Mishpatim

Mishpatim 1st Portion (Exo 21)1 Now these are the rulings which you are to set before them:2 “If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve for six years. But in the seventh he shall go out to freedom without payment. 3 If he comes in alone, he shall go out alone; if he is a married man, then his wife shall go out with him. 4 If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall belong to her master, and he shall go out alone.

Mishpatim 1st Portion (Exo 21)5 “But if the servant truly says, ‘I love my master, my wife and my children; I will not go out free,’ 6 then his master shall bring him before Elohim. He shall bring him to the door or the doorpost and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl. Then he shall serve him for life.7 “If a man sells his daughter as a female servant, she is not to go free as the menservants do.

Mishpatim 1st Portion (Exo 21)8 If she is displeasing to her master, who did not designate her for himself, then he shall let her be ransomed. He shall have no authority to sell her to a foreign people, because he has dealt deceitfully with her. 9 If he selects her for his son, he must deal with her according to the right of daughters. 10 If he takes to himself another wife, he must not reduce her food, her covering, or her marriage rights.

Mishpatim 1st Portion (Exo 21)11 And if he does not do these three things for her, then she shall go out for naught, without payment of money.12 “He who strikes a man so that he dies shall certainly be put to death. 13 But one who did not lie in wait for him, but Elohim delivered him into his hand, I shall appoint a place for you to which he shall flee.

Mishpatim 1st Portion (Exo 21)14 But if a man acts presumptuously against his neighbour to kill him with cunning, you shall take him even from my altar to die.15 “And one who smites his father or his mother shall certainly be put to death.16 “And whoever kidnaps a man, and he is found in his hand, shall certainly be put to death.

Mishpatim 1st Portion (Exo 21)17 “And one who curses his father or his mother shall certainly be put to death.18 “And if men quarrel and one smites the other with a stone or with a fist and he does not die but is confined to his bed, 19 if he gets up and walks about outside on his staff, the assailant shall be cleared; he must give only payment for his enforced idleness and he shall provide for his cure.

Mishpatim 2nd Portion (Exo 21)

20 “If a man smites his male or female servant with a rod and he dies under his hand, he shall be punished, 21 but if he survives for a day or two days, he shall not be punished, because he is his property.


22 “If men strive and smite a pregnant woman, so that her fruit depart from her, but there is no injury, he shall certainly be punished, when the woman’s husband makes demands of him, and he shall give as the judges decide. 23 But if there is any serious injury, you shall give life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, lash for lash.


26 “If a man smites the eye of his manservant or maidservant and destroys it, he must let him go free in return for his eye. 27 And if he knocks out the tooth of his manservant or maidservant, he must let him go free in return for his tooth.28 “If an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox shall be certainly stoned, and its flesh must not be eaten. But the owner of the ox will be clear.


29 If, however, the ox was previously in the habit of goring and its owner has been warned but he has not kept it and it kills a man or woman, the ox must be stoned and its owner also must be put to death. 30 If a ransom is demanded of him, he shall give the ransom of his life whatever is demanded upon him. 31 Whether it gores a son or a daughter, according to this ordinance shall be done to him.


32 If the ox gores a male or female servant, the owner must give thirty shekels of silver to his master, and the ox must be stoned.33 “If a man opens a pit or digs a pit and does not cover it and an ox or a donkey falls into it, 34 the owner of the pit must make it good; and he must return money to its owner, and the dead beast will be his.


35 “If a man’s ox smites his neighbour’s ox and it dies, they shall sell the live ox and divide the silver received for it, and they shall also divide the dead ox. 36 Or if it was known that it was the habitually goring ox since yesterday and the day before yesterday, and its owner has not confined it, he shall certainly repay ox for ox, and the dead beast will be his.

Mishpatim 2nd Portion (Exo 21-22)

37 “If a man steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters it or sells it, he must pay five cattle for an ox and four sheep for a sheep.1 “If the thief is found breaking in, and he is smitten so that he dies, there will be no blood shed for him; 2 but if the sun shone upon him, there shall be blood shed for him.“For he shall certainly make restitution, if he has nothing, he shall be sold for his theft.


