Hebrew Servants (Deuteronomy 15:12–18)
1 DRA These are the judgments which thou shalt set before them. BSB BSB: “These are the ordinances that you are to set before them:
3 DRA With what raiment he came in, with the like let him go out: if having a wife, his wife also shall go out with him. BSB BSB: If he arrived alone, he is to leave alone; if he arrived with a wife, she is to leave with him.
4 DRA But if his master gave him a wife, and she hath borne sons and daughters: the woman and her children shall be her master’s: but he himself shall go out with his raiment. BSB BSB: 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.
5 DRA And if the servant shall say: I love my master and my wife and children, I will not go out free: BSB BSB: But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children; I do not want to go free,’
6 DRA His master shall bring him to the gods, and he shall be set to the door and the posts, and he shall bore his ear through with an awl: and he shall be his servant for ever. BSB BSB: then 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.
7 DRA If any man sell his daughter to be a servant, she shall not go out as bondwomen are wont to go out. BSB BSB: And if a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as the menservants do.
8 DRA If she displease the eyes of her master to whom she was delivered, he shall let her go: but he shall have no power to sell her to a foreign nation, if he despise her. BSB BSB: If 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.
9 DRA But if he have betrothed her to his son, he shall deal with her after the manner of daughters. BSB BSB: And if he chooses her for his son, he must deal with her as with a daughter.
10 DRA And if he take another wife for him, he shall provide her a marriage, and raiment, neither shall he refuse the price of her chastity. BSB BSB: If he takes another wife, he must not reduce the food, clothing, or marital rights of his first wife.
11 DRA If he do not these three things, she shall go out free without money. BSB BSB: If, however, he does not provide her with these three things, she is free to go without monetary payment.
Personal Injury Laws 12 DRA He that striketh a man with a will to kill him, shall be put to death. BSB BSB: Whoever strikes and kills a man must surely be put to death.
13 DRA But he that did not lie in wait for him, but God delivered him into his hands: I will appoint thee a place to which he must flee. BSB BSB: 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.
14 DRA If a man kill his neighbour on set purpose and by lying in wait for him: thou shalt take him away from my altar, that he may die. BSB BSB: 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.
15 DRA He that striketh his father or mother, shall be put to death. BSB BSB: Whoever strikes his father or mother must surely be put to death.
17 DRA He that curseth his father, or mother, shall die the death. BSB BSB: Anyone who curses his father or mother must surely be put to death.
18 DRA If men quarrel, and the one strike his neighbour with a stone or with his fist, and he die not, but keepeth his bed: BSB BSB: 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,
19 DRA If he rise again and walk abroad upon his staff, he that struck him shall be quit, yet so that he make restitution for his work, and for his expenses upon the physicians. BSB BSB: 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.
20 DRA He that striketh his bondman or bondwoman with a rod, and they die under his hands, shall be guilty of the crime. BSB BSB: If a man strikes his manservant or maidservant with a rod, and the servant dies by his hand, he shall surely be punished.
21 DRA But if the party remain alive a day or two, he shall not be subject to the punishment, because it is his money. BSB BSB: However, if the servant gets up after a day or two, the owner shall not be punished, since the servant is his property.
22 DRA If men quarrel, and one strike a woman with child, and she miscarry indeed, but live herself: he shall be answerable for so much damage as the woman’s husband shall require, and as arbiters shall award. BSB BSB: If 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.
24 DRA Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, BSB BSB: eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
25 DRA Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe. BSB BSB: burn for burn, wound for wound, and stripe for stripe.
27 DRA Also if he strike out a tooth of his manservant or maidservant, he shall in like manner make them free. BSB BSB: And if he knocks out the tooth of his manservant or maidservant, he must let the servant go free as compensation for the tooth.
28 DRA If an ox gore a man or a woman, and they die, he shall be stoned: and his flesh shall not be eaten, but the owner of the ox shall be quit. BSB BSB: If 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.
29 DRA But if the ox was wont to push with his horn yesterday and the day before, and they warned his master, and he did not shut him up, and he shall kill a man or a woman: then the ox shall be stoned, an his owner also shall be put to death. BSB BSB: 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.
30 DRA And if they set a price upon him, he shall give for his life whatsoever is laid upon him. BSB BSB: If payment is demanded of him instead, he may redeem his life by paying the full amount demanded of him.
31 DRA If he have gored a son, or a daughter, he shall fall under the like sentence. BSB BSB: If the ox gores a son or a daughter, it shall be done to him according to the same rule.
32 DRA If he assault a bondman or a bond woman, he shall give thirty sicles of silver to their master, and the ox shall be stoned. BSB BSB: If 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.
33 DRA If a man open a pit, and dig one, and cover it not, and an ox or an ass fall into it, BSB BSB: If a man opens or digs a pit and fails to cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it,
34 DRA The owner of the pit shall pay the price of the beasts: and that which is dead shall be his own. BSB BSB: the owner of the pit shall make restitution; he must pay its owner, and the dead animal will be his.
35 DRA If one man’s ox gore another man’s ox, and he die: they shall sell the live ox, and shall divide the price, and the carcass of that which died they shall part between them: BSB BSB: 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.
36 DRA But if he knew that his ox was wont to push yesterday and the day before, and his master did not keep him in: he shall pay ox for ox, and shall take the whole carcass. BSB BSB: 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.