Exodus 21 Cross References - ISV

¹ Laws Concerning Servants“These are the ordinances that you are to set before them.
² “When you acquire a Hebrew servant, he is to serve for six years, and in the seventh he is to go out a free man without paying anything. ³ If he came in by himself, he is to go out by himself. If he was married, his wife is to go out with him. ⁴ If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and children belong to her master, and he is to go out by himself. ⁵ But if the servant, in fact, says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children, and I won’t go out a free man,’ ⁶ then his master is to bring him before the judges and he is to bring him to the door or to the doorpost. His master is to pierce his ear with an awl, and he is to serve him permanently.
⁷ “When a man sells his daughter as a servant, she won’t go out as the male servants do. ⁸ If she’s displeasing to her master who selected her for himself, he must let her be redeemed. He does not have the right to sell her to foreign people, because he has dealt unfairly with her. ⁹ If he has selected her for his son, he is to treat her according to the ordinance for daughters. ¹⁰ If he takes another woman for himself, he may not withhold from the first her food, her clothing, or her marital rights. ¹¹ If he does not do these three things for her, she may go out without paying anything at all.”
¹² Laws Concerning Personal Injury and Homicide“Whoever strikes a man so that he dies is certainly to be put to death. ¹³ If he didn’t lie in wait, but God let him fall into his reach, then I’ll appoint for you a place to which he may flee. ¹⁴ If a man acts deliberately against his neighbor, to kill him by treachery, you are to take him to die even if he’s at my altar.
¹⁵ “Whoever strikes his father or his mother is certainly to be put to death.
¹⁶ “Whoever kidnaps a person, whether he has sold him or whether the victim is still in his possession, is certainly to be put to death.
¹⁷ “Whoever curses his father or his mother is certainly to be put to death.
¹⁸ “If people quarrel and one strikes the other with a rock or his fist, and he does not die but ends up in bed, ¹⁹ and the injured person then gets up and walks around outside with the help of his staff, the one who struck him is not liable, except that he is to compensate him for his loss of time and take care of his complete recovery.
²⁰ “If a man strikes his male or female servant with a stick and he or she dies as a direct result, the master must be punished. ²¹ But if the servant survives a day or two, the master is not to be punished because the servant is his property.
²² “If two men are fighting and they strike a pregnant woman and her children are born prematurely, but there is no harm, he is certainly to be fined as the husband of the woman demands of him, and he will pay as the court decides. ²³ If there is harm, then you are to require life for life, ²⁴ eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, ²⁵ burn for burn, wound for wound, and bruise for bruise.
²⁶ “If a man strikes the eye of his male or female servant and destroys it, he is to release him as a free man in exchange for his eye. ²⁷ If he knocks out the tooth of his male or female servant, he is to release him as a free man in exchange for his tooth.
²⁸ “If an ox gores a man or woman so that they die, the ox is certainly to be stoned and its flesh may not be eaten, but the owner of the ox is free from liability. ²⁹ But if the ox has gored previously, and its owner has been warned about it but didn’t restrain it, and it kills a man or woman, the ox is to be stoned and its owner also is to be put to death. ³⁰ If a fine is imposed on him, he may pay all that was imposed on him as a ransom for his life. ³¹ This same ordinance applies if it gores a son or daughter.
³² “If the ox gores a male or female servant, the owner is to give 30 shekels of silver to the servant’s master, and the ox is to be stoned. ³³ If a man opens a pit or digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or donkey falls into it, ³⁴ the owner of the pit is to make restitution. He is to pay money to its owner, and the dead animal will become his.
³⁵ “If a man’s ox strikes his neighbor’s ox and it dies, they are to sell the live ox and divide the money. They also are to divide the dead animal. ³⁶ But if it was known that the ox had gored previously, and its owner didn’t restrain it, he shall certainly repay ox for ox, and the dead ox will become his.”

⁷ When Moses came, he summoned the elders of the people and told them everything that the LORD had commanded him.

³ Then Moses came and reported all the words of the LORD and all the statutes to the people, and they all answered with one voice, “We will do everything that the LORD has decreed.”
⁴ So Moses wrote down all the words of the LORD. He got up early in the morning and built an altar with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel at the base of the mountain.

⁵ Keep my statutes and my ordinances, which a person is to obey in order to live in them. I am the LORD.

²⁶ “Therefore, keep my statutes and ordinances. You are not to do any of these detestable things—this applies to the native born and the resident alien who lives among you—

³⁷ Observe all my statutes and all my ordinances in order to practice them. I am the LORD.”

²² Living Distinctively in Holiness“Be sure to keep all my statutes and observe all my ordinances, so that the land where I’m about to bring you to live won’t vomit you out.

²⁴ then the community is to judge between the inadvertent killer and the blood avenger, following these ordinances.

¹³ These were the commands and the ordinances that the LORD issued to the Israelis through Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan River in Jericho.

⁵ See! I taught you the statutes and the ordinances, just as the LORD God commanded. Therefore, observe them when you enter the land you are about to possess.

⁸ And what great nation has all the decrees and righteous ordinances like all this teaching that I’m giving you today?

¹⁴ The LORD commanded me at that time to teach you to observe the statutes and ordinances in the land after you cross over to take possession of it.

⁴⁵ These are the instructions, decrees, and ordinances that Moses declared to the Israelis when they came out of Egypt.

¹ The Ten Commandments
Moses called all of Israel together and told them: “Listen, Israel! Today I’m going to announce God’s laws and regulations so that you will learn them and take care to obey them.

³¹ but you stand here with me and I’ll speak to you all the commands, decrees, and laws that you must teach them to observe in the land that I’m giving you to possess.

¹ The Covenant of Love“Now these are the commands, decrees, and ordinances that the LORD commanded me to teach you. Obey them in the land you are entering to possess,

²⁰ Remember what the LORD has Done“When your son asks you in the future, ‘What is the meaning of the instructions, decrees, and ordinances that the LORD our God commanded you?’

