Common English Bible CEB
The Message Bible MSG
1 These are the case laws that you should set before them:
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"These are the laws that you are to place before them:
2 When you buy a male Hebrew slave, he will serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he will go free without any payment.
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"When you buy a Hebrew slave, he will serve six years. The seventh year he goes free, for nothing.
3 If he came in single, he will leave single. If he came in married, then his wife will leave with him.
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If he came in single he leaves single. If he came in married he leaves with his wife.
4 If his master gave him a wife and she bore him sons or daughters, the wife and her children will belong to her master. He will leave single.
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If the master gives him a wife and she gave him sons and daughters, the wife and children stay with the master and he leaves by himself.
5 However, if the slave clearly states, "I love my master, my wife, and my children, and I don't want to go free,"
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But suppose the slave should say, 'I love my master and my wife and children - I don't want my freedom,'
6 then his master will bring him before God. He will bring him to the door or the doorpost. There his master will pierce his ear with a pointed tool, and he will serve him as his slave for life.
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then his master is to bring him before God and to a door or doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl, a sign that he is a slave for life.
7 When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she shouldn't be set free in the same way as male slaves are set free.
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"When a man sells his daughter to be a handmaid, she doesn't go free after six years like the men.
8 If she doesn't please her master who chose her for himself, then her master must let her be bought back by her family. He has no right to sell her to a foreign people since he has treated her unfairly.
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If she doesn't please her master, her family must buy her back; her master doesn't have the right to sell her to foreigners since he broke his word to her.
9 If he assigns her to his son, he must give her the rights of a daughter.
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If he turns her over to his son, he has to treat her like a daughter.
10 If he takes another woman for himself, he may not reduce her food, clothing, or marital rights.
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If he marries another woman, she retains all her full rights to meals, clothing, and marital relations.
11 If he doesn't do these three things for her, she will go free without any payment, for no money.
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If he won't do any of these three things for her, she goes free, for nothing.
12 Anyone who hits and kills someone should be put to death.
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"If someone hits another and death results, the penalty is death.
13 If the killing wasn't on purpose but an accident allowed by God, then I will designate a place to which the killer can run away.
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But if there was no intent to kill - if it was an accident, an 'act of God' - I'll set aside a place to which the killer can flee for refuge.
14 But if someone plots and kills another person on purpose, you should remove the killer from my altar and put him to death.
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But if the murder was premeditated, cunningly plotted, then drag the killer away, even if it's from my Altar, to be put to death.
15 Anyone who violently hits their father or mother should be put to death.
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"If someone hits father or mother, the penalty is death.
16 Anyone who kidnaps a person, whether they have been sold or are still being held, should be put to death.
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"If someone kidnaps a person, the penalty is death, regardless of whether the person has been sold or is still held in possession.
17 Anyone who curses their father or mother should be put to death.
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"If someone curses father or mother, the penalty is death.
18 When two people are fighting and one hits the other with a stone or with his fist so that he is in bed for a while but doesn't die—
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"If a quarrel breaks out and one hits the other with a rock or a fist and the injured one doesn't die but is confined to bed
19 if he recovers and is able to walk around outside with a cane, then the one who hit him shouldn't be punished, except to pay for the loss of time from work and to pay for his full recovery.
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and then later gets better and can get about on a crutch, the one who hit him is in the clear, except to pay for the loss of time and make sure of complete recovery.
20 When a slave owner hits a male or female slave with a rod and the slave dies immediately, the owner should be punished.
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"If a slave owner hits a slave, male or female, with a stick and the slave dies on the spot, the slave must be avenged.
21 But if the slave gets up after a day or two, the slave owner shouldn't be punished because the slave is the owner's property.
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But if the slave survives a day or two, he's not to be avenged - the slave is the owner's property.
22 When people who are fighting injure a pregnant woman so that she has a miscarriage but no other injury occurs, then the guilty party will be fined what the woman's husband demands, as negotiated with the judges.
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"When there's a fight and in the fight a pregnant woman is hit so that she miscarries but is not otherwise hurt, the one responsible has to pay whatever the husband demands in compensation.
23 If there is further injury, then you will give a life for a life,
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But if there is further damage, then you must give life for life
24 an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot,
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- eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
25 a burn for a burn, a bruise for a bruise, a wound for a wound.
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burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.
26 When a slave owner hits and blinds the eye of a male or female slave, he should let the slave go free on account of the eye.
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"If a slave owner hits the eye of a slave or handmaid and ruins it, the owner must let the slave go free because of the eye.
27 If he knocks out a tooth of a male or female slave, he should let the slave go free on account of the tooth.
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If the owner knocks out the tooth of the male or female slave, the slave must be released and go free because of the tooth.
28 When an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox should be stoned to death, and the meat of the ox shouldn't be eaten. But the owner of the ox shouldn't be punished.
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"If an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox must be stoned. The meat cannot be eaten but the owner of the ox is in the clear.
29 However, if the ox had gored people in the past and its owner had been warned but didn't watch out for it, and the ox ends up killing a man or a woman, then the ox should be stoned to death, and its owner should also be put to death.
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But if the ox has a history of goring and the owner knew it and did nothing to guard against it, then if the ox kills a man or a woman, the ox is to be stoned and the owner given the death penalty.
30 If the owner has to pay compensation instead, he must pay the agreed amount to save his life.
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If a ransom is agreed upon instead of death, he must pay it in full as a redemption for his life.
31 If the ox gores a boy or a girl, this same case law applies to the owner.
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If a son or daughter is gored, the same judgment holds.
32 If the ox gores a male or female slave, the owner will pay thirty silver shekels to the slave's owner, and the ox will be stoned to death.
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If it is a slave or a handmaid the ox gores, thirty shekels of silver is to be paid to the owner and the ox stoned.
33 When someone leaves a pit open or digs a pit and doesn't cover it and an ox or a donkey falls into the pit,
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"If someone uncovers a cistern or digs a pit and leaves it open and an ox or donkey falls into it,
34 the owner of the pit must make good on the loss. He should pay money to the ox's owner, but he may keep the dead animal.
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the owner of the pit must pay whatever the animal is worth to its owner but can keep the dead animal.
35 When someone's ox hurts someone else's ox and it dies, then they should sell the live ox and divide its price. They should also divide the dead animal between them.
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"If someone's ox injures a neighbor's ox and the ox dies, they must sell the live ox and split the price; they must also split the dead animal.
36 But if the ox was known for goring in the past and its owner hadn't watched out for it, the owner must make good the loss, an ox for an ox, but may keep the dead animal.
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But if the ox had a history of goring and the owner knew it and did nothing to guard against it, the owner must pay an ox for an ox but can keep the dead animal.
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.