3 If the theft is found alive in his hand—whether it is an ox or donkey or sheep—he must pay double.

Mishpatim 3rd Portion (Exo 22)

4 “If a man lets a field or vineyard be grazed bare and lets loose his animal and it feeds in another man's field, he must make restitution from the best of his own field and the best of his own vineyard.5 “If fire breaks out and spreads to thorn bushes so that stacked grain or standing grain or the field itself is consumed therewith, he who kindled the fire shall certainly make restitution.


6 “If a man gives to his neighbour silver or goods to guard for him and it is stolen out of the man’s house, if the thief is found, he must pay double. 7 If the thief is not found, then the master of the house shall be brought before Elohim to see whether he has put his hand into his neighbour’s goods.


8 For every matter of transgression, whether it is for ox, for donkey, for sheep, for garment, or for any lost property about which another claims to be his, the matter of both parties shall come before Elohim. And whomever Elohim shall declare wrong must pay double to his neighbour.


9 “If a man gives to his neighbour a donkey, or an ox, or a sheep, or any beast to keep for him, and it dies or is hurt or is driven away, no one seeing it, 10 then an oath of יהוה shall be between them both, that he has not put his hand into his neighbour’s goods. And the owner of it shall accept that, and he shall not make it good. 11 But if it is stolen from him, he shall make restitution to its owner.


12 If it is torn to pieces by a beast, then let him bring it for evidence, and he shall not repay for the torn one.13 “And if a man borrows an animal from his neighbour and it is injured or dies, the owner of it not being with it, he shall certainly make it good. 14 But if its owner was with it, he will not make it good. If it was a hired animal, it has come for its hire.


15 “And if a man entices a maiden who is not engaged and lies with her, he shall certainly pay the bride-price for her to be his wife. 16 If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him in marriage, he must pay money according to the bride-price of maidens.17 “You shall not allow a sorceress to live.


18 “Whoever lies carnally with a beast shall certainly be put to death.19 “He who slaughters a sacrifice to any god except to יהוה only must be destroyed.20 “And you shall not mistreat a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Mitsrayim.21 “You shall not afflict any widow or orphan.


22 If you afflict them at all, and they cry out to me, I shall certainly hear their cry. 23 My wrath shall be aroused, and I shall slay you with the sword; your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.24 “If you lend silver to any of my people, to the needy person who is among you, you shall not behave toward him like a moneylender; you shall not charge him interest.


25 If you take your neighbour’s garment as security, until sunset you shall return it to him, 26 for it is his only covering; it is his garment for his skin. What else will he sleep in? And it shall be that when he cries out to me, I will hear him, for I am compassionate.

Mishpatim 4th Portion (Exo 22)

27 “You shall not revile Elohim, neither shall you curse a ruler among your people.28 “You shall not delay the offering from your harvest and your vintage.“The first-born of your sons you must give me. 29 Likewise you shall do with your oxen and your sheep. It shall be with its mother seven days, on the eighth day you may give it to me.

Mishpatim 4th Portion (Exo 22-23)

30 “And you shall be set-apart men to me, and any meat that is torn to pieces by beasts in the field; you shall throw it to the dogs.1 “You shall not bring a false report. Do not put your hand with the wrong to be a malicious witness.2 “You shall not follow a crowd to do evil, nor shall you testify in a strife so as to turn aside after many to pervert justice, 3 nor shall you favour a poor man in his strife.


4 “If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall certainly return it to him. 5 If you see your enemy’s donkey lying under its burden would you refrain from helping him? You shall certainly help along with him.


6 “You shall not pervert the judgment of your poor man in his strife. 7 Distance yourself from a false matter and do not kill the truly innocent person or one who has been declared innocent, for I will not acquit the guilty person.8 “You shall not take a bribe, for a bribe will blind the clear sighted and corrupt words that are right.


9 “And you shall not oppress a sojourner, for you know the feelings of the sojourner, since you were sojourners in the land of Mitsrayim.10 “Six years you may sow your land and gather in its increase,


11 but on the seventh year you shall let it rest and leave it; the poor of your people shall eat it. And what they leave the beast of the field may eat. You are to do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.12 “Six days you may do your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest, in order that your ox and your donkey may rest, and your maidservant’s son and the sojourner may be refreshed.


13 “Concerning all that I have said to you you shall beware. And the name of the gods of others you shall not mention; it shall not be heard through your mouth.14 “Three times you shall slaughter sacrifices to me during the year.


