Laws About Slaves

21 “Now these are the ^(A)rules that you shall set before them. ^2 (B)When you buy a Hebrew slave,^[a] he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing. ³ If he comes in single, he shall go out single; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him. ⁴ If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out alone. ⁵ But ^(C)if the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’ ⁶ then his master shall bring him to ^(D)God, and he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall be his slave forever.

⁷ “When a man ^(E)sells his daughter as a slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do. ⁸ If she does not please her master, who has designated her^[b] for himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has broken faith with her. ⁹ If he designates her for his son, he shall deal with her as with a daughter. ¹⁰ If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, or ^(F)her marital rights. ¹¹ And if he does not do these three things for her, she shall go out for nothing, without payment of money.

^12 (G)“Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death. ^13 (H)But if he did not lie in wait for him, but God let him fall into his hand, then ^(I)I will appoint for you a place to which he may flee. ¹⁴ But if a man willfully attacks another to kill him by cunning, ^(J)you shall take him from my altar, that he may die.

¹⁵ “Whoever strikes his father or his mother shall be put to death.

^16 (K)“Whoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found ^(L)in possession of him, shall be put to death.

^17 (M)“Whoever curses^[c] his father or his mother shall be put to death.

¹⁸ “When men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist and the man does not die but takes to his bed, ¹⁹ then if the man rises again and walks outdoors with his staff, he who struck him shall be clear; only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall have him thoroughly healed.

²⁰ “When a man strikes his slave, male or female, with a rod and the slave dies under his hand, he shall be avenged. ²¹ But if the slave survives a day or two, he is not to be avenged, for the ^(N)slave is his money.

²² “When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman's husband shall impose on him, and ^(O)he shall pay as the ^(P)judges determine. ²³ But if there is harm,^[d] then you shall pay ^(Q)life for life, ^24 (R)eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, ²⁵ burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

²⁶ “When a man strikes the eye of his slave, male or female, and destroys it, he shall let the slave go free because of his eye. ²⁷ If he knocks out the tooth of his slave, male or female, he shall let the slave go free because of his tooth.

²⁸ “When an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ^(S)ox shall be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten, but the owner of the ox shall not be liable. ²⁹ But if the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past, and its owner has been warned but has not kept it in, and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned, and its owner also shall be put to death. ³⁰ If ^(T)a ransom is imposed on him, then ^(U)he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is imposed on him. ³¹ If it gores a man's son or daughter, he shall be dealt with according to this same rule. ³² If the ox gores a slave, male or female, the owner shall give to their master ^(V)thirty shekels^[e] of silver, and ^(W)the ox shall be stoned.

Laws About Restitution

³³ “When a man opens a pit, or when a man digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it, ³⁴ the owner of the pit shall make restoration. He shall give money to its owner, and the dead beast shall be his.

³⁵ “When one man's ox butts another's, so that it dies, then they shall sell the live ox and share its price, and the dead beast also they shall share. ³⁶ Or if it is known that the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past, and its owner has not kept it in, he shall repay ox for ox, and the dead beast shall be his.

22 ^[f] “If a man steals an ox or a sheep, and kills it or sells it, he shall repay five oxen for an ox, and ^(X)four sheep for a sheep. ^2 [g] If a thief is found ^(Y)breaking in and is struck so that he dies, there shall be no bloodguilt for him, ³ but if the sun has risen on him, there shall be bloodguilt for him. He^[h] shall surely pay. If he has nothing, then ^(Z)he shall be sold for his theft. ⁴ If the stolen beast ^(AA)is found alive in his possession, whether it is an ox or a donkey or a sheep, ^(AB)he shall pay double.

⁵ “If a man causes a field or vineyard to be grazed over, or lets his beast loose and it feeds in another man's field, he shall make restitution from the best in his own field and in his own vineyard.

⁶ “If fire breaks out and catches in thorns so that the stacked grain or the standing grain or the field is consumed, he who started the fire shall make full restitution.

