When people attack other people
12 Perhaps a person may hit another person so that he dies. You must punish the murderer with death. 13 But perhaps he had not decided to kill the other person. Perhaps God let it happen. Then the man should run away to a safe place that I will choose for you. 14 But if he already decided to kill the other person, he is a murderer. You must punish him with death. Even if he runs to my altar as a safe place, take him away from there and kill him.
15 If someone attacks his father or his mother, you must punish him with death.
16 If someone catches another person to sell him, you must punish him with death. Kill him even if you find him when he has not yet sold the man that he caught.
17 If someone curses his father or his mother, you must punish him with death.
18 Perhaps two men argue and they fight one another. One man might hit the other man with a stone or with his fist. The man that he hit might not die but he might have to stay in bed for some time. 19 After that, he may get up. He may be able to walk about outside, if he uses a stick. Then the man who hit him is not guilty. But he must pay the man that he has hurt. He must pay him for the time that he has not been able to work. He must also make sure that the man becomes completely well again.
20 Perhaps a master may hit his male slave or his female slave with a stick. If the slave dies because of this, you must punish the master. 21 But if the slave is still alive after one or two days, do not punish his master. The master has already lost the slave's work for that time.
22 When two men fight together, perhaps one of them may hit a pregnant woman. As a result of the fight, she may give birth to her child before the right time. If the man has not hurt the woman very much, he must pay money to her husband. He must pay the amount of money that the husband demands. A judge must agree that the money for his punishment is fair. 23 But if the man has hurt the woman a lot, you must punish him as he deserves. Take a life for a life, 24 an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot. 25 You must give him a burn for a burn, a wound for a wound, a bruise for a bruise.
21:25If someone is guilty, they must punish him as he deserves. If a man kills someone, the man must die. Every part of the person that the man has hurt, they must hurt that part of the man. A ‘burn’ is a mark on the body that fire causes. A ‘wound’ is a place where someone has cut the skin. A ‘bruise’ is a mark on the skin where someone has hit a person.
26 If a master hits the eye of his male slave or his female slave, he might destroy it. Then he must let the slave go away as a free person to pay for the loss of their eye. 27 If he knocks out the tooth of his slave, he must also let the slave go away to pay for the loss of the tooth.
