Laws About Slaves

¹“Now these are the hrules that you shall set before them. ²iWhen you buy a Hebrew slave,1 he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing. ³If he comes in single, he shall go out single; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him. ⁴If 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 alone. ⁵But jif the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’ ⁶then his master shall bring him to kGod, and he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall be his slave forever.

⁷“When a man lsells his daughter as a slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do. ⁸If she does not please her master, who has designated her2 for himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has broken faith with her. ⁹If he designates her for his son, he shall deal with her as with a daughter. ¹⁰If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, or mher marital rights. ¹¹And if he does not do these three things for her, she shall go out for nothing, without payment of money.

¹²n“Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death. ¹³oBut if he did not lie in wait for him, but God let him fall into his hand, then pI will appoint for you a place to which he may flee. ¹⁴But if a man willfully attacks another to kill him by cunning, qyou shall take him from my altar, that he may die.

¹⁵“Whoever strikes his father or his mother shall be put to death.

¹⁶r“Whoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found sin possession of him, shall be put to death.

¹⁷t“Whoever curses3 his father or his mother shall be put to death.

¹⁸“When men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist and the man does not die but takes to his bed, ¹⁹then if the man rises again and walks outdoors with his staff, he who struck him shall be clear; only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall have him thoroughly healed.

²⁰“When a man strikes his slave, male or female, with a rod and the slave dies under his hand, he shall be avenged. ²¹But if the slave survives a day or two, he is not to be avenged, for the uslave is his money.

²²“When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman's husband shall impose on him, and vhe shall pay as the wjudges determine. ²³But if there is harm,4 then you shall pay xlife for life, ²⁴yeye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, ²⁵burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

²⁶“When a man strikes the eye of his slave, male or female, and destroys it, he shall let the slave go free because of his eye. ²⁷If he knocks out the tooth of his slave, male or female, he shall let the slave go free because of his tooth.

²⁸“When an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the zox shall be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten, but the owner of the ox shall not be liable. ²⁹But if the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past, and its owner has been warned but has not kept it in, and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned, and its owner also shall be put to death. ³⁰If aa ransom is imposed on him, then vhe shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is imposed on him. ³¹If it gores a man's son or daughter, he shall be dealt with according to this same rule. ³²If the ox gores a slave, male or female, the owner shall give to their master bthirty shekels5 of silver, and zthe ox shall be stoned.

Laws About Restitution

³³“When a man opens a pit, or when a man digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it, ³⁴the owner of the pit shall make restoration. He shall give money to its owner, and the dead beast shall be his.

³⁵“When one man's ox butts another's, so that it dies, then they shall sell the live ox and share its price, and the dead beast also they shall share. ³⁶Or if it is known that the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past, and its owner has not kept it in, he shall repay ox for ox, and the dead beast shall be his.

The Resurrection

¹hBut on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, itaking the spices they had prepared. ²And they found jthe stone rolled away from the tomb, ³but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. ⁴While they were perplexed about this, behold, ktwo lmen stood by them in dazzling apparel. ⁵And as they were mfrightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? ⁶He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, nwhile he was still in Galilee, ⁷nthat the Son of Man omust be delivered into the hands of sinful men and pbe crucified and on qthe third day rise.” ⁸And rthey remembered his words, ⁹and returning from the tomb they stold all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. ¹⁰Now it was tMary Magdalene and uJoanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, ¹¹but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and vthey did not believe them. ¹²But wPeter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw xthe linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.

On the Road to Emmaus

¹³That very day ytwo of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles1 from Jerusalem, ¹⁴and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. ¹⁵While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. ¹⁶zBut their eyes were kept from recognizing him. ¹⁷And he said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad. ¹⁸Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” ¹⁹And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was aa prophet bmighty in deed and word before God and all the people, ²⁰and chow our chief priests and drulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. ²¹But we had hoped that he was ethe one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now fthe third day since these things happened. ²²Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. gThey were at the tomb early in the morning, ²³and hwhen they did not find his body, they came back saying that ithey had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. ²⁴jSome of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.” ²⁵And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! ²⁶kWas it not necessary that lthe Christ should suffer these things and enter into mhis glory?” ²⁷And nbeginning with oMoses and pall the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

²⁸So they drew near to the village to which they were going. qHe acted as if he were going farther, ²⁹but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and rthe day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them. ³⁰When he was at table with them, he took the bread and sblessed and broke it and gave it to them. ³¹tAnd their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And uhe vanished from their sight. ³²They said to each other, v“Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he wopened to us the Scriptures?” ³³And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they xfound the eleven and ythose who were with them gathered together, ³⁴saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and zhas appeared to Simon!” ³⁵Then they told what had happened on the road, and ahow he was known to them in bthe breaking of the bread.

