(from One New Man Bible translated by William Morford)
Mishpatim
21.1. “Now these are the judgments which you will set before them.
21:2. “If you buy a Hebrew bond servant, he will serve six years, and in the seventh he will go out free for nothing. 3. If he came in by himself, he will go out by himself: if he were married, then his wife will go out with him. 4. If his master has given him a wife and she has borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children will be her master’s and he will go out by himself. 5. And if the servant will plainly say, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I shall not go out free.’ 6. Then his master will bring him to the judges; he will also bring him to the door, or to the door post, and his master will bore his ear through with an awl and he will serve him forever.
Torah Scroll
21:7. “And if a man sells his daughter to be a maidservant, she will not go out as the men servants do. 8. If she does not please her master, who has betrothed her to himself, then he will let her be redeemed. He will have no power to sell her to a foreign people, seeing he has dealt deceitfully with her. 9. And if he has betrothed her to his son, he will deal with her according to the statute of daughters. 10. If he takes another wife for himself, he will not diminish her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage. 11. And if he does not do these three for her, then she will go out free without money.
21:12. “He who strikes a man so that he dies will surely be put to death. 13. But if a man does not lie in wait, but God let it come into his hand, then I shall appoint you a place where he will flee.
21:14. “But if a man comes presumptuously upon his neighbor to slay him with guile, you will take him from My altar to die.
21:15. “And he that strikes his father or his mother will surely be put to death.
21:16. “And he who steals a man and sells him, or if he is found in his hand, he will surely be put to death.
21:17. “And he that curses his father or his mother will surely be put to death. (Matt. 15:4)
21:18. “And if men strive together and one strikes another with a stone or with his fist, and he does not die, but falls into bed: 19. if he gets up again and walks abroad upon his staff, then the one who struck him is free, only he will pay for the loss of his time and will cause him to be thoroughly healed. 20. And if a man strikes his servant or his maid with a rod, and he dies under his hand, he will surely be punished.
21. But, if he continues a day or two, he will not be punished for he is his money.
21:22. “If men strive and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit departs from her, but yet no further injury, he will surely be punished, according as the woman’s husband will put upon him, and he will pay as the judges determine. 23. And if any injury or fatality follows, then you will give life for life, 24. eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25. burning for burning, injury for injury, wound for wound.
21:26. “And if a man strikes the eye of his bond servant or the eye of his female bond servant and destroys it, he will let him go free for his eye’s sake. 27. And if he knocks out his man bond servant’s tooth or his maid bond servant’s tooth, he will let him go free for his tooth’s sake.
21:28. “If an ox gores a man or a woman so they die, then the ox will be surely stoned and its flesh will not be eaten, but the owner of the ox will be innocent. 29. But if the ox had injured with his horn in time past and it had been testified to his owner, and he has not kept him in, but that he had killed a man or a woman; the ox will be stoned and his owner also will be put to death. 30. If a sum of money for atonement is laid on him then he will pay the ransom for his life whatever is laid upon him.
31. Whether he had gored a son or had gored a daughter, according to this judgment will it be done to him. 32. If the ox gores a manservant or a maidservant, he will give to their master thirty shekels of silver and the ox will be stoned.
21:33. “And if a man opens a pit or if a man digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or an donkey falls in, 34. the owner of the pit will make it good and give money to their owner, and the dead beast will be his.
21:35. “And if one man’s ox hurts another’s and it dies, then they will sell the live ox and divide the money, and they will also divide the dead ox. 36. Or if it is known that the ox had gored in time past and his owner has not kept him in, he will surely pay ox for ox, and the dead will be his own.
21:37. “If a man steals an ox or a sheep and kills it or sells it, he will restore five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep.”
22.1. “If a thief is found breaking in and is struck so he dies, there will no blood be shed for him. 2. If the sun rises upon him, there will be blood shed for him, he should make full restitution. If he has nothing, then he will be sold for his theft. 3. If the theft is certainly found in his hand alive, whether it be ox, or donkey, or sheep; he will restore double.
22:4. “If a man causes a field or vineyard to be eaten and puts in his beast and it feeds in another man’s field, of the best of his own field and of the best of his own vineyard he will make restitution.
22:5. “If fire breaks out and catches in thorns so that the stacks of grain or the standing grain or the field are consumed, he that kindled the fire will surely make restitution.
22:6. “If a man delivers to his neighbor money or stuff to keep and it is stolen out of the man’s house, if the thief is found, let him pay double. 7. If the thief is not found, then the master of the house will be brought to the judges, to see whether he put his hand to his neighbor’s goods. 8. For all manner of trespass, whether it is for ox, for donkey, for sheep, for clothing, for any manner of lost thing, which another challenges to be his, the cause of both parties will come before the judges, and whom the judges will condemn, he will pay double to his neighbor.
22:9. “If a man delivers a donkey or an ox or a sheep or any beast to his neighbor to keep and it dies, or is hurt, or driven away, but nobody saw, 10. then will an oath of the LORD* be between them both, that he has not put his hand to his neighbor’s goods, and the owner of it will accept it, and he will not make it good. 11. And if it is stolen from him, he will make restitution to its owner. 12. If it is torn in pieces, let him bring it for witness, and he will not make good that which was torn.
22:13. “And if a man borrows anything from his neighbor and it is hurt or dies, the owner of it not being with it, he will surely make it good. 14. But if the owner is with it, he will not make it good. If it is a hired thing, it came for his hire.
22:15. “And if a man seduces a virgin who is not betrothed and lies with her, he will surely endow her to be his wife. 16. If herfather utterly refuses to give her to him, he will pay money according to the dowry of virgins.
22:17. “You will not allow a witch to live.
