1 E stas son las leyes que les propondrás.

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

2 S i compras siervo hebreo, seis años servirá; mas al séptimo saldrá libre, de balde.

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

3 S i entró solo, solo saldrá; si tenía mujer, saldrá él y su mujer con él.

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 S i su amo le hubiese dado mujer, y ella le diese hijos o hijas, la mujer y sus hijos serán de su amo, y él saldrá solo.

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 Y si el siervo dijese: Yo amo a mi señor, a mi mujer y a mis hijos, no saldré libre;

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

6 e ntonces su amo lo llevará ante los jueces, y le hará estar junto a la puerta o al poste; y su amo le horadará la oreja con lezna, y será su siervo para siempre.

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 for ever.

7 Y cuando alguno venda su hija por sierva, no saldrá ella como suelen salir los siervos.

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

8 S i no agrada a su señor, por lo cual no la tomó por esposa, se le permitirá que se rescate, y no la podrá vender a pueblo extraño cuando la deseche.

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 M as si la ha desposado con su hijo, hará con ella según la costumbre de las hijas.

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

10 S i toma para él otra mujer, no disminuirá su alimento, ni su vestido, ni el deber conyugal.

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

11 Y si ninguna de estas tres cosas hiciere, ella saldrá de gracia, sin dinero. Leyes sobre actos de violencia

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

12 E l que hiera a alguno, haciéndole así morir, él morirá.

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

13 M as el que no pretendía herirlo, sino que Dios lo puso en sus manos, entonces yo te señalaré lugar al cual ha de huir.

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

14 P ero si alguno se ensoberbece contra su prójimo y lo mata con alevosía, de mi altar lo quitarás para que muera.

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 E l que hiera a su padre o a su madre, morirá.

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

16 A simismo el que robe una persona y la venda, o si fuere hallada en sus manos, morirá.

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

17 I gualmente el que maldiga a su padre o a su madre, morirá.

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

18 A demás, si algunos riñen, y uno hiere a su prójimo con piedra o con puño, y éste no muere, sino que, después de guardar cama,

“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 p uede levantarse y andar por la calle, apoyado sobre su bastón, será absuelto el que lo hirió; pero pagará por el tiempo que estuvo sin trabajo, y los gastos de su curación.

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 Y si alguno hiere a su siervo o a su sierva con palo, y muere bajo su mano, será castigado;

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

21 m as si sobrevive por un día o dos, no será castigado, porque es de su propiedad.

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

22 S i algunos riñen, y hieren a mujer embarazada, y ésta aborta, pero sin haber muerte, serán penados conforme a lo que les imponga el marido de la mujer y juzguen los jueces.

“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 M as si hubiere muerte, entonces pagarás vida por vida,

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

24 o jo por ojo, diente por diente, mano por mano, pie por pie,

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

25 q uemadura por quemadura, herida por herida, golpe por golpe.

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

26 S i alguno hiere el ojo de su siervo, o el ojo de su sierva, y lo daña, le dará libertad por razón de su ojo.

“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 Y si hace saltar un diente de su siervo, o un diente de su sierva, por su diente le dejará ir libre.

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

28 S i un buey acornea a hombre o a mujer, y a causa de ello muere, el buey será apedreado, y no será comida su carne; mas el dueño del buey será absuelto.

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

29 P ero si el buey fuese acorneador desde tiempo atrás, y a su dueño se le hubiese notificado, y no lo hubiese guardado, y mata a hombre o mujer, el buey será apedreado, y también morirá su dueño.

But if the bull had a habit of goring in the past, and it 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 S i le es impuesto precio de rescate, entonces dará por el rescate de su persona cuanto le sea impuesto.

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

31 H aya acorneado a hijo, o haya acorneado a hija, conforme a este juicio se hará con él.

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

32 S i el buey acornea a un siervo o a una sierva, pagará su dueño treinta siclos de plata, y el buey será apedreado.

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 Y si alguno abre un pozo, o cava cisterna, y no la cubre, y cae allí buey o asno,

“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 e l dueño de la cisterna pagará el daño, resarciendo a su dueño, y lo que fue muerto será suyo.

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

35 Y si el buey de alguno hiere al buey de su prójimo causándole la muerte, entonces venderán el buey vivo y partirán el dinero de él, y también partirán el buey muerto.

“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 M as si era notorio que el buey era acorneador desde tiempo atrás, y su dueño no lo ha guardado, pagará buey por buey, y el buey muerto será suyo.

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.