Jesus Appears to His Disciples

³⁶As they were talking about these things, cJesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!” ³⁷But they were dstartled and efrightened and fthought they saw a spirit. ³⁸And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? ³⁹See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. gTouch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” ⁴⁰And when he had said this, hhe showed them his hands and his feet. ⁴¹And while they still disbelieved ifor joy and were marveling, jhe said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” ⁴²They gave him a piece of broiled fish,2 ⁴³and he took it and ate before them.

⁴⁴Then he said to them, k“These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, lthat everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” ⁴⁵Then mhe opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, ⁴⁶and said to them, “Thus nit is written, othat the Christ should suffer and on the third day prise from the dead, ⁴⁷and that qrepentance for3 the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed rin his name sto all nations, tbeginning from Jerusalem. ⁴⁸uYou are witnesses of these things. ⁴⁹And behold, I am sending vthe promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you ware clothed with xpower yfrom on high.”

The Ascension

⁵⁰And zhe led them out as far as aBethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. ⁵¹While he blessed them, bhe parted from them and was carried up into heaven. ⁵²And they cworshiped him and zreturned to Jerusalem dwith great joy, ⁵³and ewere continually in the temple fblessing God.

¹“Do you know when fthe mountain goats give birth?

Do you observe gthe calving of the does?

²Can you number the months that they fulfill,

and do you know the time when they give birth,

³when they hcrouch, bring forth their offspring,

and are delivered of their young?

⁴Their young ones become strong; they grow up in the open;

they go out and ido not return to them.

⁵“Who has let the wild donkey go free?

Who has jloosed the bonds of the swift donkey,

⁶to whom I have given kthe arid plain for his home

and lthe salt land for his dwelling place?

⁷He scorns the tumult of the city;

he hears not the shouts of the driver.

⁸He ranges the mountains as his pasture,

and he searches after every green thing.

⁹“Is mthe wild ox willing to serve you?

Will he spend the night at your nmanger?

¹⁰Can you bind mhim in the furrow with ropes,

or will he harrow the valleys after you?

¹¹Will you depend on him because his strength is great,

and will you leave to him your labor?

¹²Do you have faith in him that he will return your grain

and gather it to your threshing floor?

¹³“The wings of the ostrich wave proudly,

but are they the pinions and plumage of love?1

¹⁴For she leaves her eggs to the earth

and lets them be warmed on the ground,

¹⁵forgetting that a foot may crush them

and that the wild beast may trample them.

¹⁶She odeals cruelly with her young, as if they were not hers;

though her plabor be in vain, yet she has no fear,

¹⁷because God has made her forget wisdom

and qgiven her no share in understanding.

¹⁸When she rouses herself to flee,2

she laughs at the horse and his rider.

¹⁹“Do you give the horse his might?

Do you clothe his neck with a mane?

²⁰Do you make him leap like the locust?

His majestic rsnorting is terrifying.

²¹He paws3 in the valley and exults in his strength;

he sgoes out to meet the weapons.

²²He laughs at fear and is not dismayed;

he does not turn back from the sword.

²³Upon him rattle the quiver,

the flashing spear, and the javelin.

²⁴With fierceness and rage he swallows the ground;

he cannot stand still at tthe sound of the trumpet.

²⁵When the trumpet sounds, he says ‘Aha!’

He smells the battle from afar,

the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.

²⁶“Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars

and spreads his wings toward the south?

²⁷Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up

and makes his unest on high?

²⁸On the rock he dwells and makes his home,

on vthe rocky crag and stronghold.

²⁹From there he spies out the prey;

his eyes behold it from far away.

³⁰His young ones suck up blood,

and wwhere the slain are, there is he.”

The Collection for Christians in Jerusalem

¹Now lit is superfluous for me to write to you about mthe ministry for the saints, ²for I know your readiness, nof which I boast about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia has been ready osince last year. And your zeal has stirred up most of them. ³But pI am sending1 the brothers so that our boasting about you may not prove empty in this matter, so that you may be ready, qas I said you would be. ⁴Otherwise, if some Macedonians rcome with me and find that you are not ready, we would be humiliated—to say nothing of you—for being so confident. ⁵So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance for the sgift2 you have promised, so that it may be ready tas a willing gift, unot as an exaction.3

The Cheerful Giver

⁶The point is this: vwhoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully4 will also reap bountifully. ⁷Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, wnot reluctantly or under compulsion, for xGod loves a cheerful giver. ⁸And yGod is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency5 in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. ⁹As it is written,

z“He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor;

his righteousness endures forever.”

¹⁰He who supplies aseed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and bincrease the harvest of your righteousness. ¹¹cYou will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which dthrough us will produce thanksgiving to God. ¹²For the ministry of this service is not only supplying ethe needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. ¹³By their approval of this service, fthey6 will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your gconfession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others, ¹⁴while they long for you and pray for you, because of the surpassing grace of God upon you. ¹⁵hThanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!