Parsha Mishpatim

Exodus (Shemot) 21:1–19 (Parsha Mishpatim, Aliyah 1)

Exo 21:1  Now these are the ordinances which thou shalt set before them.
Exo 21:2  If thou buy a Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve; and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.
Exo 21:3  If he come in by himself, he shall go out by himself; if he be married, then his wife shall go out with him.
Exo 21:4  If his master give him a wife, and she bear him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself.
Exo 21:5  But if the servant shall plainly say: I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free;
Exo 21:6  then his master shall bring him unto God, and shall bring him to the door, or unto the door-post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl; and he shall serve him for ever.
Exo 21:7  And if a man sell his daughter to be a maid-servant, she shall not go out as the men-servants do.
Exo 21:8  If she please not her master, who hath espoused her to himself, then shall he let her be redeemed; to sell her unto a foreign people he shall have no power, seeing he hath dealt deceitfully with her.
Exo 21:9  And if he espouse her unto his son, he shall deal with her after the manner of daughters.
Exo 21:10  If he take him another wife, her food, her raiment, and her conjugal rights, shall he not diminish.
Exo 21:11  And if he do not these three unto her, then shall she go out for nothing, without money.
Exo 21:12  He that smiteth a man, so that he dieth, shall surely be put to death.
Exo 21:13  And if a man lie not in wait, but God cause it to come to hand; then I will appoint thee a place whither he may flee.
Exo 21:14  And if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbour, to slay him with guile; thou shalt take him from Mine altar, that he may die.
Exo 21:15  And he that smiteth his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death.
Exo 21:16  And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.
Exo 21:17  And he that curseth his father or his mother, shall surely be put to death.
Exo 21:18  And if men contend, and one smite the other with a stone, or with his fist, and he die not, but keep his bed;
Exo 21:19  if he rise again, and walk abroad upon his staff, then shall he that smote him be quit; only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall cause him to be thoroughly healed.

Exodus (Shemot) 21:20–36 (Parsha Mishpatim, Aliyah 2)

Exo 21:20  And if a man smite his bondman, or his bondwoman, with a rod, and he die under his hand, he shall surely be punished.
Exo 21:21  Notwithstanding if he continue a day or two, he shall not be punished; for he is his money.
Exo 21:22  And if men strive together, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart, and yet no harm follow, he shall be surely fined, according as the woman’s husband shall lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine.
Exo 21:23  But if any harm follow, then thou shalt give life for life,
Exo 21:24  eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
Exo 21:25  burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
Exo 21:26  And if a man smite the eye of his bondman, or the eye of his bondwoman, and destroy it, he shall let him go free for his eye’s sake.
Exo 21:27  And if he smite out his bondman’s tooth, or his bondwoman’s tooth, he shall let him go free for his tooth’s sake.
Exo 21:28  And if an ox gore a man or a woman, that they die, the ox shall be surely stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be quit.
Exo 21:29  But if the ox was wont to gore in time past, and warning hath been given to its owner, and he hath not kept it in, but it hath killed a man or a woman; the ox shall be stoned, and its owner also shall be put to death.
Exo 21:30  If there be laid on him a ransom, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatsoever is laid upon him.
Exo 21:31  Whether it have gored a son, or have gored a daughter, according to this judgment shall it be done unto him.
Exo 21:32  If the ox gore a bondman or a bondwoman, he shall give unto their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.
Laws About Restitution
Exo 21:33  And if a man shall open a pit, or if a man shall dig a pit and not cover it, and an ox or an ass fall therein,
Exo 21:34  the owner of the pit shall make it good; he shall give money unto the owner of them, and the dead beast shall be his.
Exo 21:35  And if one man’s ox hurt another’s, so that it dieth; then they shall sell the live ox, and divide the price of it; and the dead also they shall divide.
Exo 21:36  Or if it be known that the ox was wont to gore in time past, and its owner hath not kept it in; he shall surely pay ox for ox, and the dead beast shall be his own.

Exodus (Shemot) 22:1-3 (Parsha Mishpatim, Aliyah 2)

Exo 22:1  (21:37) If a man steal an ox, or a sheep, and kill it, or sell it, he shall pay five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep.
Exo 22:2  (22:1) If a thief be found breaking in, and be smitten so that he dieth, there shall be no bloodguiltiness for him.
Exo 22:3  (22:2) If the sun be risen upon him, there shall be bloodguiltiness for him – he shall make restitution; if he have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.
Exo 22:4  (22:3) If the theft be found in his hand alive, whether it be ox, or ass, or sheep, he shall pay double.