¹² “Concerning this Temple that you’re building, if you live your life according to my statutes, carry out my ordinances, and keep all of my commands, and live according to them, then I will do what I promised to your father David.

¹⁰ No matter what case comes before you from your fellow citizens who live in their own cities, whether it’s a dispute between blood relatives or a dispute regarding the Law and the commands, statutes, or verdicts, you are to warn the parties so that they do not become guilty in the LORD’s presence and so that anger does not come upon you and your fellow citizens.

¹³ “You also came down to Mount Sinai, spoke with them from heaven, and gave them impartial regulations, true laws, statutes, and good commands. ¹⁴ You revealed to them your holy Sabbath, and you mandated precepts, statutes, and laws through Moses your servant.

²⁹ joined with their relatives and their leaders. They entered into an oath—enforced by a curse—to walk in God’s Law that was given through God’s servant Moses, and to be careful to obey all of the commands of the LORD, our Lord, as well as his regulations and statutes:

¹⁹ He declares his words to Jacob, his statutes and decrees to Israel.

¹¹ where I gave them my statutes and revealed my ordinances to them, which if a person observes, he’ll live by them.

²⁵ So I gave them statutes that weren’t good and ordinances by which they could not live.

⁴ The Coming of Elijah the Prophet“Remember the Law of Moses my servant that I gave him at Horeb for all Israel—both the decrees and laws.

²⁰ teaching them to obey everything that I’ve commanded you. And remember, I am with you each and every day until the end of the age.”

¹ Instructions on the Way Christians Should LiveNow then, brothers, you learned from us how you ought to live and to please God, as in fact you are doing. We ask and encourage you in the Lord to do so even more.

²⁸ May the LORD grant you dew from the skies, and from the fertile land; may he grant you abundant grain and fresh wine.

³⁶ Then he said, “Isn’t his name rightly called Jacob?” Esau asked. “He has circumvented me this second time. First, he took away my birthright, and now, look how he also stole my blessing.” Then he added, “Haven’t you reserved a blessing for me?”

⁴⁴ though any slave purchased with money may eat it after you have circumcised him.

³ but if the sun has risen on him, then it is a capital crime in that case. A thief shall certainly make restitution, but if he has nothing, he is to be sold for his theft.

³⁹ “If your brother with you becomes so poor that he sells himself to you, you are not to make him serve like a bond slave. ⁴⁰ Instead, he is to serve with you like a hired servant or a traveler who lives with you, until the year of jubilee. ⁴¹ Then he and his children with him may leave to return to his family and his ancestor’s inheritance. ⁴² Since they’re my servants whom I’ve brought out of the land of Egypt, they are not to be sold as slaves. ⁴³ You are not to rule over them with harshness. You are to fear your God.”
⁴⁴ Release of Slaves“As for your male and maid slaves who will be with you, you may buy male and female slaves from among the nations. ⁴⁵ You may also buy from resident aliens who live among you and their families who are with you, whom they fathered in your land. They may become your property.

¹ The LORD’s Remission“You must cancel your debts at the end of every seventh year.

¹² Releasing Slaves“When a fellow Hebrew male or female slave is sold to you and serves you for six years, then in the seventh year you are to set them free. ¹³ But when you set them free, don’t send them away empty-handed. ¹⁴ Provide for them liberally from your flock, threshing floor, and wine vat. As the LORD your God has blessed you, so give to them. ¹⁵ Don’t ever forget that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, yet the LORD your God redeemed you. Therefore, I’m giving you these commands today.

¹⁸ Don’t view this as a hardship for yourself when you set him free, for he will have served you for six years—twice the time of a paid worker. Then the LORD will bless you in all that you do.”

¹⁰ Then he gave these orders: “At the end of seven years, the year designated for release, during the Festival of Tents,

¹ The Miracle of the Oil Vessels
Now there happened to be a certain woman who had been the wife of a member of the Guild of Prophets. She cried out to Elisha, “My husband who served you has died, and you know that your servant feared the LORD. But a creditor has come to take away my children into indentured servitude!”

¹ Settling Some Civil DisputesNow the people along with their spouses complained loudly against their fellow Jews, ² because certain of them kept claiming, “Since we have so many sons and daughters, we must get some grain so we can eat and survive.”
³ Others were saying, “We’re having to mortgage our fields, our vineyards, and our homes so we can buy grain during this famine.”
⁴ Still others were saying “We’ve borrowed money against our fields and vineyards to pay the king’s taxes. ⁵ Now our bodies are no different than the bodies of our relatives, and our children are like their children. Nevertheless, we’re about to force our sons and daughters into slavery, and some of our daughters are already in bondage. It’s beyond our power to do anything about it, because our fields and vineyards belong to others.”

⁸ I accused them, “To the best of our ability, we’ve been buying back our fellow Jews who had been sold to foreigners. Even now you’re selling your fellow countrymen, only for them to be sold back to us!” They kept quiet and never spoke a word.

⁸ A Broken Agreement with Hebrew ServantsThis is this message from the LORD that came to Jeremiah from the LORD after Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem proclaiming release for them. ⁹ Each person was to set free his male and female slaves who were Hebrews, so that no Jewish person would enslave his brother. ¹⁰ All the officials and all the people who had entered into the covenant agreed that each would set his male and female slaves free so that they would not enslave them any longer. They obeyed and they released them. ¹¹ But afterward they turned around and took back the male and female slaves that they had set free, and they forced them to become male and female slaves.
¹² Then this message from the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD: ¹³ “This is what the LORD God of Israel says: ‘I made a covenant with your ancestors on the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. I told them: ¹⁴ “At the end of seven years, each of you is to set free your fellow Hebrew who has sold himself to you and has served you for six years. You are to send him out from you with no further obligation.” But your ancestors didn’t obey me or pay attention. ¹⁵ You recently repented and did what was right in my eyes by proclaiming release for one another, and you made a covenant before me in the house that is called by my name. ¹⁶ But then you turned around and profaned my name when each of you took back his male and female slaves whom you had set free according to their desire, and you forced them to become male and female slaves.”’
¹⁷ “Therefore, this is what the LORD says: ‘You haven’t obeyed me by each of you proclaiming a release for your brothers and neighbors. Now I’m going to proclaim a release for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘a release to the sword, to plague, and to famine, and I’ll make you a horrifying sight to all the kingdoms of the earth.

