rights. |
| 11If he does not provide her with these three things, she is to go free, without any payment of money. | 11If he does not provide her with these three things, then she will go out free, without paying money. |
| 12"Anyone who strikes a person with a fatal blow is to be put to death. | 12"Whoever strikes someone so that he dies must surely be put to death. |
| 13However, if it is not done intentionally, but God lets it happen, they are to flee to a place I will designate. | 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 anyone schemes and kills someone deliberately, that person is to be taken from my altar and 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. |
| 15"Anyone who attacks their father or mother is to be put to death. | 15"Whoever strikes his father or his mother must surely be put to death. |
| 16"Anyone who kidnaps someone is to be put to death, whether the victim has been sold or is still in the kidnapper's possession. | 16"Whoever kidnaps someone and sells him, or is caught still holding him, must surely be put to death. |
| 17"Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death. | 17"Whoever treats his father or his mother disgracefully must surely be put to death. |
| 18"If people quarrel and one person hits another with a stone or with their fist and the victim 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, |
| 19the 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. | 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. |
| 20"Anyone who beats their male or female slave with a rod must be punished if the slave dies as a direct result, | 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. |
| 21but they are not to be punished if the slave recovers after a day or two, since the slave is their property. | 21However, if the injured servant survives one or two days, the owner will not be punished, for he has suffered the loss. |
| 22"If people are fighting and hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman's husband demands and 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 there is serious injury, you are to take life for 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, bruise for bruise. | 25burn 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. | 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 an owner who knocks out the tooth of a male or female slave must let the slave go free to compensate 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. |
| 28"If a bull gores a man or woman to death, the bull is to be stoned to death, and its meat must not be eaten. But the owner of the bull will 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. |
| 29If, however, the bull has had the habit of goring and the owner has been warned but has not kept it penned up and it kills a man or woman, the bull is to be stoned and its owner also is to 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. |
| 30However, if payment is demanded, the owner may redeem his life by the payment of whatever is demanded. | 30If a ransom is set for him, then he must pay the redemption for his life according to whatever amount was set for him. |
| 31This law also applies if the bull gores a son or daughter. | 31If the ox gores a son or a daughter, the owner will be dealt with according to this rule. |
| 32If the bull gores a male or female slave, the owner must pay thirty shekels of silver to the master of the slave, and the bull is to be stoned to death. | 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. |
| 33"If anyone uncovers a pit or digs one 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 one who opened the pit must pay the owner for the loss and take the dead animal in exchange. | 34the owner of the pit must repay the loss. He must give money to its owner, and the dead animal will become his. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 36However, if it was known that the bull had the habit of goring, yet the owner did not keep it penned up, the owner must pay, animal for animal, and take the dead animal in exchange. | 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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