Exo_21:1-36; Exo_22:1-31; Exo_23:1-33; Exo_24:1-18

SECTION XVIII.

MISHPATIM.

ANDthese are the judgments which thou shalt set In order before them. When thoudost purchase a servant, a son of Israel, six years he shall serve, and in theseventh go forth free, for nothing. If he came in alone, he shall go out alone;if the husband of a wife, his wife shall go out with him. If his master havegiven him a wife, and she have borne him sons or daughters, the wife and thechildren are the master’s, and he shall go out alone. But if the servant sayingshall say, I love my master, my wife and my children, I will not go out free;his master shall bring him before the judges, and shall take him to the door,even to the post, and his master shall bore his ear with an awl; and he shallbe to him a working servant for ever.

Andwhen a man selleth his daughter to be a handmaid, she shall not go out as atthe outgoing of the men servants. If she be evil in the eyes of the master whohad covenanted with her to be his, then shall he make her free; to another manhe shall not have ability to sell her to domineer over her. And if he hathcovenanted her to his son, after the custom of the daughters of Israel shall heact towards her. And if he take another to him, her food, her raiment, and hermarriage due he shall not restrain. And if these three he doth not perform toher, he shall release her freely without money.

Whosoeverstriketh a man and killeth him, being killed he shall be killed. But if it wasnot (done) covertly to him, but he was delivered into his hand from before theLord, then I will appoint thee a place whither he may flee. But when a wickedman acts toward his neighbour with deceitfulness to kill him, even from Minealtar thou shalt bring him away to put him to death. Whosoever striketh hisfather or his mother shall be surely put to death. And whosoever stealeth asoul of the house of Israel and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand,shall be surely put to death. And he who curseth his father or his mother shallsurely be put to death. And when men contend, and a man smiteth his neighbourwith a stone or with his fist, and he die not, but fall upon his bed; -ifhe rise (again) and walk about upon his staff, he who smote him shall beacquitted; only he shall make good his loss of labour, and defray the charge ofthe physician.

Andwhen a man smiteth his servant or his handmaid with a staff, and he die underhis hand, condemned he shall be condemned. But if he survive one day, or two,he shall not be condemned, because he was his money. If men contending strike awoman with child and she miscarry, but die not, fined he shall be fined, as thehusband of the woman may set upon him, and he shall give according to thesentence of judgment. But if death take place, thou shalt give life for life,eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot., burning forburning, wound for wound, bruise for bruise. And if a man smite the eye of hisservant or his handmaid and destroy it, he shall let him go free, for the sakeof his eye. Or if he beat out (cause to fall) a tooth of his servant or a toothof his handmaid, he shall let him go free for the sake of his tooth.

Ifan ox gore a man or woman unto death, the ox being stoned shall be stoned, andhis flesh must not be eaten; but the master of the ox shall be acquitted. Butif the ox had gored in time before (yesterday and the day before), and it hadbeen attested to his master, and he not keeping him he hath killed man orwoman, the ox shall be stoned and the owner be put to death. If a fine of money^{[1] <l >}(if mammon) be laid upon him, he may give redemption for his life according toall that is laid upon him. If the ox gore a son or daughter of Israel, afterthis judgment shall it be done to him. If an ox gore a man-servant or amaidservant, (the owner) shall give to his master thirty sileen of silver, andthe ox shall be stoned.

Andif a man open a pit, or dig a pit, and doth not cover it, and an ox or an assfall therein, the master of the pit shall pay: he shall give silver to hisowner, and the carcass shall be his own. And if the ox of one man hurt aneighbour’s ox that it die, they shall sell the living ox and divide the money;and that which is dead they shall also divide. But if it be known that the oxgored in time past and his owner did not keep him in, paying he shall pay oxfor ox, and the dead one shall be his. If a man steal an ox or a lamb, and killor sell it, he shall repay five oxen for the ox, and four sheep for the lamb.

XXII.If a thief be found breaking through, and he be smitten and die, there shall beno blood due to him. If the eyes of witnesses fall upon him, blood shall be dueto him, paying he shall pay. If he have nothing, he shall be sold for hisrobbery. If the thing stolen, from an ox to an ass, be found in his possession,they being alive, he shall restore two for one. If a man make waste a field orvineyard, or send his cattle to consume another’s field, the best of his fieldand the best of his vineyard he shall restore. If fire break out, and it findthorns, so that sheaves or standing corn or the field be consumed, he whokindled the fire paying shall pay.