²⁵ Because he couldn’t pay, his master ordered him, his wife, his children, and everything that he owned to be sold so that payment could be made.

²⁰ because you were bought for a price. Therefore, glorify God with your bodies.

¹² Releasing Slaves“When a fellow Hebrew male or female slave is sold to you and serves you for six years, then in the seventh year you are to set them free. ¹³ But when you set them free, don’t send them away empty-handed. ¹⁴ Provide for them liberally from your flock, threshing floor, and wine vat. As the LORD your God has blessed you, so give to them.

¹⁶ “Should that slave say to you, ‘I won’t leave you,’ because he loves you and your household, and it was good for him to be with you, ¹⁷ then take an awl and pierce through his earlobe into the door. Then he will be your slave forever. You are to do the same for your female slaves.

¹³ O LORD our God, other lords besides you have ruled over us, but through you alone we acknowledge your name.

¹⁴ The love of the Messiah controls us, for we are convinced of this: that one person died for all people; therefore, all people have died. ¹⁵ He died for all people, so that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for the one who died and rose for them.

¹² I’ll pass through the land of Egypt that night and strike every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both people and animals. I’ll execute judgments on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD.

²¹ You are to look for capable men among the people, men who fear God, men of integrity who hate dishonest gain. You are to set these men over them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. ²² They are to judge the people at all times. Let them bring every major matter to you, but let them judge every minor matter. It will lighten your burden, and they’ll bear it with you. ²³ If you do this, and God so commands you, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will also go to their homes in peace.”
²⁴ Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said. ²⁵ Moses chose capable men from all Israel and appointed them as heads over the people, as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. ²⁶ They judged the people at all times; the difficult matters they brought to Moses, but every minor matter they judged.

²² “If two men are fighting and they strike a pregnant woman and her children are born prematurely, but there is no harm, he is certainly to be fined as the husband of the woman demands of him, and he will pay as the court decides.

⁸ If the thief is not found, the owner of the house is to appear before the judges to see whether or not the thief took his neighbor’s property.
⁹ “In every ownership dispute involving an ox, donkey, sheep, garment, or anything that is lost where a person says, ‘This is mine,’ the case between the two of them is to come before the judges, and the one that the judges declare guilty is to repay double to his neighbor.

²⁸ “You are not to blaspheme God or curse a ruler of your people.

²³ Land Redemption“The land is not to be sold with any finality, because the land belongs to me. You’re sojourners and travelers with me.

⁴⁰ Instead, he is to serve with you like a hired servant or a traveler who lives with you, until the year of jubilee.

⁵ Then Moses ordered the judges of Israel, “Each one of you is to execute the men in his own tribe who joined the Baal-peor cult.”
⁶ That very moment, one of the Israelis arrived, bringing to his brothers one of the Midianite women, right in front of Moses and the entire community of Israel, while they were weeping at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting! ⁷ When Eleazar’s son Phinehas, grandson of Aaron the priest saw this, he jumped up from the middle of the community, grabbed a javelin in his hand, ⁸ followed the Israeli man inside his tent, and impaled the two of them—the Israeli man and the woman—right through both of them and into her abdomen. Then the plague infecting the Israelis was brought to a halt. Nevertheless,

¹⁶ I charged your judges at that time, ‘When you hold a hearing between brothers, judge fairly between a man and his brother or between foreigners.

¹⁷ then take an awl and pierce through his earlobe into the door. Then he will be your slave forever. You are to do the same for your female slaves.

¹⁸ Pursue Justice“Appoint judges and civil servants according to your tribes in all your cities that the LORD your God is about to give you, so they may judge the people impartially.

¹⁷ then both must stand with their dispute in the LORD’s presence, the priests, and the judges at that time. ¹⁸ The judges will investigate thoroughly. If the false witness lies in testifying against his relative,

²² Hannah did not go up because she had told her husband, “As soon as the child is weaned, I’ll take him to appear in the LORD’s presence and remain there forever.

¹ Israel Demands a KingWhen Samuel became old, he appointed his sons judges over Israel. ² The name of his firstborn son was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah. They were judges in Beer-sheba.

¹² Achish believed David, telling himself, “He has certainly made himself repulsive to his people in Israel. He will be my servant forever.”

² David told Achish, “Very well, you will now see what your servant will do.”
Achish told David, “Very well, I’ll appoint you as my permanent bodyguard.”

⁷ They advised him, “If today you are a servant, you will serve this people by answering them and speaking kindly to them. Then they will serve you forever.”

⁶ You take no delight in sacrifices and offerings— you have prepared my ears to listen— you require no burnt offerings or sacrifices for sin. ⁷ Then I said, “Here I am! I have come! In the scroll of the book it is written about me. ⁸ I delight to do your will, my God. Your Law is part of my inner being.”

²⁶ Let me restore your judges as at the first, and your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you’ll be called ‘The Righteous City’ and ‘The Faithful City of Zion’.

³ Its national officials are roaring lions; its judges are like wolves of the night that don’t leave the bones for the morning.

² “When you acquire a Hebrew servant, he is to serve for six years, and in the seventh he is to go out a free man without paying anything. ³ If he came in by himself, he is to go out by himself. If he was married, his wife is to go out with him.

⁵ Now our bodies are no different than the bodies of our relatives, and our children are like their children. Nevertheless, we’re about to force our sons and daughters into slavery, and some of our daughters are already in bondage. It’s beyond our power to do anything about it, because our fields and vineyards belong to others.”