Exodus (Shemot) 22:4–26 (Parsha Mishpatim, Aliyah 3)

Exo 22:5  (22:4) If a man cause a field or vineyard to be eaten, and shall let his beast loose, and it feed in another man’s field; of the best of his own field, and of the best of his own vineyard, shall he make restitution.
Exo 22:6  (22:5) If fire break out, and catch in thorns, so that the shocks of corn, or the standing corn, or the field are consumed; he that kindled the fire shall surely make restitution.
Exo 22:7  (22:6) If a man deliver unto his neighbour money or stuff to keep, and it be stolen out of the man’s house; if the thief be found, he shall pay double.
Exo 22:8  (22:7) If the thief be not found, then the master of the house shall come near unto God, to see whether he have not put his hand unto his neighbour’s goods.
Exo 22:9  (22:8) For every matter of trespass, whether it be for ox, for ass, for sheep, for raiment, or for any manner of lost thing, whereof one saith: ‘This is it,’ the cause of both parties shall come before God; he whom God shall condemn shall pay double unto his neighbour.
Exo 22:10  (22:9) If a man deliver unto his neighbour an ass, or an ox, or a sheep, or any beast, to keep, and it die, or be hurt, or driven away, no man seeing it;
Exo 22:11  (22:10) the oath of the LORD shall be between them both, to see whether he have not put his hand unto his neighbour’s goods; and the owner thereof shall accept it, and he shall not make restitution.
Exo 22:12  (22:11) But if it be stolen from him, he shall make restitution unto the owner thereof.
Exo 22:13  (22:12) If it be torn in pieces, let him bring it for witness; he shall not make good that which was torn.
Exo 22:14  (22:13) And if a man borrow aught of his neighbour, and it be hurt, or die, the owner thereof not being with it, he shall surely make restitution.
Exo 22:15  (22:14) If the owner thereof be with it, he shall not make it good; if it be a hireling, he loseth his hire.
Laws About Social Justice
Exo 22:16  (22:15) And if a man entice a virgin that is not betrothed, and lie with her, he shall surely pay a dowry for her to be his wife.
Exo 22:17  (22:16) If her father utterly refuse to give her unto him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins.
Exo 22:18  (22:17) Thou shalt not suffer a sorceress to live.
Exo 22:19  (22:18) Whosoever lieth with a beast shall surely be put to death.
Exo 22:20  (22:19) He that sacrificeth unto the gods, save unto the LORD only, shall be utterly destroyed.
Exo 22:21  (22:20) And a stranger shalt thou not wrong, neither shalt thou oppress him; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
Exo 22:22  (22:21) Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child.
Exo 22:23  (22:22) If thou afflict them in any wise – for if they cry at all unto Me, I will surely hear their cry –
Exo 22:24  (22:23) My wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.
Exo 22:25  (22:24) If thou lend money to any of My people, even to the poor with thee, thou shalt not be to him as a creditor; neither shall ye lay upon him interest.
Exo 22:26  (22:25) If thou at all take thy neighbour’s garment to pledge, thou shalt restore it unto him by that the sun goeth down;
Exo 22:27  (22:26) for that is his only covering, it is his garment for his skin; wherein shall he sleep? and it shall come to pass, when he crieth unto Me, that I will hear; for I am gracious.

Exodus (Shemot) 22:27– (Parsha Mishpatim, Aliyah 4)

Exo 22:28  (22:27) Thou shalt not revile God, nor curse a ruler of thy people.
Exo 22:29  (22:28) Thou shalt not delay to offer of the fulness of thy harvest, and of the outflow of thy presses. The first-born of thy sons shalt thou give unto Me.
Exo 22:30  (22:29) Likewise shalt thou do with thine oxen, and with thy sheep; seven days it shall be with its dam; on the eighth day thou shalt give it Me.
Exo 22:31  (22:30) And ye shall be holy men unto Me; therefore ye shall not eat any flesh that is torn of beasts in the field; ye shall cast it to the dogs.

Exodus (Shemot) 23:1-5 (Parsha Mishpatim, Aliyah 4)

Exo 23:1  Thou shalt not utter a false report; put not thy hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.
Exo 23:2  Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou bear witness in a cause to turn aside after a multitude to pervert justice;
Exo 23:3  neither shalt thou favour a poor man in his cause.
Exo 23:4  If thou meet thine enemy’s ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again.
Exo 23:5  If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under its burden, thou shalt forbear to pass by him; thou shalt surely release it with him.