Whena man giveth his neighbour silver or vessels to keep, and they be stolen fromthe man’s house; if the thief be found, he shall repay double. If the thief benot found, the master of the house shall be brought before the judges (to makeoath) that he hath not put forth his hand upon that which his neighbour haddelivered to him. Upon every matter of guiltiness about ox or ass or lamb, orraiment, or anything destroyed of which it may be said, This is it, the causeof both shall be brought before the judges, and he whom the judges shallcondemn shall pay double to his neighbour. If a man deliver to his neighbour anass or an ox or a lamb or any cattle to keep, and it die, or be injured, or becarried away, no one seeing; an oath of the Lord shall be between them that hebath not put forth his hand against that which his neighbour had delivered, andthe owner shall accept the oath, and he shall not repay. But if it be stolenfrom him, he shall repay its owner; and if it be torn, and he bring witnessesthat it was torn, he shall not repay. And if a man borrow of his neighbour andit be injured or die, the owner of it not being with it, repaying he shallrepay. But if the owner be with it, he shall not repay. If it were hired, letit be (considered) for its hire.

Andif a man seduce a virgin who is not betrothed and lie with her, he shall surelyestablish her to be his wife. If her father be unwilling to give her to him, heshall weigh down silver according to the dowry of virgins. An enchantress^{[2] <l >}shall not live. Whosoever lieth with a beast shall be surely put to death.Whosoever sacrificeth to the idols of the Gentiles shall be put to death : -butto the Name of the Lord alone. And a stranger thou shalt nottrouble nor oppress; for you were sojourners in the land of Mizraim. Afflictnot the widow or the orphan: if you indeed afflict them, and they cry beforeMe, I will surely hearken to their cry; and My displeasure shall be strong, andwill kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows and your childrenfatherless. If thou lend money to My people, to the poor who is with thee, thoushalt not be to him as an usurer,^{[3] <l >} neither shalt thou inflict an injuryupon him. If, (as) a pledge, thou take thy neighbour’s garment, at the goingaway of the sun thou shalt return it unto him. For it may be his only covering;for (then) it is the clothing for his skin: wherein shall he sleep? And itshall be that when he crieth before Me I will hearken; for I am merciful.

Thoushalt not revile the judges, nor curse the ruler of My people. Thy firstfruitsand thy tithes thou shalt not delay (to offer:) the firstborn of thy childrenthou shalt separate before Me; so shalt thou do with thy oxen and with thysheep. Seven days shall (the firstling) be with its mother; on the eighth daythou shalt separate it before Me. And ye shall be holy men before Me; and theflesh torn from a living animal you may not eat; you shall cast it to the dogs.

Thoushalt not take up a false report, nor set thine hand with the wicked to be afalse witness for him. Thou shalt not follow the many to wickedness, neithershalt thou fail to teach that which in thine eyes is judgment;^{[4] <l >} afterthe many (majority?) thou shalt fulfil judgment. And upon the poor thou shaltnot be pitiful in judging him.

If thou meet the ox of thy enemy, orhis ass, wandering away, thou shalt surely bring it back to him. When thouseest thine enemyÕs ass prostrate beneath his burden, thou shalt forbear fromforsaking him;^{[5] <l >} thou shalt surely abandon what is inthy heart against him, and shalt deliver it unto him. Thou shalt not warp thejudgment of the poor man in his cause. From a false matter keep distant; andhim who has been acquitted and has come forth from judgment uncondemned thoushalt not kill; for I will not justify the guilty. And thou art not to receivea bribe; for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise, and perverts the words of thejust. And thou shalt not distress the sojourner; for you know the mind of asojourner; for you were dwellers in the land of Mizraim.

Sixyears thou shalt sow the land and gather in its produce, but the seventh yearthou shalt let it alone and suffer it to rest, that the poor of thy people mayeat, and what they leave the beast of the field may eat. So also shalt thou dowith thy vineyard and with thy olive ground. Six days shalt thou do thy work,and in the seventh day have rest, that thy ox and thy ass may rest, and the sonof thine handmaid and thy sojourner may be quiet. And of all that I have spokento you be mindful, and the name of the idols of the Gentiles remember not; letit not be heard upon thy lips.

Threetimes thou shalt solemnize festival before Me in the year. Thou shalt keep thefestival of unleavened bread. Seven days shalt thou eat unleavened cake, as Ihave commanded thee, in the time of the moon of Abiba, for therein you wentforth from Mizraim; and you shall not appear before Me empty. And the festivalof harvest, the first fruits of thy labours which thou hast sowed in thyfields; and the festival of gathering, at the end of the year when thougatherest in thy labours from the field. Three times in the year shall all thymales appear before the Lord, the Ruler of the world. Thou shalt not offer withunleavened bread the blood of My pascha, neither shall the fat of the sacrificeof the feast remain without on the altar until morning. The beginning of thefirst fruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the sanctuary of the Lord thyGod. Thou shalt not eat flesh with milk.