⁸ Esau realized that Canaan women didn’t please his father Isaac,

²⁹ Moses said, “Right now I’m going to leave you, and I’ll pray to the LORD that the swarms of insects may depart from Pharaoh, from his officials, and from his people tomorrow. But Pharaoh, don’t continue lying by not letting the people go to offer sacrifices to the LORD.”

⁷ And is there a man here who is engaged to a woman and has not yet married her? Let him go back home. Otherwise, he may die in battle and another man marry her.’

¹¹ If you see among the prisoners a beautiful woman and you desire her, then you may take her as your wife. ¹² Bring her to your house, but shave her head and trim her nails. ¹³ Remove her prisoner’s clothing and let her remain for a month in your house, mourning her parents. After that, you may become her husband and she is to become your wife. ¹⁴ If you aren’t pleased with her and you send her away, you must not sell her for money or mistreat her, since you will have dishonored her.”

¹⁹ So if you’ve acted in good faith and integrity toward Jerubbaal and his household today, then you’re welcome to Abimelech, and he’s welcome to you…

³ His father and mother asked him, “Isn’t there a woman suitable among the daughters of your relatives or among all of our people, since you’re going to get your wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?”
But Samson retorted to his father, “Get her for me, since she looks fine to me.”

⁶ Samuel was displeased when they said, “Give us a king to govern us.” So Samuel prayed to the LORD.

⁸ Saul was very angry and he did not like what the women sang. He told himself, “They have attributed tens of thousands to David, but to me they have attributed thousands. What else can he have but the kingdom?”

¹⁵ But my brothers have acted treacherously like a cascading river, like torrential rivers that overflow.

¹¹ Judah has become unfaithful, and a detestable thing was committed in Israel and Jerusalem. Indeed, Judah profaned the Holy Place of the LORD, which he loves, and married a daughter of a foreign god. ¹² May the LORD exclude from the community of Jacob any man who does this, whoever he may be, even though he brings offerings to the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.
¹³ God’s Fourth Complaint: Against His Priests—Marital Abuses“This is another thing you do: you flood the altar of the LORD with tears, weeping and wailing because he no longer pays attention to your offering nor takes pleasure in it from your hand. ¹⁴ Yet you ask, ‘For what reason?’ Because the LORD acts as a witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you were unfaithful to her, your partner, the wife of your covenant. ¹⁵ Did he not make them one? And the vestige of the spirit remains in him. And why did he make them one? He was seeking godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and don’t be unfaithful to the wife of your youth.

¹ Concerning MarriageNow about what you asked: “Is it advisable for a man not to marry?” ² Because sexual immorality is so rampant, every man should have his own wife, and every woman should have her own husband.
³ A husband should fulfill his obligation to his wife, and a wife should do the same for her husband. ⁴ A wife does not have authority over her own body, but her husband does. In the same way, a husband doesn’t have authority over his own body, but his wife does. ⁵ Do not withhold yourselves from each other unless you agree to do so just for a set time, in order to devote yourselves to prayer. Then you should come together again so that Satan does not tempt you through your lack of self-control. ⁶ But I say this as a concession, not as a command.

⁶ “Whoever sheds human blood, by a human his own blood is to be shed; because God made human beings in his own image.

¹³ “You are not to commit murder.ז

¹⁷ “If a man beats a human being to death, he is certainly to be executed,

¹⁶ Exceptions to Eligibility“Whoever uses an iron implement to kill someone is to be adjudged a murderer, and that murderer is certainly to be put to death. ¹⁷ Furthermore, whoever uses a stone implement to kill someone is to be adjudged a murderer, and that murderer is certainly to be put to death. ¹⁸ Also, whoever uses a wooden implement to kill someone with it is to be adjudged a murderer, and that murderer is certainly to be put to death. ¹⁹ The blood avenger himself is to execute the murderer. When he meets him, the blood avenger is to put him to death. ²⁰ If the killer shoved his victim out of hatred, or hurled something at him while waiting in ambush so that he died, ²¹ or if he struck him with his hand out of hatred so that he died, then the killer is certainly to be put to death for murder. The avenger of blood is to put him to death when he meets him.”
²² Case Examples for Eligibility“But if he pushed him suddenly without hatred, or if he hurled something in his direction without waiting in ambush, ²³ or if he hit him with a stone carelessly so that he was fatally injured, though he isn’t his enemy and he wasn’t seeking to commit evil against him, ²⁴ then the community is to judge between the inadvertent killer and the blood avenger, following these ordinances.

³⁰ Capital Cases Require Multiple Witnesses“Every murderer of a human being is to be executed only according to testimony given by multiple witnesses. A single witness is not to result in a death sentence. ³¹ You are to receive no ransom for the life of a killer who is guilty of murder; instead, he is to die.

¹¹ Refuse Cold-Blooded Murderers“However, if a person hates his neighbor, lies in wait for him, rises up against him, and attacks him so that he dies, and then he flees to one of those cities, ¹² then the elders of his own city shall send for him, remove him from there, and deliver him to the related avenger for execution. ¹³ Have no pity on him, but totally purge the shedding of innocent blood from Israel so that life may go well with you.”

¹³ At this point, David told Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.”
Nathan responded to David, “There’s one other thing: the LORD has forgiven your sin. You won’t die.

⁵² Jesus told him, “Put your sword back in its place! Everyone who uses a sword will be killed by a sword.

