Exodus 21 Young's Literal Translation

About YLT

Individual translator
OT: Masoretic Hebrew
NT: Textus Receptus
Protestant (66 books)
Very literal
1898
Public domain

Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings

YLT Young's Literal Translation

WEB World English Bible (Classic, with Deuterocanon)

1 'And these [are] the judgments which thou dost set before them:

1 “Now these are the ordinances which you shall set before them:

2 'When thou buyest a Hebrew servant — six years he doth serve, and in the seventh he goeth out as a freeman for nought;

2 “If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free without paying anything.

3 if by himself he cometh in, by himself he goeth out; if he [is] owner of a wife, then his wife hath gone out with him;

3 If he comes in by himself, he shall go out by himself. If he is married, then his wife shall go out with him.

4 if his lord give to him a wife, and she hath borne to him sons or daughters — the wife and her children are her lord's, and he goeth out by himself.

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 by himself.

5 'And if the servant really say: I have loved my lord, my wife, and my sons — I do not go out free;

5 But if the servant shall plainly say, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children. I will not go out free;’

6 then hath his lord brought him nigh unto God, and hath brought him nigh unto the door, or unto the side-post, and his lord hath bored his ear with an awl, and he hath served him — to the age.

6 then his master shall bring him to God, and shall bring him to the door or to the doorpost, and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall serve him forever.

7 'And when a man selleth his daughter for a handmaid, she doth not go out according to the going out of the men-servants;

7 “If a man sells his daughter to be a female servant, she shall not go out as the male servants do.

8 if evil in the eyes of her lord, so that he hath not betrothed her, then he hath let her be ransomed; to a strange people he hath not power to sell her, in his dealing treacherously with her.

8 If she doesn’t please her master, who has married her to himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has dealt deceitfully with her.

9 'And if to his son he betroth her, according to the right of daughters he doth to her.

9 If he marries her to his son, he shall deal with her as a daughter.

10 'If another [woman] he take for him, her food, her covering, and her habitation, he doth not withdraw;

10 If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, and her marital rights.

11 and if these three he do not to her, then she hath gone out for nought, without money.

11 If he doesn’t do these three things for her, she may go free without paying any money.

12 'He who smiteth a man so that he hath died, is certainly put to death;

12 “One who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death,

13 as to him who hath not laid wait, and God hath brought to his hand, I have even set for thee a place whither he doth flee.

13 but not if it is unintentional, but God allows it to happen; then I will appoint you a place where he shall flee.

14 'And when a man doth presume against his neighbour to slay him with subtilty, from Mine altar thou dost take him to die.

14 If a man schemes and comes presumptuously on his neighbor to kill him, you shall take him from my altar, that he may die.

15 'And he who smiteth his father or his mother is certainly put to death.

15 “Anyone who attacks his father or his mother shall be surely put to death.

16 'And he who stealeth a man, and hath sold him, and he hath been found in his hand, is certainly put to death.

16 “Anyone who kidnaps someone and sells him, or if he is found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.

17 'And he who is reviling his father or his mother is certainly put to death.

17 “Anyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.

18 'And when men contend, and a man hath smitten his neighbour with a stone, or with the fist, and he die not, but hath fallen on the bed;

18 “If men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone, or with his fist, and he doesn’t die, but is confined to bed;

19 if he rise, and hath gone up and down without on his staff, then hath the smiter been acquitted; only his cessation he giveth, and he is thoroughly healed.

19 if he rises again and walks around with his staff, then he who struck him shall be cleared; only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall provide for his healing until he is thoroughly healed.

20 'And when a man smiteth his man-servant or his handmaid, with a rod, and he hath died under his hand — he is certainly avenged;

20 “If a man strikes his servant or his maid with a rod, and he dies under his hand, the man shall surely be punished.

21 only if he remain a day, or two days, he is not avenged, for he [is] his money.

21 Notwithstanding, if his servant gets up after a day or two, he shall not be punished, for the servant is his property.

