Social Responsibility

If a man seduces a virgin who is not engaged to anyone and sleeps with her, he must pay the customary dowry and accept her as his wife. But if her father refuses to let her marry him, the man must still pay the money for her dowry.

A sorceress must not be allowed to live.

Anyone who has sexual relations with a animal must be executed.

Anyone who sacrifices to any god other than the LORD must be destroyed.

Do not oppress foreigners in any way. Remember, you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt.

Do not exploit widows or orphans. If you do and they cry out to me, then I will surely help them. My anger will blaze forth against you, and I will kill you with the sword. Your wives will become widows, and your children will become fatherless.

If you lend money to a fellow Hebrew in need, do not be like a money lender, charging interest. If you take your neighbor's cloak as a pledge of repayment, you must return it by nightfall. Your neighbor will need it to stay warm during the night. If you do not return it and your neighbor cries out to me for help, then I will hear, for I am very merciful.

Do not blaspheme God or curse anyone who rules over you.

Do not hold anything back when you give me the tithe of your crops or your wine.

You must make the necessary payment for redemption of your firstborn sons.

You must also give me the firstborn of your cattle and sheep. Leave the newborn animal with its mother for seven days; then give it to me on the eighth day.

You are my own holy people. Therefore, do not eat any animal that has been attacked and killed by a wild animal. Throw its carcass out for the dogs to eat.

Exodus 22:16-31

Fair Treatment of Slaves

"Here are some other instructions you must present to Israel: "If you buy a Hebrew slave, he is to serve for only six years. Set him free in the seventh year, and he will owe you nothing for his freedom. If he was single when he became your slave and then married afterward, only he will go free in the seventh year. But if he was married before he became a slave, then his wife will be freed with him.

"If his master gave him a wife while he was a slave, and they had sons or daughters, then the man will be free in the seventh year, but his wife and children will still belong to his master must present him before God. Then his master must take him to the door and publicly pierce his ear with an awl. After that, the slave will belong to his master forever.

"When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she will not be freed at the end of six years as the men are. If she does not please the man who bought her, he may allow her to be bought back again. But he is not allowed to sell her to foreigners, since he is the one who broke the contract with her. And if the slave girl, but he must treat her as his daughter. If he himself marries her and then takes another wife, he may not reduce her food or clothing or fail to sleep with her as his wife. If he fails in any of these three ways, she may leave as a free woman without making any payment.

Instructions for the Passover

Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron. "These are the regulations for the festival of Passover. No foreigners are allowed to eat the Passover lamb. But any slave who has been purchased may eat it if he has been circumcised. Hired servants and visiting foreigners may not eat it. All who eat the lamb must eat it together in one house. You must not carry any of its meat outside, and you may not break any of its bones. The whole community of Israel must celebrate this festival at the same time.

"If there are foreigners living among you who want to celebrate the LORD's Passover with you. They will be treated just as if they had been born among you. But an uncircumcised male may never eat of the Passover lamb. This law applies to everyone, whether a native-born Israelite or a foreigner who has settled among you."

So the people of Israel followed all the LORD's instructions to Moses and Aaron. And that very day the LORD began to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt, division by division.