¹⁰ “Tell the Israelis that when they have crossed the Jordan River into the land of Canaan, ¹¹ they are to designate some towns of refuge so that anyone who kills someone inadvertently may flee there. ¹² They are to serve as cities of refuge from a blood avenger in order to keep the inadvertent killer from dying until he has stood trial in the presence of the community. ¹³ You are to set aside six towns of refuge. ¹⁴ Appoint three towns this side of the Jordan River and three towns in the land of Canaan to serve as the towns of refuge, ¹⁵ that is, places of refuge for the Israelis, the resident alien, and any travelers among them. Anyone who kills a person inadvertently may flee there.”
¹⁶ Exceptions to Eligibility“Whoever uses an iron implement to kill someone is to be adjudged a murderer, and that murderer is certainly to be put to death. ¹⁷ Furthermore, whoever uses a stone implement to kill someone is to be adjudged a murderer, and that murderer is certainly to be put to death. ¹⁸ Also, whoever uses a wooden implement to kill someone with it is to be adjudged a murderer, and that murderer is certainly to be put to death. ¹⁹ The blood avenger himself is to execute the murderer. When he meets him, the blood avenger is to put him to death. ²⁰ If the killer shoved his victim out of hatred, or hurled something at him while waiting in ambush so that he died, ²¹ or if he struck him with his hand out of hatred so that he died, then the killer is certainly to be put to death for murder. The avenger of blood is to put him to death when he meets him.”
²² Case Examples for Eligibility“But if he pushed him suddenly without hatred, or if he hurled something in his direction without waiting in ambush, ²³ or if he hit him with a stone carelessly so that he was fatally injured, though he isn’t his enemy and he wasn’t seeking to commit evil against him, ²⁴ then the community is to judge between the inadvertent killer and the blood avenger, following these ordinances. ²⁵ The community is to release the inadvertent killer from the blood avenger and return him to the town of refuge where he had fled. He is to live there until the High Priest dies, who will have anointed him with holy oil. ²⁶ But if the inadvertent killer leaves the town of refuge where he had fled ²⁷ and the blood avenger finds him outside the town of refuge where he had fled and kills him, the blood avenger is not to be found guilty of murder. ²⁸ The inadvertent killer is to live in the town of refuge until the High Priest dies. After the death of the High Priest, the inadvertent killer is to return to the land of his inheritance. ²⁹ These are to be the statutes and ordinances for you throughout all your generations, regardless of where you live.”
³⁰ Capital Cases Require Multiple Witnesses“Every murderer of a human being is to be executed only according to testimony given by multiple witnesses. A single witness is not to result in a death sentence. ³¹ You are to receive no ransom for the life of a killer who is guilty of murder; instead, he is to die. ³² You are not to receive payment of a ransom for someone who had fled to a town of refuge but then left to live in his homeland before the death of the high priest. ³³ You are not to pollute the land where you live, because blood defiles the land, and the land cannot atone for blood that has been spilled on it, except through the blood of the one who spilled it. ³⁴ You are not to defile the land where you will be living, because I’m living among you. I am the LORD, who lives in Israel.”

⁴¹ Cities of RefugeThen Moses designated three cities on the east side of the Jordan, ⁴² where a person who accidentally killed someone could flee, if he killed his neighbor without having enmity toward him in the past. He may flee to one of these cities and live: ⁴³ Bezer in the desert plain for the descendants of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead for the descendants of Gad, and Golan in Bashan for the descendants of Manasseh.

¹ Cities of Refuge“When the LORD your God destroys those nations whose lands he is about to give you, you must dispossess them and live in their cities and houses. ² You must reserve three cities within the land that the LORD your God is about to give you to possess. ³ Build roads throughout the land that the LORD your God is providing as an inheritance, and then divide it into three districts so that any killer may flee there.
⁴ “Now this is the situation for any killer who flees there to live: suppose he strikes his friend unwittingly, not having hated him previously. ⁵ For instance, he may have accompanied his friend to go to a forest to cut trees. Then he swung his axe to cut some wood, but the ax head flew off the handle and hit his friend, so that he died. The killer may flee to one of these cities to live. ⁶ While the distance may be great and the angry avenger pursues the killer, he may overtake him and kill him, in which case there will be no justice in his death, because he did not hate his friend previously. ⁷ Therefore I am commanding you to reserve three cities.”
⁸ Increase the Cities of Refuge“Now if the LORD enlarges your territories just as he promised your ancestors and gives you all the land that he promised, ⁹ and if you are careful to observe all these commands that I am commanding you today—to love the LORD your God and to walk daily in his ways—then add three more cities in addition to these three cities. ¹⁰ You must not shed innocent blood on your land that the LORD your God is about to give you as an inheritance. Otherwise, you’ll be guilty of murder.”

² “Tell the people of Israel to set apart cities of refuge about which I spoke to you through Moses, ³ so that anyone who kills a person unintentionally and without premeditation may run there and be protected from closely related avengers. ⁴ He may run to one of those cities, stand at the entrance to the city gate, and tell his side of the story to the elders of the city. They are to bring him inside the city with them and provide him a place to live among them. ⁵ Now if the closely related avenger pursues him, then they are not to hand the killer over to him, because he killed his neighbor without premeditation and without hating him beforehand. ⁶ He is to live in that city until he stands trial before the community, until the death of the one who is high priest at that time. Then the killer may return to his own city and to his own home, that is, to the city from which he fled.”
⁷ So they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (also known as Hebron) in the hill country of Judah. ⁸ East of Jericho beyond the Jordan River, they reserved Bezer in the wilderness on the plain from the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan from the tribe of Manasseh. ⁹ These were appointed to be cities for all the Israelis and for the foreigner who lives among them, so that whoever kills anyone unintentionally may run there and not die at the hands of a closely related avenger until he stands for trial before the community.

⁴ David’s men told him, “Look, today is the day about which the LORD spoke to you when he said, ‘I’ll give your enemy into your hand.’ Do to him whatever you want!”
David rose and stealthily cut off the corner of Saul’s robe.

¹⁰ Look, this very day you saw with your own eyes that the LORD gave you into my control in the cave, and one of my men told me to kill you, but I had pity on you and responded, ‘I won’t lift my hand against his majesty because he’s the LORD’s anointed.’

¹⁸ You have explained how you treated me well, in that the LORD delivered me into your hand but you didn’t kill me.

¹⁰ But the king responded, “What do I have in common with you sons of Zeruiah? If he continues to curse—and if the LORD has told him, ‘Curse David!’—then who are you to be demanding to know ‘Why have you done this?’”

⁷ But this is not what he intends, and this is not what he thinks in his mind; but it is in his mind to destroy, and to cut down many nations.

