Exodus 20:18-23:33

18When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance

19and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.”

20Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.”

21The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.

Idols and Altars 22Then the LORD said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites this: ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from heaven:

23Do not make any gods to be alongside me; do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gods of gold. 24“ ‘Make an altar of earth for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, your sheep and goats and your cattle. Wherever I cause my name to be honored, I will come to you and bless you. 25If you make an altar of stones for me, do not build it with dressed stones, for you will defile it if you use a tool on it. 26And do not go up to my altar on steps, or your private parts may be exposed.’

1“These are the laws you are to set before them:

Hebrew Servants 2“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. 3If he comes alone, he is to go free alone; but if he has a wife when he comes, she is to go with him.

4If 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“But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,’

6then his master must take him before the judges. Or before God He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life. 7“If a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as male servants do. 8If she does not please the master who has selected her for himself, Or master so that he does not choose her he must let her be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to foreigners, because he has broken faith with her. 9If he selects her for his son, he must grant her the rights of a daughter. 10If he marries another woman, he must not deprive the first one of her food, clothing and marital rights.

11If he does not provide her with these three things, she is to go free, without any payment of money.

Personal Injuries 12“Anyone who strikes a person with a fatal blow is to be put to death. 13However, if it is not done intentionally, but God lets it happen, they are to flee to a place I will designate.

14But if anyone schemes and kills someone deliberately, that person is to be taken from my altar and put to death.

15“Anyone who attacks Or kills their father or mother is to be put to death.

16“Anyone who kidnaps someone is to be put to death, whether the victim has been sold or is still in the kidnapper’s possession.

17“Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death. 18“If people quarrel and one person hits another with a stone or with their fist Or with a tool and the victim does not die but is confined to bed,

19the one who struck the blow will not be held liable if the other can get up and walk around outside with a staff; however, the guilty party must pay the injured person for any loss of time and see that the victim is completely healed. 20“Anyone who beats their male or female slave with a rod must be punished if the slave dies as a direct result,

21but they are not to be punished if the slave recovers after a day or two, since the slave is their property. 22“If people are fighting and hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely Or she has a miscarriage but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman’s husband demands and the court allows. 23But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, 24eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,

25burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise. 26“An owner who hits a male or female slave in the eye and destroys it must let the slave go free to compensate for the eye.

27And an owner who knocks out the tooth of a male or female slave must let the slave go free to compensate for the tooth. 28“If a bull gores a man or woman to death, the bull is to be stoned to death, and its meat must not be eaten. But the owner of the bull will not be held responsible. 29If, however, the bull has had the habit of goring and the owner has been warned but has not kept it penned up and it kills a man or woman, the bull is to be stoned and its owner also is to be put to death. 30However, if payment is demanded, the owner may redeem his life by the payment of whatever is demanded. 31This law also applies if the bull gores a son or daughter.

32If the bull gores a male or female slave, the owner must pay thirty shekels That is, about 12 ounces or about 345 grams of silver to the master of the slave, and the bull is to be stoned to death. 33“If anyone uncovers a pit or digs one and fails to cover it and an ox or a donkey falls into it,

34the one who opened the pit must pay the owner for the loss and take the dead animal in exchange. 35“If anyone’s bull injures someone else’s bull and it dies, the two parties are to sell the live one and divide both the money and the dead animal equally. 36However, if it was known that the bull had the habit of goring, yet the owner did not keep it penned up, the owner must pay, animal for animal, and take the dead animal in exchange.

Protection of Property 1In Hebrew texts 22:1 is numbered 21:37, and 22:2-31 is numbered 22:1-30. “Whoever steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters it or sells it must pay back five head of cattle for the ox and four sheep for the sheep. 2“If a thief is caught breaking in at night and is struck a fatal blow, the defender is not guilty of bloodshed;

3but if it happens after sunrise, the defender is guilty of bloodshed. “Anyone who steals must certainly make restitution, but if they have nothing, they must be sold to pay for their theft.

4If the stolen animal is found alive in their possession—whether ox or donkey or sheep—they must pay back double.

5“If anyone grazes their livestock in a field or vineyard and lets them stray and they graze in someone else’s field, the offender must make restitution from the best of their own field or vineyard.

6“If a fire breaks out and spreads into thornbushes so that it burns shocks of grain or standing grain or the whole field, the one who started the fire must make restitution. 7“If anyone gives a neighbor silver or goods for safekeeping and they are stolen from the neighbor’s house, the thief, if caught, must pay back double. 8But if the thief is not found, the owner of the house must appear before the judges, and they must Or before God, and he will determine whether the owner of the house has laid hands on the other person’s property.