15 “You shall guard the Festival of Matzah; for seven days you shall eat matzah, as I have commanded you, at the appointed time of the month of Aviv, for then you left Mitsrayim.“And they shall not appear before me empty-handed.


16 “And the Festival of the Harvest, the first-fruits of your labours which you will sow in the field.“And the Festival of the Ingathering at the departure of the year, when you gather in the fruit of your labours from the field.17 “Three times during the year all your males shall appear before the Master, יהוה.


18 “You shall not offer the blood of my slaughtering with leaven.“And the fat of my festive offering shall not remain overnight until morning.19 “The first of the first-fruits of your land you shall bring to the house of יהוה your Elohim.“You shall not cook a kid in its mother’s milk.


20 “See, I am sending a messenger before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. 21 Beware of him and obey him. Do not rebel against him, for he will not forgive your transgression, for my Name is within him. 22 For if you listen to his voice and do all that I speak, I will hate your enemies and oppose your adversaries.


23 For my messenger shall go before you and bring you to the Emori, the Hitti, the P’rizi, the Kena‘ani, the Hivi and the Y’vusi, and I shall destroy them. 24 You shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their works, but you must utterly overthrow them and break down their sacred pillars.


25 And you shall serve יהוה your Elohim, and he shall bless your bread and your water. And I shall remove sickness from your midst.


26 No one shall suffer miscarriage or be barren in your land. I shall fill the number of your days.27 “I shall send my fear before you and cause confusion among all the people to whom you come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. 28 And I shall send the tzir'ah before you, and it will drive out the Hivi, the Kena‘ani and the Hitti 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 become too numerous for you. 30 I shall drive them out from before you little by little, until you have increased and can inherit the land.


31 “And I shall set your border from the Sea of Suf to the sea of the P’lishtim, and from the wilderness to the River Euphrates. For I shall give the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you. 32 You shall not make a covenant with them nor with their gods. 33 They shall not dwell in your land, lest they cause you to sin against me, that you will serve their gods, which will be a snare for you.”


1 And to Moshe he said, “Come up to יהוה, you and Aharon, Nadav and Avihu, and seventy of the elders of Isra’el, and bow yourselves from afar. 2 And Moshe alone alone shall approach but they shall not approach. And the people may not יהוהascend with him.”


3 So Moshe came and told the people all the words of יהוה and all the ordinances, and all the people answered in unison and said, “All the words that יהוה has spoken we shall do.” 4 And Moshe wrote all the words of יהוה.And he rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain and twelve monuments for the twelve tribes of Isra’el.


5 And he sent the youths of the children of Isra’el, and they offered up burnt offerings and they slaughtered peace slaughterings to יהוה, bulls. 6 And Moshe took half the blood and put it into the basins, and half the blood he cast onto the altar. 7 And he took the Book of the Covenant and read it within the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that יהוה spoke we shall do and we shall and obey.”


8 And Moshe took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, and he said, “Behold the blood of the covenant which יהוה has made with you concerning these words.”9 And Moshe and Aharon, Nadav and Avihu, and seventy of the elders of Isra’el ascended 10 and they saw the Elohim of Isra’el. And beneath his feet was like the forming of a sapphire stone, and like the appearance of the heavens for clarity.


11 And upon the chiefs of the children of Isra’el he did not raise his hand, and they saw Elohim, and they ate and drank.12 And יהוה said to Moshe, “Come up to me on the mountain and stay there, and I will give you the stone tablets, the Torah and the mitzvot which I have written to teach them.”13 So Moshe and Y’hoshua, his assistant, arose, and Moshe ascended to the mountain of Elohim.


14 And to the elders he said, “Wait for us here until we return to you. And here Aharon and Hur are with you; whoever has a dispute, let him go to them.”15 And Moshe went up to the mountain, and a cloud covered the mountain, 16 And the esteem of יהוה dwelt on Mount Sinai. And the cloud covered it for six days, and he called to Moshe on the seventh day from within the cloud.


17 And the appearance of the esteem of יהוה was like a consuming fire atop the mountain, before the eyes of the children of Isra’el. 18 And Moshe came within the cloud and he went up to the mountain. And Moshe was upon the mountain forty days and forty nights.

Mishpatim

Spiritual

Transcript of Mishpatim