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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>Exodus 21</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/bsb/spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/exodus/21.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="/bmc//exodus/21-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="/exodus/">Exodus</a> > Exodus 21</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../exodus/20.htm" title="Exodus 20">◄</a> Exodus 21 <a href="../exodus/22.htm" title="Exodus 22">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div align="center" id="jump2"><a href="/niv/exodus/21.htm">NIV</a> • <a href="/nlt/exodus/21.htm">NLT</a> • <a href="/esv/exodus/21.htm">ESV</a> • <a href="/kjv/exodus/21.htm">KJV</a> • <a href="/nkjv/exodus/21.htm">NKJ</a> • <a href="/nasb/exodus/21.htm">NAS</a></div><br /><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="1%" valign="top">BSB</td><td width="99%" valign="top" align="right"><a href="/parallel/exodus/21.htm" style="font-weight:normal" title="Parallel Chapters">Parallel Chapters ▾ </a></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><A name="2"></a><p class="hdg">Hebrew Servants<br /><span class="cross">(<a href ="../deuteronomy/15.htm#12">Deuteronomy 15:12–18</a>)</span><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/exodus/21-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>“These are the ordinances that you are to set before them: <A name="3"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/exodus/21-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>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. <A name="4"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/exodus/21-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>If he arrived alone, he is to leave alone; if he arrived with a wife, she is to leave with him. <A name="5"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/exodus/21-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>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. <A name="6"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/exodus/21-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children; I do not want to go free,’ <A name="7"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/exodus/21-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>then his master is to bring him before the judges.<span class="fn"><a href="#fn">a</a></span> 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. <A name="8"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/exodus/21-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>And if a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as the menservants do. <A name="9"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/exodus/21-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>If she is displeasing in the eyes of her master who had designated her for himself,<span class="fn"><a href="#fn">b</a></span> he must allow her to be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to foreigners, since he has broken faith with her. <A name="10"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/exodus/21-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>And if he chooses her for his son, he must deal with her as with a daughter. <A name="11"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/exodus/21-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>If he takes another wife, he must not reduce the food, clothing, or marital rights of his first wife. <A name="12"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/exodus/21-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>If, however, he does not provide her with these three things, she is free to go without monetary payment. <A name="13"></a><p class="hdg">Personal Injury Laws<p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/exodus/21-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>Whoever strikes and kills a man must surely be put to death. <A name="14"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/exodus/21-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>If, 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. <A name="15"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/exodus/21-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>But 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. <A name="16"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/exodus/21-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>Whoever strikes his father or mother must surely be put to death. <A name="17"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/exodus/21-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>Whoever kidnaps another man must be put to death, whether he sells him or the man is found in his possession. <A name="18"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/exodus/21-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>Anyone who curses<span class="fn"><a href="#fn">c</a></span> his father or mother must surely be put to death.<span class="fn"><a href="#fn">d</a></span> <A name="19"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/exodus/21-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span>If men are quarreling and one strikes the other with a stone or a fist, and he does not die but is confined to bed, <A name="20"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/exodus/21-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span>then 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. <A name="21"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/exodus/21-20.htm"><b>20</b></a></span>If a man strikes his manservant or maidservant with a rod, and the servant dies by his hand, he shall surely be punished. <A name="22"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/exodus/21-21.htm"><b>21</b></a></span>However, if the servant gets up after a day or two, the owner shall not be punished, since the servant is his property. <A name="23"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/exodus/21-22.htm"><b>22</b></a></span>If men who are fighting strike a pregnant woman and her child is born prematurely,<span class="fn"><a href="#fn">e</a></span> but there is no further injury, he shall surely be fined as the woman’s husband demands and as the court allows. <A name="24"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/exodus/21-23.htm"><b>23</b></a></span>But if a serious injury results, then you must require a life for a life— <A name="25"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/exodus/21-24.htm"><b>24</b></a></span>eye for eye, tooth for tooth,<span class="fn"><a href="#fn">f</a></span> hand for hand, foot for foot, <A name="26"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/exodus/21-25.htm"><b>25</b></a></span>burn for burn, wound for wound, and stripe for stripe. <A name="27"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/exodus/21-26.htm"><b>26</b></a></span>If a man strikes and blinds the eye of his manservant or maidservant, he must let the servant go free as compensation for the eye. <A name="28"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/exodus/21-27.htm"><b>27</b></a></span>And if he knocks out the tooth of his manservant or maidservant, he must let the servant go free as compensation for the tooth. <A name="29"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/exodus/21-28.htm"><b>28</b></a></span>If an ox<span class="fn"><a href="#fn">g</a></span> 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. <A name="30"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/exodus/21-29.htm"><b>29</b></a></span>But 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. <A name="31"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/exodus/21-30.htm"><b>30</b></a></span>If payment is demanded of him instead, he may redeem his life by paying the full amount demanded of him. <A name="32"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/exodus/21-31.htm"><b>31</b></a></span>If the ox gores a son or a daughter, it shall be done to him according to the same rule. <A name="33"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/exodus/21-32.htm"><b>32</b></a></span>If the ox gores a manservant or maidservant, the owner must pay thirty shekels of silver<span class="fn"><a href="#fn">h</a></span> to the master of that servant, and the ox must be stoned. <A name="34"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/exodus/21-33.htm"><b>33</b></a></span>If a man opens or digs a pit and fails to cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it, <A name="35"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/exodus/21-34.htm"><b>34</b></a></span>the owner of the pit shall make restitution; he must pay its owner, and the dead animal will be his. <A name="36"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/exodus/21-35.htm"><b>35</b></a></span>If 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. <span class="reftext"><a href="/exodus/21-36.htm"><b>36</b></a></span>But 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.</p><A name="fn"></a><div id="fnlink"><br /><br /><b>Footnotes:</b><br><br><span class="fnverse">6</span> <span class="footnotesbot">a</span> Or <i>before God</i><span class="thin"> </span><br><span class="fnverse">8</span> <span class="footnotesbot">b</span> Or <i>so that he does not designate her for himself</i><span class="thin"> </span><br><span class="fnverse">17</span> <span class="footnotesbot">c</span> Or <i>dishonors</i><span class="thin"> </span> or <i>reviles</i><span class="thin"> </span><br><span class="fnverse">17</span> <span class="footnotesbot">d</span> Cited in <a href="../matthew/15.htm#4">Matthew 15:4</a> and <a href="../mark/7.htm#10">Mark 7:10</a><br><span class="fnverse">22</span> <span class="footnotesbot">e</span> Or <i>she has a miscarriage</i><span class="thin"> </span><br><span class="fnverse">24</span> <span class="footnotesbot">f</span> Cited in <a href="../matthew/5.htm#38">Matthew 5:38</a><br><span class="fnverse">28</span> <span class="footnotesbot">g</span> Or <i>a bull</i><span class="thin"> </span>; also in verses 29–36<br><span class="fnverse">32</span> <span class="footnotesbot">h</span> <i>30 shekels</i><span class="thin"> </span> is approximately 12 ounces or 342 grams of silver.<br><br /></div><br /></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">The Berean Bible (<a href=http://berean.bible>www.Berean.Bible</a>) <a href=http://bereanbible.com>Berean Study Bible (BSB)</a> © 2016, 2020 by <a href=http://biblehub.com>Bible Hub</a> and <a href=http://berean.bible>Berean.Bible</a>. 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