20:1 1 God spoke all these words: 2
20:2 “I, 3 the Lord, am your God, 4 who brought you 5 from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery. 6
20:3 “You shall have no 7 other gods before me. 8
20:4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image 9 or any likeness 10 of anything 11 that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water below. 12 20:5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, 13 for I, the Lord, your God, am a jealous 14 God, responding to 15 the transgression of fathers by dealing with children to the third and fourth generations 16 of those who reject me, 17 20:6 and showing covenant faithfulness 18 to a thousand generations 19 of those who love me and keep my commandments.
20:7 “You shall not take 20 the name of the Lord your God in vain, 21 for the Lord will not hold guiltless 22 anyone who takes his name in vain.
20:8 “Remember 23 the Sabbath 24 day to set it apart as holy. 25 20:9 For six days 26 you may labor 27 and do all your work, 28 20:10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; on it 29 you shall not do any work, you, 30 or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your cattle, or the resident foreigner who is in your gates. 31 20:11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, and he rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.
20:12 “Honor 32 your father and your mother, that you may live a long time 33 in the land 34 the Lord your God is giving to you.
20:13 “You shall not murder. 35
20:14 “You shall not commit adultery. 36
20:15 “You shall not steal. 37
20:16 “You shall not give 38 false testimony 39 against your neighbor.
20:17 “You shall not covet 40 your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that belongs to your neighbor.” 41
20:18 All the people were seeing 42 the thundering and the lightning, and heard 43 the sound of the horn, and saw 44 the mountain smoking – and when 45 the people saw it they trembled with fear 46 and kept their distance. 47 20:19 They said to Moses, “You speak 48 to us and we will listen, but do not let God speak with us, lest we die.” 20:20 Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, 49 that the fear of him 50 may be before you so that you do not 51 sin.” 20:21 The people kept 52 their distance, but Moses drew near the thick darkness 53 where God was. 54
20:22 55 The Lord said 56 to Moses: “Thus you will tell the Israelites: ‘You yourselves have seen that I have spoken with you from heaven. 20:23 You must not make gods of silver alongside me, 57 nor make gods of gold for yourselves. 58
20:24 ‘You must make for me an altar made of earth, 59 and you will sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, 60 your sheep and your cattle. In every place 61 where I cause my name to be honored 62 I will come to you and I will bless you. 20:25 If you make me an altar of stone, you must not build it 63 of stones shaped with tools, 64 for if you use your tool on it you have defiled it. 65 20:26 And you must not go up by steps to my altar, so that your nakedness is not exposed.’ 66
21:1 67 “These are the decisions that you will set before them:
21:2 68 “If you buy 69 a Hebrew servant, 70 he is to serve you for six years, but in the seventh year he will go out free 71 without paying anything. 72 21:3 If he came 73 in by himself 74 he will go out by himself; if he had 75 a wife when he came in, then his wife will go out with him. 21:4 If his master gave 76 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. 21:5 But if the servant should declare, 77 ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out 78 free,’ 21:6 then his master must bring him to the judges, 79 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. 80
21:7 “If a man sells his daughter 81 as a female servant, 82 she will not go out as the male servants do. 21:8 If she does not please 83 her master, who has designated her 84 for himself, then he must let her be redeemed. 85 He has no right 86 to sell her to a foreign nation, because he has dealt deceitfully 87 with her. 21:9 If he designated her for his son, then he will deal with her according to the customary rights 88 of daughters. 21:10 If he takes another wife, 89 he must not diminish the first one’s food, 90 her clothing, or her marital rights. 91 21:11 If he does not provide her with these three things, then she will go out free, without paying money. 92
21:12 93 “Whoever strikes someone 94 so that he dies 95 must surely be put to death. 96 21:13 But if he does not do it with premeditation, 97 but it happens by accident, 98 then I will appoint for you a place where he may flee. 21:14 But if a man willfully attacks his neighbor to kill him cunningly, 99 you will take him even from my altar that he may die.
21:15 “Whoever strikes 100 his father or his mother must surely be put to death.
21:16 “Whoever kidnaps someone 101 and sells him, 102 or is caught still holding him, 103 must surely be put to death.
21:17 “Whoever treats his father or his mother disgracefully 104 must surely be put to death.
21:18 “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, 105 21:19 and then 106 if he gets up and walks about 107 outside on his staff, then the one who struck him is innocent, except he must pay 108 for the injured person’s 109 loss of time 110 and see to it that he is fully healed.
21:20 “If a man strikes his male servant or his female servant with a staff so that he or she 111 dies as a result of the blow, 112 he will surely be punished. 113 21:21 However, if the injured servant 114 survives one or two days, the owner 115 will not be punished, for he has suffered the loss. 116
21:22 “If men fight and hit a pregnant woman and her child is born prematurely, 117 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. 118 21:23 But if there is serious injury, then you will give a life for a life, 21:24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 21:25 burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise. 119
21:26 “If a man strikes the eye of his male servant or his female servant so that he destroys it, 120 he will let the servant 121 go free 122 as compensation for the eye. 21:27 If he knocks out the tooth of his male servant or his female servant, he will let the servant 123 go free as compensation for the tooth.