² The faithful have died off, and there is not one upright human being in the land. They all stalk one another with lethal intent, a man will even hunt his own brother with a net.

³⁰ On Willful Sin“But if some person acts with a high hand, whether a native-born or a resident alien, he blasphemes God, and that person is to be eliminated from among his people. ³¹ Because he has despised the law of the LORD and has broken his commands, that person is certainly to be eliminated. His iniquity will remain on him.”

²⁰ If the killer shoved his victim out of hatred, or hurled something at him while waiting in ambush so that he died, ²¹ or if he struck him with his hand out of hatred so that he died, then the killer is certainly to be put to death for murder. The avenger of blood is to put him to death when he meets him.”

⁴³ “I spoke to you but you didn’t listen. Instead you rebelled against the command of the LORD and went up to the hill country.

¹² If a man presumptuously disregards the priest who is serving the LORD your God there or the judge, that person must die so you will purge evil from Israel. ¹³ Then all the people who hear will be afraid and will not act presumptuously again.”

²² Whenever a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, and the oracle does not come about or the word is not fulfilled, then the LORD has not spoken it. The prophet will have spoken presumptuously, so you need not fear him.”

²⁴ “‘Cursed is one who strikes his neighbor secretly.“Then all the people are to respond by saying, ‘Amen!’

²⁷ When Abner returned to Hebron, Joab brought him aside within the gateway to talk to him alone and then stabbed him in the abdomen. So he died for shedding the blood of Joab’s brother Asahel.

⁹ Joab asked Amasa, “Is everything going well with you, my brother?” As Joab took Amasa by his beard to greet him, ¹⁰ Amasa did not notice the sword that Joab was holding in his hand. Joab stabbed him in the abdomen, spilling his intestines to the ground in a single stroke and killing him. After this, Joab and his brother pursued Bichri’s son Sheba.

⁵⁰ Afraid of Solomon, Adonijah also jumped up and headed straight for the horns of the altar.
⁵¹ “Hey look!” somebody informed Solomon. “Adonijah is terrified of King Solomon! He’s gone out, grabbed hold of the horns of the altar, and now he’s begging King Solomon, ‘Swear to me that you won’t put your servant to death with a sword!’”

²⁸ Joab is ExecutedWhen Joab learned what had happened, he ran to the LORD’s tent and grabbed hold of the horns of the altar, since Joab had supported Adonijah (though he had not supported Absalom). ²⁹ Somebody informed King Solomon, “Joab just ran to the LORD’s tent and now he’s standing beside the altar!”
But Solomon ordered Jehoiada’s son Benaiah, “Go kill him!”
³⁰ So Benaiah went into the LORD’s tent and told Joab, “The king orders you to come out!”
“No,” Joab said, “I’d rather die here!”
So Benaiah went and informed the king, “This is how Joab answered me.”
³¹ The king replied to him, “Do just what he asked. Kill him and bury him so that you may remove from me and from my father’s household the guilt that Joab shed needlessly. ³² The LORD will repay him for his bloodshed because, without my father David’s consent he attacked and murdered two men more righteous and better than he, Ner’s son Abner, the commander of Israel’s army and Jether’s son Amasa, commander of Judah’s army. ³³ May their blood be repaid to Joab and to his descendants forever, and may there be peace shown from the LORD forever to David, to his descendants, to his household, and to his throne.”
³⁴ Jehoiada’s son Benaiah then approached Joab, attacked him, killed him, and had him buried at Joab’s home in the wilderness.

¹⁵ Athaliah is Executed
Jehoiada the priest commanded the captains in charge of the army, “Take her out the back way and execute anybody who follows her,” since the priest had also issued this order: “Let’s not put her to death in the LORD’s Temple.”

¹³ Preserve your servant from arrogant people; do not let them rule over me. Then I will be upright and acquitted of great wickedness.

²⁶ For if we choose to go on sinning after we have learned the full truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,

¹⁰ especially those who satisfy their flesh by indulging in its passions and who despise authority.
Being bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to slander glorious beings.

¹⁸ Death to a Rebellious Son“If a man has a stubborn son who does not obey his parents, and although they try to discipline him, he still refuses to pay attention to them, ¹⁹ then his parents are to seize him and bring him before the elders at the gate of his city. ²⁰ Then they are to declare to the elders of their city: ‘Our son is stubborn and rebellious. He does not obey us. He lives wildly and is a drunkard.’ ²¹ Then all the men of his city are to stone him with stones so that he dies. This is how you will remove this evil from among you. Then all Israel will hear of it and will be afraid.”

¹¹ Some people curse their fathers and won’t bless their mothers.

¹⁷ The eye that mocks a father and looks with a disobedient attitude at a mother— the valley ravens will pluck it out; and vultures will eat it.

⁹ that is, if he understands that the Law is not intended for righteous people but for lawbreakers and rebels, for ungodly people and sinners, for those who are unholy and irreverent, for those who kill their fathers, their mothers, or other people,

²⁸ As the Midianite merchants were passing through, they extracted Joseph from the cistern and sold Joseph for 20 pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites, who then took Joseph down to Egypt.

¹⁵ because I was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews. Not only that, I haven’t done anything that deserves me being confined to this pit.”

⁴ If what was stolen is actually found alive in his possession, whether an ox, a donkey or a sheep, he is to repay double.

⁷ “If a man is found kidnapping his relative, a fellow Israeli, and mistreats or sells him, that kidnapper must die. By doing this, you will remove this evil from among you.

¹⁰ for those involved in sexual immorality, for homosexuals, for kidnappers, for liars, for false witnesses, and for whatever else goes against the healthy teaching

¹² cargo of gold, silver, gems, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, all kinds of scented wood, all articles made of ivory, all articles made of very costly wood, bronze, iron, marble,

⁹ Honoring Parents“Anyone who curses his father or mother is certainly to be put to death. He has cursed his father or mother, so his guilt will remain his responsibility.”
¹⁰ Honoring the Seventh Commandment“If anyone commits adultery with another man’s wife, including when someone commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, both the adulterer and the adulteress are to die.