9In all cases of illegal possession of an ox, a donkey, a sheep, a garment, or any other lost property about which somebody says, ‘This is mine,’ both parties are to bring their cases before the judges. Or before God The one whom the judges declare Or whom God declares guilty must pay back double to the other. 10“If anyone gives a donkey, an ox, a sheep or any other animal to their neighbor for safekeeping and it dies or is injured or is taken away while no one is looking, 11the issue between them will be settled by the taking of an oath before the LORD that the neighbor did not lay hands on the other person’s property. The owner is to accept this, and no restitution is required. 12But if the animal was stolen from the neighbor, restitution must be made to the owner.

13If it was torn to pieces by a wild animal, the neighbor shall bring in the remains as evidence and shall not be required to pay for the torn animal. 14“If anyone borrows an animal from their neighbor and it is injured or dies while the owner is not present, they must make restitution.

15But if the owner is with the animal, the borrower will not have to pay. If the animal was hired, the money paid for the hire covers the loss.

Social Responsibility 16“If a man seduces a virgin who is not pledged to be married and sleeps with her, he must pay the bride-price, and she shall be his wife.

17If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him, he must still pay the bride-price for virgins.

18“Do not allow a sorceress to live.

19“Anyone who has sexual relations with an animal is to be put to death.

20“Whoever sacrifices to any god other than the LORD must be destroyed. The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them.

21“Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt. 22“Do not take advantage of the widow or the fatherless. 23If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry.

24My anger will be aroused, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives will become widows and your children fatherless. 25“If you lend money to one of my people among you who is needy, do not treat it like a business deal; charge no interest. 26If you take your neighbor’s cloak as a pledge, return it by sunset,

27because that cloak is the only covering your neighbor has. What else can they sleep in? When they cry out to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.

28“Do not blaspheme God Or Do not revile the judges or curse the ruler of your people.

29“Do not hold back offerings from your granaries or your vats. The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain. “You must give me the firstborn of your sons.

30Do the same with your cattle and your sheep. Let them stay with their mothers for seven days, but give them to me on the eighth day. 31“You are to be my holy people. So do not eat the meat of an animal torn by wild beasts; throw it to the dogs.

Laws of Justice and Mercy 1“Do not spread false reports. Do not help a guilty person by being a malicious witness. 2“Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd,

3and do not show favoritism to a poor person in a lawsuit. 4“If you come across your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to return it.

5If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help them with it. 6“Do not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits.

7Have nothing to do with a false charge and do not put an innocent or honest person to death, for I will not acquit the guilty.

8“Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the innocent.

9“Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt.

Sabbath Laws 10“For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops,

11but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what is left. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.

12“Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and so that the slave born in your household and the foreigner living among you may be refreshed.

13“Be careful to do everything I have said to you. Do not invoke the names of other gods; do not let them be heard on your lips.

The Three Annual Festivals 14“Three times a year you are to celebrate a festival to me.

15“Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread; for seven days eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you. Do this at the appointed time in the month of Aviv, for in that month you came out of Egypt. “No one is to appear before me empty-handed.

16“Celebrate the Festival of Harvest with the firstfruits of the crops you sow in your field. “Celebrate the Festival of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in your crops from the field.

17“Three times a year all the men are to appear before the Sovereign LORD .

18“Do not offer the blood of a sacrifice to me along with anything containing yeast. “The fat of my festival offerings must not be kept until morning.

19“Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God. “Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.

God’s Angel to Prepare the Way 20“See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. 21Pay attention to him and listen to what he says. Do not rebel against him; he will not forgive your rebellion, since my Name is in him. 22If you listen carefully to what he says and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you. 23My angel will go ahead of you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites, and I will wipe them out. 24Do not bow down before their gods or worship them or follow their practices. You must demolish them and break their sacred stones to pieces. 25Worship the LORD your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you,

26and none will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will give you a full life span. 27“I will send my terror ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn their backs and run. 28I will send the hornet ahead of you to drive the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites out of your way. 29But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for you.

30Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land. 31“I will establish your borders from the Red Sea Or the Sea of Reeds to the Mediterranean Sea, Hebrew to the Sea of the Philistines and from the desert to the Euphrates River. I will give into your hands the people who live in the land, and you will drive them out before you. 32Do not make a covenant with them or with their gods. 33Do not let them live in your land or they will cause you to sin against me, because the worship of their gods will certainly be a snare to you.”