22:18. “Whoever lies with a beast will surely be put to death. 19. Hewho sacrifices to any god, except to the LORD* only, he will be utterly destroyed. 20. You will neither taunt nor oppress a stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
22:21. “You will not afflict any widow or fatherless child. 22. If you afflict them in any way and they cry at all to Me, I shall surely hear their cry. 23. And My wrath will wax hot and I shall kill you with the sword, and your wives will be widows and your children fatherless.
22:24. “Ifyou lend money to any of My people with you who are poor, you will not be to him as a usurer, neither will you charge him interest.
22:25. “If you ever take your neighbor’s garment for a pledge, you will deliver it to him by the time the sun goes down. 26. For that is his only covering, it is his clothing for his skin: in what will he sleep? And it will be, when he cries to Me, that I shall hear, for I AM gracious.
22:27. “You will not revile God or curse the leader of your people. (Acts 23:5) 28. You will not delay to offer your first ripe fruits and your wine and oil tithes: the firstborn of your sons you will give to Me. 29. You will do likewise with your oxen and with your sheep; seven days it will be with its mother, on the eighth day you will give it to Me.
22:30. “And you will be holy people to Me: neither will you eat any flesh that is torn of beasts in the field, you will cast it to the dogs.”
23.1. “You will not heed a false report. Do not put your hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness! 2. You will not follow a multitude to do evil. Neither will you agree with a majority to pervert justice. 3. Neither will you consider a man’s poverty in his cause.
23:4. “If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you will surely bring it back to him again.
23:5. “If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying under his burden, and you would not want to help him, you will surely help with him.
23:6. “You will not pervert the judgment of your poor in his cause. 7. Keep far from a false matter and the innocent, and do not slay a righteous person, for I will not justify the wicked. 8. And you will not take a gift, for the gift blinds the wise and perverts the words of the righteous.
23:9. “Also you will not oppress a stranger, for you know the heart of a stranger, seeing you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
23:10. “And you will sow your land six years and will gather in its fruits. 11. But the seventh year you will let it rest and lie still, so the poor of your people can eat, and what they leave the beasts of the field will eat. In like manner you will deal with your vineyard and with your olive grove.
23:12. “Six days you will do your work and on the seventh day you will rest, so your ox and your donkey can rest, and the son of your hand maid and the stranger may be refreshed.
23:13. “And in all things that I have said to you be circumspect and you will not make mention of the name of other gods, nor let it be heard out of your mouth.
23:14. “Three times in the year you will keep a feast to Me. 15. You will keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread: you will eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded you, in the time appointed of the month Aviv, for in Aviv you came out from Egypt: and no one will appear before Me empty. 16. And the Feast of Harvest (Shavuot), the First Fruits of your labors, which you have sown in the field: and the Feast of Ingathering (Sukkot), at the end of the year, when you have gathered in your labors out of the field. 17. Three times in the year all your males will appear before the LORD* God.
23:18. “You will not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread, neither will the fat of My sacrifice remain until the morning. 19. The first of the First Fruits of your land you will bring into the House of the LORD* your God. You will not boil a kid in its mother’s milk.
23:20. “Behold, I AM sending an angel before you, to keep you in the Way, and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. 21. Beware of him and obey his voice. Do not provoke him! For he will not pardon your transgressions, for My name is in him. 22. But if you will indeed obey his voice and do all that I speak, then I shall be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. 23. For My angel will go before you, and bring you in to the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Canaanite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, and I will cut them off. 24. You will not bow down to their gods, serve them, or do after their works, but you will utterly overthrow them and absolutely destroy their images.
23:25. “And you will serve the LORD* your God and He will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from your midst. 26. No one in your land will miscarry or be barren. I will fulfill the number of your days. 27. I shall send fear of Me before you and will destroy all the people to whom you will come and I shall make all your enemies turn their backs to you. 28. And I shall send hornets before you, which will drive out the Hivite, the Canaanites, and the Hittite from before you. 29. I shall not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the beast of the field multiply against you. 30. Little by little I shall drive them out from before you, until you increase and inherit the land. 31. And I shall set your borders from the Reed Sea even to the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the river, for I shall deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand and you will drive them out before you. 32. You will make no covenant with them or with their gods. 33. They will not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against Me; for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”
24.1. And He said to Moses, “Come up to the LORD*, you, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel and worship from afar off. 2. And Moses alone will come near the LORD*, but they will not come near. Neither will the people go up with him.”
24:3. And Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD* and all the judgments, and all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words that the LORD* has spoken we will do.” 4. And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD* and rose up early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. 5. And he sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the LORD*. 6. And Moses took half the blood and put it in basins, and half the blood he sprinkled on the altar. 7. Then he took the scroll of the covenant and read in the hearing of the people, and they said, “All that the LORD* has said we will do and we will listen.” 8. And Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant, (Heb. 9:20) which the LORD* has cut with you concerning all these words.” 9. Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up. 10. And they saw the God of Israel and there was under His feet as it were a paved work of brilliant sapphire and as it were the body of heaven in its clearness. 11. And He did not lay His hand upon the nobles of the children of Israel: they also saw God, then they ate and drank.
24:12. And the LORD* said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and be there, and I shall give you the tablets of stone, the Torah (Teaching), and the commandments which I have written so you can teach them.” 13. And Moses and his minister Joshua rose up, and Moses went up on the Mountain of God. 14. And he said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we come back to you and, behold, Aaron and Hur are with you, if any man has any matters to do, let him come to them.”
15. And Moses went up on the mountain and a cloud covered the mountain. 16. And the glory of the LORD* stayed on Mount Sinai and the cloud covered it six days, and the seventh day He called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. 17. And the sight of the glory of the LORD* was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel. 18. And Moses went into the midst of the cloud and went up on the mountain: and Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
Next week’s Torah readings: Terumah