¹⁶ “Cursed is the one who treats his father and mother with dishonor.’“Then all the people are to respond by saying, ‘Amen!’

²⁰ Whoever curses his father or mother, his lamp will be extinguished in the deepest darkness.

³ But he answered them, “Why do you also disregard the commandment of God because of your tradition? ⁴ Because God said, ‘You are to honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever curses father or mother must certainly be put to death.’ ⁵ But you say, ‘Whoever tells his father or his mother, “Whatever support you might have received from me has been given to God,” ⁶ does not have to honor his father.’ Because of your tradition, then, you have disregarded the authority of God’s word.

¹⁰ Because Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever curses his father or mother must certainly be put to death.’ ¹¹ But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or mother, “Whatever support you might have received from me is Corban,”’ (that is, an offering to God)

¹³ Going out the next day, Moses noticed two Hebrew men fighting right in front of him. He told the one who was at fault, “Why did you strike your companion?”

²⁰ “If a man strikes his male or female servant with a stick and he or she dies as a direct result, the master must be punished.

¹¹ Limiting a Wife’s Defense“If two men are fighting together, and the wife of one comes to rescue her husband from the grasp of his assailant, and she reaches out and seizes his genitals,

⁶ “Your humble servant used to have two sons, but they got into a fight out in the field. Because there was no one to keep them apart, one of them attacked the other and killed him.

²⁹ May judgment rest on Joab’s head and on his father’s entire household. May Joab’s dynasty never be without one who has a discharge, who is a leper, who walks with a cane, who commits suicide, or who lacks food!”

⁴ “This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: ‘There will yet be old men and old women sitting in the parks of Jerusalem, each one of them holding canes in their hands due to their old age!

¹⁵ The LORD told him, “This won’t happen, because whoever kills you will suffer seven times the vengeance.” Then the LORD placed a sign on Cain so that no one finding him would kill him.

²⁴ For if Cain is being avenged seven times, then Lamech will be avenged 77 times.”

²⁶ “If a man strikes the eye of his male or female servant and destroys it, he is to release him as a free man in exchange for his eye. ²⁷ If he knocks out the tooth of his male or female servant, he is to release him as a free man in exchange for his tooth.

¹⁹ The blood avenger himself is to execute the murderer. When he meets him, the blood avenger is to put him to death.

³⁰ Capital Cases Require Multiple Witnesses“Every murderer of a human being is to be executed only according to testimony given by multiple witnesses. A single witness is not to result in a death sentence. ³¹ You are to receive no ransom for the life of a killer who is guilty of murder; instead, he is to die. ³² You are not to receive payment of a ransom for someone who had fled to a town of refuge but then left to live in his homeland before the death of the high priest. ³³ You are not to pollute the land where you live, because blood defiles the land, and the land cannot atone for blood that has been spilled on it, except through the blood of the one who spilled it.

²¹ Your eyes must not show pity—life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, and foot for foot.”

¹⁹ Dangerous BehaviorsBy mere words a servant will not be corrected; even though he understands, there will be no response.

³ ‘Why have we fasted,’ they ask, ‘but you do not see? ‘Why have we humbled ourselves,’ they ask, ‘but you take no notice?’”
Fasting that God Approves “Look! On your fast day you serve your own interest and oppress all your workers. ⁴ “Look! You fast only for quarreling, and for fighting, and for hitting with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and have your voice heard on high.

⁴ For they are God’s servants, working for your good.
But if you do what is wrong, you should be afraid, for it is not without reason that they bear the sword. Indeed, they are God’s servants to administer punishment to anyone who does wrong.

⁴⁴ Release of Slaves“As for your male and maid slaves who will be with you, you may buy male and female slaves from among the nations. ⁴⁵ You may also buy from resident aliens who live among you and their families who are with you, whom they fathered in your land. They may become your property. ⁴⁶ You may give them as inherited property to your children after you, to own as properties in perpetuity. You may make bond slaves of them, but no one is to rule over his fellow Israeli with harshness.

³⁰ If a fine is imposed on him, he may pay all that was imposed on him as a ransom for his life.

¹⁸ The elders of that city will then take the man, punish him, ¹⁹ fine him 100 shekels of silver, and then give them to the young lady’s father, because he had defamed a virgin of Israel. She is to remain his wife and he can’t divorce her as long as he lives.

¹⁹ If a man disfigures his fellow, whatever he did is to be done to him also.

³¹ You are to receive no ransom for the life of a killer who is guilty of murder; instead, he is to die.

¹⁹ If a man disfigures his fellow, whatever he did is to be done to him also. ²⁰ Fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth—just as he had caused a disfigurement against another man, so it is to be done against him.

⁶ Adoni-bezek ran off, but they pursued him, caught him, and amputated his thumbs and big toes. ⁷ Adoni-bezek used to brag, “Seventy kings without thumbs and big toes used to eat what was left under my table. God has repaid me for what I’ve done.” They brought him to Jerusalem, and he later died there.

³³ Samuel said, “Just as your sword has made women childless, so your mother will be childless among women.” Then Samuel cut Agag into pieces in the LORD’s presence in Gilgal.

³⁸ Teaching about Retaliation
“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ ³⁹ But I tell you not to resist an evildoer. On the contrary, whoever slaps you on the right cheek, turn the other to him as well. ⁴⁰ If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat as well.

² because the way that you judge others will be the way that you will be judged, and you will be evaluated by the standard with which you evaluate others.

³⁸ Give, and it will be given to you. A large quantity, pressed together, shaken down, and running over will be put into your lap, because you’ll be evaluated by the same standard with which you evaluate others.”

⁶ You have given them blood to drink because they spilled the blood of saints and prophets. This is what they deserve.”

¹⁹ You must not twist justice, show favoritism, or take bribes, because a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the speech of the righteous.