Behold, I send My Angel^{[6] <l >}before thee, to protect thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place whichI have prepared. Take heed before Him, and hearken to His words; rebel notagainst Him, for He will not forgive your sins; for in My Name are His words.For if thou wilt truly hearken to His words, and do all that I shall speak, Iwill be a foe to thy enemies, and will afflict them that afflict thee.For My Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in, to the Amoraee and Hittaee,and Perizaee and Kenaanaee, Hivaee and Jebusaee; and I will destroy them. Thoushalt not worship their idols, nor serve them, nor do according to theirdoings, but shalt utterly demolish them, and break their images; and you shallserve before the Lord your God, and He will bless thy food and thy drink, andwill take away grievous evils from among thee. There shall be none abortive orbarren in thy land; the number of thy days will I complete. I will send Myterror before thee, and will perturb all the people among whom thou shalt cometo fight against them, and I will make all thy adversaries turn their backbefore thee. I will send the hornet before thee, and it shall drive out theHivaee and Kenaanaee and the Hittaee from before thee. I will not expel thembefore thee in one year, lest the land be made desolate., and the beasts of thefield multiply against thee. By little and little I will drive them out beforethee, until thou shalt be increased and inherit the land. And I will appointthy boundary from the sea of Suph unto the sea of the Philistaee, and from thedesert to the river; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into yourhands, and thou shalt drive them out before thee. Thou shalt strike no covenantwith them nor with their idols. They shall not dwell in thy land, lest theycause thee to commit sin before Me; for if thou serve their idols, it will be astumbling-block to thee.

XXIV.And He said to Mosheh, Come up before the Lord, thou and Aharon, Nadab andAbihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and they shall worship at adistance. And Mosheh shall draw nigh alone before the Lord, but they shall notdraw nigh, nor shall the people ascend with them. And Mosheh came and recitedto the people all the words of the Lord and all the judgments; and all thepeople answered with one voice and said, All the words that the Lord hathspoken will we do. And Mosheh wrote all the words of the Lord. And he arose inthe morning, and builded an altar at the lower part of the mountain, and twelvepillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. And he sent the firstbornsons of Israel, and they offered holocausts, and sacrificed oxen (as)consecrated victims before the Lord. And Mosheh took half of the blood and setit in basins, and half the blood he sprinkled upon the altar. And he took theBook of the Covenant, and read before the people; and they said, All that theLord hath spoken we will do and obey. And Mosheh took the blood and sprinkledit upon the altar to propitiate for the people, and said, Behold the Blood ofthe Covenant which the Lord hath ratified with you upon all these words. And Mosheh and Aharon, Nadab andAbihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up. And they saw the Glory ofthe God of Israel, and under the throne of His glory as the work of a preciousstone, and as the face of heaven for its clearness. Yet the princes of the sonsof Israel were not hurt; and they saw the Glory of the Lord, and rejoiced intheir sacrifices which were accepted with favour, as though they had eaten anddrunk. And the Lord said to Mosheh, Come up into My Presence in the mountain,and be there, and I will give thee the tablets of stone, and the law and theprecepts, as I have written (them), that thou mayest teach them.

AndMosheh arose and Jehoshua his minister, and Mosheh ascended the mountain onwhich was revealed the Glory of the Lord. But to the elders he said, Wait forus here until we return to you: and, behold, Aharon and Hur are with you:whosoever hath a (matter for) judgment, let him bring it before them. AndMosheh ascended the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain; and the gloryof the Lord dwelt upon Mount Sinai, and the cloud enveloped it six days. And Hecalled to Mosheh on the seventh day out of the midst of the cloud. And theappearance of the Glory of the Lord was as the appearance of devouring fire onthe summit of the mountain in the eyes of the sons of Israel. And Moshehentered into the midst of the cloud, and ascended the mount; and Mosheh was inthe mount forty day and forty nights.

^{[1] <l >} Sam. Vers., ÒIf a price ofexpiation.Ó

^{[2] <l >} Sam. Vers., Òa pythoness.Ó

^{[3] <l >} Sam. Vers., Òan extactor.Ó

^{[4] <l >} Other copies, Òwhat thou hast soughtout concerning judgment.Ó

^{[5] <l >} Sam. Vers., Òwilt thou turn away toabandon him?Ó

^{[6] <l >} Sam. Vers., shelachi, Òmy apostle.Ó