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Exodus 21: Laws for Fair Living

After the Ten Commandments, God gave Moses ordinances to set before the people. These laws applied God's commands to daily life in Israel. They limited how long a Hebrew servant could serve, set him free in the seventh year and protected the rights of servant women. They treated harming or kidnapping people very seriously, required care for anyone injured, made owners responsible for dangerous animals and taught fair, limited justice, eye for eye, so punishment would match the wrong and not go beyond it.

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Bible:

Read Exodus 21

World English Bible · 36 verses

  1. 1 “Now these are the ordinances which you shall set before them:This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
  2. 2 “If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free without paying anything.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
  3. 3 If he comes in by himself, he shall go out by himself. If he is married, then his wife shall go out with him.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
  4. 4 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.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
  5. 5 But if the servant shall plainly say, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children. I will not go out free;’This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
  6. 6 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 forever.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
  7. 7 “If a man sells his daughter to be a female servant, she shall not go out as the male servants do.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
  8. 8 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.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
  9. 9 If he marries her to his son, he shall deal with her as a daughter.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
  10. 10 If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, and her marital rights.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
  11. 11 If he doesn’t do these three things for her, she may go free without paying any money.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
  12. 12 “One who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death,This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
  13. 13 but not if it is unintentional, but God allows it to happen; then I will appoint you a place where he shall flee.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
  14. 14 If a man schemes and comes presumptuously on his neighbor to kill him, you shall take him from my altar, that he may die.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
  15. 15 “Anyone who attacks his father or his mother shall be surely put to death.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
  16. 16 “Anyone who kidnaps someone and sells him, or if he is found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
  17. 17 “Anyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
  18. 18 “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;This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
  19. 19 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.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
  20. 20 “If a man strikes his servant or his maid with a rod, and he dies under his hand, the man shall surely be punished.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
  21. 21 Notwithstanding, if his servant gets up after a day or two, he shall not be punished, for the servant is his property.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
  22. 22 “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.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
  23. 23 But if any harm follows, then you must take life for life,This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
  24. 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
  25. 25 burning for burning, wound for wound, and bruise for bruise.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
  26. 26 “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.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
  27. 27 If he strikes out his male servant’s tooth, or his female servant’s tooth, he shall let the servant go free for his tooth’s sake.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
  28. 28 “If a bull gores a man or a woman to death, the bull shall surely be stoned, and its meat shall not be eaten; but the owner of the bull shall not be held responsible.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
  29. 29 But if the bull had a habit of goring in the past, and this 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.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
  30. 30 If a ransom is imposed on him, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is imposed.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
  31. 31 Whether it has gored a son or has gored a daughter, according to this judgment it shall be done to him.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
  32. 32 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.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
  33. 33 “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,This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
  34. 34 the owner of the pit shall make it good. He shall give money to its owner, and the dead animal shall be his.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
  35. 35 “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.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.
  36. 36 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.This verse is not in this translation's source text (many modern translations omit it). See your Bible's footnote.

Scripture: World English Bible, public domain, eBible.org

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Exodus 21 · Preschool

God Cares About People

Name Date

Color the scroll of God's laws and the people! God wanted His people to treat each other fairly.

Can you find these in the picture? Circle each one!

Bible Verse

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

Exodus 21:1 (WEB)

Prayer

Thank You, God, for making me!

Take It Home

Read the verse aloud. Say: God cares how we treat each other. We can be kind and fair.

Scripture: World English Bible, public domain, eBible.org. © 2026 The Daily Rooted. Free to print and copy for church and home use; not for resale. Original line art.

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