¹³ No Abuse of Servants“If I’ve refused to help my male and female servants when they complain against me, ¹⁴ what will I do when God stands up to act? When he asks the questions, how will I answer him? ¹⁵ The one who made me in the womb made them, too, didn’t he? Didn’t the same one prepare each of us in the womb?”

¹² As an avenger of blood, he remembers them; he has not forgotten the cry of the afflicted.

¹⁴ But you do see! You take note of trouble and grief in order to take the matter into your own hand. The helpless one commits himself to you; you have been the orphan’s helper.

¹⁸ to do justice for the orphan and the oppressed, so that men of the earth may cause terror no more.

¹² For he will deliver the needy when they cry out for help, and the poor when there is no deliverer. ¹³ He will have compassion on the poor and the needy, and he will save the lives of the needy. ¹⁴ He will redeem them from oppression and violence, since their lives are precious in his sight.

²² Don’t rob the poor person because he is poor, and don’t crush the helpless in court, ²³ for the LORD will plead their case and ruin the lives of those who ruin them.

⁹ Masters, treat your slaves the same way. Do not threaten them, for you know that both of you have the same Master in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.

¹ Masters, treat your slaves justly and fairly, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven.

⁵ Also, I will certainly demand an accounting regarding bloodshed, from every animal and from every human being. I’ll demand an accounting from every human being for the life of another human being. ⁶ “Whoever sheds human blood, by a human his own blood is to be shed; because God made human beings in his own image.

³² “If the ox gores a male or female servant, the owner is to give 30 shekels of silver to the servant’s master, and the ox is to be stoned.

¹⁵ “If a man has sexual relations with an animal, he is to be put to death, and you are also to kill the animal.
¹⁶ “If a woman approaches any animal to have sexual relations with it, both the woman and the animal are to be put to death. Their guilt will remain their responsibility.

¹ Atonement for Unsolved Murder“If a murder victim is found fallen in the open country of the land that the LORD your God is about to give you to possess, and it is not known who killed him, ² then let your elders and judges go out and measure the distance from the dead body to the neighboring cities. ³ Then the elders of the city nearest the body are to take a heifer that hasn’t been put to work or hasn’t pulled a yoke ⁴ and are to lead the heifer to a flowing stream in a valley that has never been tilled or planted. They are to break the heifer’s neck there. ⁵ Then the priests of the sons of Levi are to step forward, because the LORD your God chose them to serve and pronounce blessings in his name. Every case of dispute and assault is to be subject to their ruling. ⁶ All the elders of the city nearest the dead body are to wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley, ⁷ and they are to make this declaration: ‘Our hands didn’t shed this blood, nor were we witnesses to the crime. ⁸ Make atonement for your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, LORD, and don’t charge the blood of an innocent man against them.’ Then the blood shed will be atoned for. ⁹ This is how you will remove the guilt of innocent blood from among you, for you must do what is right in the sight of the LORD.”

¹² “When you take a census of the Israelis to register them, each is to give a ransom for himself to the LORD when they’re registered so there won’t be a plague among them when they’re registered.

⁸ The life of a wealthy man may be held for ransom, but whoever is poor receives no threats.

²⁸ “If an ox gores a man or woman so that they die, the ox is certainly to be stoned and its flesh may not be eaten, but the owner of the ox is free from liability. ²⁹ But if the ox has gored previously, and its owner has been warned about it but didn’t restrain it, and it kills a man or woman, the ox is to be stoned and its owner also is to be put to death.

¹² I told them, “If it’s alright with you, pay me what I’ve earned. But if it isn’t, don’t.”
So they paid out what I had earned—30 pieces of silver.
¹³ Then the LORD told me, “Throw the money into the treasury—that magnificent value they placed on me!”
So I took the 30 shekels of silver and threw them into the treasury of the Temple of the LORD.

¹⁵ and inquired, “What are you willing to give me if I betray Jesus to you?” They offered him 30 pieces of silver,

³ The Death of Judas
Then Judas, who had betrayed him, regretted what had happened when he saw that Jesus was condemned. He brought the 30 pieces of silver back to the high priests and elders, ⁴ saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.”
But they replied, “What do we care? Attend to that yourself.” ⁵ Then he flung the pieces of silver into the sanctuary, went outside, ran away, and hanged himself.
⁶ The high priests picked up the pieces of silver and said, “It is not lawful to put this into the Temple treasury, because it is blood money.” ⁷ So they decided to use the money to buy the Potter’s Field as a burial ground for foreigners. ⁸ That is why that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. ⁹ Then what had been declared through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled when he said, “They took the 30 pieces of silver, the value of the man on whom a price had been set by the Israelis,

⁷ Instead, poured out in emptiness, a servant’s form did he possess, a mortal man becoming. In human form he chose to be,

¹⁵ The nations have sunk down into the pit they made, their feet are ensnared in the trap they set.

⁸⁵ The arrogant have dug pitfalls for me disobeying your instruction.

¹⁰ Whoever misleads the upright along an evil way will himself fall into his own pit, but the blameless will inherit what is good.

⁸ Whoever digs a pit may fall into it, and whoever breaks through a wall may suffer a snake bite.

²⁰ Should good be repaid with evil? Yet they have dug a pit to take my life. Remember! I stood before you and spoke good on their behalf in order to turn your wrath away from them.

²² Let a cry be heard from their houses because you have brought a raiding party against them suddenly. For they have dug a pit to capture me and have set traps for my feet.

²⁹ But if the ox has gored previously, and its owner has been warned about it but didn’t restrain it, and it kills a man or woman, the ox is to be stoned and its owner also is to be put to death. ³⁰ If a fine is imposed on him, he may pay all that was imposed on him as a ransom for his life.

⁶ “When a fire breaks out and spreads into thorn bushes and consumes stacked grain or standing grain or the field, the one who started the fire certainly is to make restitution.

¹⁴ “When a man borrows an animal from his neighbor, and it’s injured or dies while its owner was not with it, he is certainly to make restitution.