⁷ “If a man gives to his neighbor money or goods to keep safe, and it is stolen from the man's house, then, if the thief is found, ^(AC)he shall pay double. ⁸ If the thief is not found, the owner of the house shall come near to God to show whether or not he has put his hand to his neighbor's property. ⁹ For every breach of trust, whether it is for an ox, for a donkey, for a sheep, for a cloak, or for any kind of lost thing, of which one says, ‘This is it,’ the case of both parties shall come before God. The one whom God condemns shall pay double to his neighbor.

¹⁰ “If a man gives to his neighbor a donkey or an ox or a sheep or any beast to keep safe, and it dies or is injured or is driven away, without anyone seeing it, ^11 (AD)an oath by the Lord shall be between them both to see whether or not he has put his hand to his neighbor's property. The owner shall accept the oath, and he shall not make restitution. ¹² But if ^(AE)it is stolen from him, he shall make restitution to its owner. ¹³ If it is torn by beasts, let him bring it as evidence. He shall not make restitution for what has been torn.

¹⁴ “If a man borrows anything of his neighbor, and it is injured or dies, the owner not being with it, he shall make full restitution. ¹⁵ If the owner was with it, he shall not make restitution; if it was hired, it came for its hiring fee.^[i]

Laws About Social Justice

^16 (AF)“If a man seduces a virgin^[j] who is not betrothed and lies with her, he shall give the bride-price^[k] for her and make her his wife. ¹⁷ If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, ^(AG)he shall pay money equal to the ^(AH)bride-price for virgins.

^18 (AI)“You shall not permit a sorceress to live.

^19 (AJ)“Whoever lies with an animal shall be put to death.

^20 (AK)“Whoever sacrifices to any god, other than the Lord alone, shall be devoted to destruction.^[l]

^21 (AL)“You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. ^22 (AM)You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. ²³ If you do mistreat them, and they ^(AN)cry out to me, I will surely ^(AO)hear their cry, ²⁴ and my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and ^(AP)your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.

^25 (AQ)“If you lend money to any of my people with you who is poor, you shall not be like a moneylender to him, and you shall not exact interest from him. ^26 (AR)If ever you take your neighbor's cloak in pledge, you shall return it to him before the sun goes down, ²⁷ for that is his only covering, and it is his cloak for his body; in what else shall he sleep? And if he ^(AS)cries to me, I will hear, for I am ^(AT)compassionate.

^28 (AU)“You shall not revile God, nor ^(AV)curse a ruler of your people.

²⁹ “You shall not delay to offer from the fullness of your harvest and from the outflow of your presses. ^(AW)The firstborn of your sons you shall give to me. ^30 (AX)You shall do the same with your oxen and with your sheep: ^(AY)seven days it shall be with its mother; on the eighth day you shall give it to me.

^31 (AZ)“You shall be consecrated to me. Therefore ^(BA)you shall not eat any flesh that is torn by beasts in the field; ^(BB)you shall throw it to the dogs.

⁵¹ And behold, ^(A)the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And ^(B)the earth shook, and the rocks were split. ⁵² The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of ^(C)the saints ^(D)who had fallen asleep were raised, ⁵³ and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into ^(E)the holy city and appeared to many. ^54 (F)When the centurion and those who were with him, ^(G)keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, ^(H)“Truly this was the Son^[a] of God!”

⁵⁵ There were also ^(I)many women there, looking on ^(J)from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ^(K)ministering to him, ⁵⁶ among whom were ^(L)Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph and ^(M)the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

Jesus Is Buried

^57 (N)When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus. ⁵⁸ He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. ⁵⁹ And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud ⁶⁰ and ^(O)laid it in his own new tomb, ^(P)which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled ^(Q)a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away. ⁶¹ Mary Magdalene and ^(R)the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.

The Guard at the Tomb

⁶² The next day, that is, after the day of ^(S)Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate ⁶³ and said, “Sir, we remember how ^(T)that impostor said, while he was still alive, ^(U)‘After three days I will rise.’ ⁶⁴ Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, ^(V)lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.” ⁶⁵ Pilate said to them, “You have ^(W)a guard^[b] of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.” ⁶⁶ So they went and made the tomb secure by ^(X)sealing the stone and setting a guard.