21:28 124 “If an ox 125 gores a man or a woman so that either dies, 126 then the ox must surely 127 be stoned and its flesh must not be eaten, but the owner of the ox will be acquitted. 21:29 But if the ox had the habit of goring, and its owner was warned, 128 and he did not take the necessary precautions, 129 and then it killed a man or a woman, the ox must be stoned and the man must be put to death. 21:30 If a ransom is set for him, 130 then he must pay the redemption for his life according to whatever amount was set for him. 21:31 If the ox 131 gores a son or a daughter, the owner 132 will be dealt with according to this rule. 133 21:32 If the ox gores a male servant or a female servant, the owner 134 must pay thirty shekels of silver, 135 and the ox must be stoned. 136
21:33 “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, 21:34 the owner of the pit must repay 137 the loss. He must give money 138 to its owner, and the dead animal 139 will become his. 21:35 If 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, 140 and they will also divide the dead ox. 141 21:36 Or 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 142 ox for ox, and the dead animal will become his. 143
22:1 144 (21:37) 145 “If a man steals an ox or a sheep and kills it or sells it, he must pay back 146 five head of cattle for the ox, and four sheep for the one sheep. 147
22:2 “If a thief is caught 148 breaking in 149 and is struck so that he dies, there will be no blood guilt for him. 150 22:3 If the sun has risen on him, then there is blood guilt for him. A thief 151 must surely make full restitution; if he has nothing, then he will be sold for his theft. 22:4 If the stolen item should in fact be found 152 alive in his possession, 153 whether it be an ox or a donkey or a sheep, he must pay back double. 154
22:5 “If a man grazes 155 his livestock 156 in a field or a vineyard, and he lets the livestock loose and they graze in the field of another man, he must make restitution from the best of his own field and the best of his own vineyard.
22:6 “If a fire breaks out and spreads 157 to thorn bushes, 158 so that stacked grain or standing grain or the whole field is consumed, the one who started 159 the fire must surely make restitution.
22:7 “If a man gives his neighbor money or articles 160 for safekeeping, 161 and it is stolen from the man’s house, if the thief is caught, 162 he must repay double. 22:8 If the thief is not caught, 163 then the owner of the house will be brought before the judges 164 to see 165 whether he has laid 166 his hand on his neighbor’s goods. 22:9 In all cases of illegal possessions, 167 whether for an ox, a donkey, a sheep, a garment, or any kind of lost item, about which someone says ‘This belongs to me,’ 168 the matter of the two of them will come before the judges, 169 and the one whom 170 the judges declare guilty 171 must repay double to his neighbor. 22:10 If a man gives his neighbor a donkey or an ox or a sheep or any beast to keep, and it dies or is hurt 172 or is carried away 173 without anyone seeing it, 174 22:11 then there will be an oath to the Lord 175 between the two of them, that he has not laid his hand on his neighbor’s goods, and its owner will accept this, and he will not have to pay. 22:12 But if it was stolen 176 from him, 177 he will pay its owner. 22:13 If it is torn in pieces, then he will bring it for evidence, 178 and he will not have to pay for what was torn.
22:14 “If a man borrows an animal 179 from his neighbor, and it is hurt or dies when its owner was not with it, the man who borrowed it 180 will surely pay. 22:15 If its owner was with it, he will not have to pay; if it was hired, what was paid for the hire covers it. 181
22:16 182 “If a man seduces a virgin 183 who is not engaged 184 and has sexual relations with her, he must surely endow 185 her to be his wife. 22:17 If her father refuses to give her to him, he must pay money for the bride price of virgins.
22:18 “You must not allow a sorceress to live. 186
22:19 “Whoever has sexual relations 187 with a beast must surely be put to death.
22:20 “Whoever sacrifices to a god other than the Lord 188 alone must be utterly destroyed. 189
22:21 “You must not wrong 190 a foreigner 191 nor oppress him, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
22:22 “You must not afflict 192 any widow or orphan. 22:23 If you afflict them 193 in any way 194 and they cry to me, I will surely hear 195 their cry, 22:24 and my anger will burn and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives will be widows and your children will be fatherless. 196
22:25 “If you lend money to any of 197 my people who are needy among you, do not be like a moneylender 198 to him; do not charge 199 him interest. 200 22:26 If you do take 201 the garment of your neighbor in pledge, you must return it to him by the time the sun goes down, 202 22:27 for it is his only covering – it is his garment for his body. 203 What else can he sleep in? 204 And 205 when he cries out to me, I will hear, for I am gracious.
22:28 “You must not blaspheme 206 God 207 or curse the ruler of your people.
22:29 “Do not hold back offerings from your granaries or your vats. 208 You must give me the firstborn of your sons. 22:30 You must also do this for your oxen and for your sheep; seven days they may remain with their mothers, but give them to me on the eighth day.
22:31 “You will be holy 209 people to me; you must not eat any meat torn by animals in the field. 210 You must throw it to the dogs.