Exodus 21–22; Matthew 19

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Exodus 21–22

Laws About Slaves

Now these are the hrules that you shall set before them. iWhen you buy a Hebrew slave,1 he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing. If he comes in single, he shall go out single; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him. 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. But jif the slave plainly says, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free, then his master shall bring him to kGod, 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.

When a man lsells his daughter as a slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do. If she does not please her master, who has designated her2 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. 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 mher 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 nWhoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death. 13 oBut if he did not lie in wait for him, but God let him fall into his hand, then pI will appoint for you a place to which he may flee. 14 But if a man willfully attacks another to kill him by cunning, qyou shall take him from my altar, that he may die.

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

16 rWhoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found sin possession of him, shall be put to death.

17 tWhoever curses3 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 uslave 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 vhe shall pay as the wjudges determine. 23 But if there is harm,4 then you shall pay xlife for life, 24 yeye 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 zox 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 aa ransom is imposed on him, then vhe 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 bthirty shekels5 of silver, and zthe 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.

6

If a man steals an ox or a sheep, and kills it or sells it, he shall repay five oxen for an ox, and cfour sheep for a sheep. 7 If a thief is found dbreaking in and is struck so that he dies, there shall be no bloodguilt for him, but if the sun has risen on him, there shall be bloodguilt for him. He8 shall surely pay. If he has nothing, then ehe shall be sold for his theft. If the stolen beast fis found alive in his possession, whether it is an ox or a donkey or a sheep, ghe shall pay double.

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.

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.

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, ghe shall pay double. 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. 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 han 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 iit 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.9

Laws About Social Justice

16 jIf a man seduces a virgin10 who is not betrothed and lies with her, he shall give the bride-price11 for her and make her his wife. 17 If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, jhe shall pay money equal to the kbride-price for virgins.

18 lYou shall not permit a sorceress to live.

19 mWhoever lies with an animal shall be put to death.

20 nWhoever sacrifices to any god, other than the Lord alone, shall be devoted to destruction.12

21 oYou shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. 22 pYou shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. 23 If you do mistreat them, and they qcry out to me, I will surely rhear their cry, 24 and my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and syour wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.

25 tIf 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 uIf 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 qcries to me, I will hear, for I am vcompassionate.

28 wYou shall not revile God, nor wcurse 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. xThe firstborn of your sons you shall give to me. 30 yYou shall do the same with your oxen and with your sheep: zseven days it shall be with its mother; on the eighth day you shall give it to me.

31 aYou shall be consecrated to me. Therefore byou shall not eat any flesh that is torn by beasts in the field; cyou shall throw it to the dogs.


Matthew 19

Teaching About Divorce

Now when Jesus had finished these sayings, he went away from nGalilee and oentered pthe region of Judea beyond the Jordan. And qlarge crowds followed him, and he healed them there.

And Pharisees came up to him and rtested him by asking, sIs it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause? He answered, tHave you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, uTherefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and vthe two shall become one flesh? So they are no longer two but one flesh. wWhat therefore God has joined together, let not man separate. They said to him, xWhy then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away? He said to them, Because of your yhardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. zAnd I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.1

10 The disciples said to him, If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry. 11 But he said to them, aNot everyone can receive this saying, but only bthose to cwhom it is given. 12 For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs dfor the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it.

Let the Children Come to Me

13 eThen children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples frebuked the people, 14 but Jesus said, gLet the little children hcome to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven. 15 And he laid his hands on them and went away.

The Rich Young Man

16 iAnd behold, a man came up to him, saying, Teacher, what good deed must I do to jhave keternal life? 17 And he said to him, Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. lIf you would enter life, keep the commandments. 18 He said to him, Which ones? And Jesus said, mYou shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, 19 Honor your father and mother, and, nYou shall love your neighbor as yourself. 20 The young man said to him, oAll these I have kept. What do I still lack? 21 Jesus said to him, If you would be pperfect, go, qsell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have rtreasure in heaven; and come, follow me. 22 sWhen the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

23 And Jesus said to his disciples, Truly, I say to you, tonly with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 uAgain I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter vthe kingdom of God. 25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, Who then can be saved? 26 But Jesus wlooked at them and said, xWith man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. 27 Then Peter said in reply, See, ywe have left everything and followed you. What then will we have? 28 Jesus said to them, Truly, I say to you, in the new world,2 zwhen the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me awill also sit on twelve thrones, bjudging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 cAnd everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold3 and will dinherit eternal life. 30 But emany who are ffirst will be last, and the last first.