22 'And when men strive, and have smitten a pregnant woman, and her children have come out, and there is no mischief, he is certainly fined, as the husband of the woman doth lay upon him, and he hath given through the judges;

22 “If men fight and hurt a pregnant woman so that she gives birth prematurely, and yet no harm follows, he shall be surely fined as much as the woman’s husband demands and the judges allow.

23 and if there is mischief, then thou hast given life for life,

23 But if any harm follows, then you must take life for life,

24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,

25 burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

25 burning for burning, wound for wound, and bruise for bruise.

26 'And when a man smiteth the eye of his man-servant, or the eye of his handmaid, and hath destroyed it, as a freeman he doth send him away for his eye;

26 “If a man strikes his servant’s eye, or his maid’s eye, and destroys it, he shall let him go free for his eye’s sake.

27 and if a tooth of his man-servant or a tooth of his handmaid he knock out, as a freeman he doth send him away for his tooth.

27 If he strikes out his male servant’s tooth, or his female servant’s tooth, he shall let the servant go free for his tooth’s sake.

28 'And when an ox doth gore man or woman, and they have died, the ox is certainly stoned, and his flesh is not eaten, and the owner of the ox [is] acquitted;

28 “If a bull gores a man or a woman to death, the bull shall surely be stoned, and its meat shall not be eaten; but the owner of the bull shall not be held responsible.

29 and if the ox is [one] accustomed to gore heretofore, and it hath been testified to its owner, and he doth not watch it, and it hath put to death a man or woman, the ox is stoned, and its owner also is put to death.

29 But if the bull had a habit of goring in the past, and this has been testified to its owner, and he has not kept it in, but it has killed a man or a woman, the bull shall be stoned, and its owner shall also be put to death.

30 'If atonement is laid upon him, then he hath given the ransom of his life, according to all that is laid upon him;

30 If a ransom is imposed on him, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is imposed.

31 whether it gore a son or gore a daughter, according to this judgment it is done to him.

31 Whether it has gored a son or has gored a daughter, according to this judgment it shall be done to him.

32 'If the ox gore a man-servant or a handmaid, thirty silver shekels he doth give to their lord, and the ox is stoned.

32 If the bull gores a male servant or a female servant, thirty shekels of silver shall be given to their master, and the ox shall be stoned.

33 'And when a man doth open a pit, or when a man doth dig a pit, and doth not cover it, and an ox or ass hath fallen thither, —

33 “If a man opens a pit, or if a man digs a pit and doesn’t cover it, and a bull or a donkey falls into it,

34 the owner of the pit doth repay, money he doth give back to its owner, and the dead is his.

34 the owner of the pit shall make it good. He shall give money to its owner, and the dead animal shall be his.

35 'And when a man's ox doth smite the ox of his neighbour, and it hath died, then they have sold the living ox, and halved its money, and also the dead one they do halve;

35 “If one man’s bull injures another’s, so that it dies, then they shall sell the live bull, and divide its price; and they shall also divide the dead animal.

36 or, it hath been known that the ox is [one] accustomed to gore heretofore, and its owner doth not watch it, he certainly repayeth ox for ox, and the dead is his.

36 Or if it is known that the bull was in the habit of goring in the past, and its owner has not kept it in, he shall surely pay bull for bull, and the dead animal shall be his own.

Cross references (28)

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Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences

What the Fathers said

Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).

How these were chosen

“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).

Quotes verse 21:17 John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew (Homily LI)
For, "honor," saith He, "thy father and thy mother, that thou mayest live long upon the earth." And again, "He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death." But He, omitting the first, the reward appointed for them that honor their parents, states that which is more awful, the punishment, I mean, threatened to such as dishonor them; …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)
Quotes verse 21:17 Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures (Lecture VII)
… put no obstacle to godliness in our way, if we are ever carried away by ingratitude, and, forgetting their benefits to us, hold them in contempt, then the oracle will have place which says, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)

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