Exodus (Shemot) 23:6–19 (Parsha Mishpatim, Aliyah 5)

Exo 23:6  Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause.
Exo 23:7  Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not; for I will not justify the wicked.
Exo 23:8  And thou shalt take no gift; for a gift blindeth them that have sight, and perverteth the words of the righteous.
Exo 23:9  And a stranger shalt thou not oppress; for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
Laws About the Sabbath and Festivals
Exo 23:10  And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and gather in the increase thereof;
Exo 23:11  but the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of thy people may eat; and what they leave the beast of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, and with thy oliveyard.
Exo 23:12  Six days thou shalt do thy work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest; that thine ox and thine ass may have rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.
Exo 23:13  And in all things that I have said unto you take ye heed; and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth.
Exo 23:14  Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto Me in the year.
Exo 23:15  The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep; seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, at the time appointed in the month Abib – for in it thou camest out from Egypt; and none shall appear before Me empty;
Exo 23:16  and the feast of harvest, the first-fruits of thy labours, which thou sowest in the field; and the feast of ingathering, at the end of the year, when thou gatherest in thy labours out of the field.
Exo 23:17  Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord GOD.
Exo 23:18  Thou shalt not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the fat of My feast remain all night until the morning.
Exo 23:19  The choicest first-fruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in its mother’s milk.

Exodus (Shemot) 23:20–25 (Parsha Mishpatim, Aliyah 6)

Exo 23:20  Behold, I send an angel before thee, to keep thee by the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.
Exo 23:21  Take heed of him, and hearken unto his voice; be not rebellious against him; for he will not pardon your transgression; for My name is in him.
Exo 23:22  But if thou shalt indeed hearken unto his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries.
Exo 23:23  For Mine angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Canaanite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; and I will cut them off.
Exo 23:24  Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their doings; but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and break in pieces their pillars.
Exo 23:25  And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and He will bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.

Exodus (Shemot) 23:26–33 (Parsha Mishpatim, Aliyah 7)

Exo 23:26  None shall miscarry, nor be barren, in thy land; the number of thy days I will fulfil.
Exo 23:27  I will send My terror before thee, and will discomfit all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee.
Exo 23:28  And I will send the hornet before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee.
Exo 23:29  I will not drive them out from before thee in one year, lest the land become desolate, and the beasts of the field multiply against thee.
Exo 23:30  By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.
Exo 23:31  And I will set thy border from the Red Sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness unto the River; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee.
Exo 23:32  Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.
Exo 23:33  They shall not dwell in thy land – lest they make thee sin against Me, for thou wilt serve their gods – for they will be a snare unto thee.

Exodus (Shemot) 24:1-18 (Parsha Mishpatim, Aliyah 7)

Exo 24:1  And unto Moses He said: ‘Come up unto the LORD, thou, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship ye afar off;
Exo 24:2  and Moses alone shall come near unto the LORD; but they shall not come near; neither shall the people go up with him.’
Exo 24:3  And Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD, and all the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice, and said: ‘All the words which the Lord hath spoken will we do.’
Exo 24:4  And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the mount, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel.
Exo 24:5  And he sent the young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt-offerings, and sacrificed peace-offerings of oxen unto the LORD.
Exo 24:6  And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basins; and half of the blood he dashed against the altar.
Exo 24:7  And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the hearing of the people; and they said: ‘All that the LORD hath spoken will we do, and obey.’
Exo 24:8  And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said: ‘Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you in agreement with all these words.’
Exo 24:9  Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel;
Exo 24:10  and they saw the God of Israel; and there was under His feet the like of a paved work of sapphire stone, and the like of the very heaven for clearness.
Exo 24:11  And upon the nobles of the children of Israel He laid not His hand; and they beheld God, and did eat and drink.
Exo 24:12  And the LORD said unto Moses: ‘Come up to Me into the mount and be there; and I will give thee the tables of stone, and the law and the commandment, which I have written, that thou mayest teach them.’
Exo 24:13  And Moses rose up, and Joshua his minister; and Moses went up into the mount of God.
Exo 24:14  And unto the elders he said: ‘Tarry ye here for us, until we come back unto you; and, behold, Aaron and Hur are with you; whosoever hath a cause, let him come near unto them.’
Exo 24:15  And Moses went up into the mount, and the cloud covered the mount.
Exo 24:16  And the glory of the LORD abode upon mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days; and the seventh day He called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud.
Exo 24:17  And the appearance of the glory of the LORD was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel.
Exo 24:18  And Moses entered into the midst of the cloud, and went up into the mount; and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights.

Jeremiah 33:25–26 (Parsha Mishpatim, Haftarah)

Jer 33:25  Thus saith the LORD: If My covenant be not with day and night, if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth;
Jer 33:26  then will I also cast away the seed of Jacob, and of David My servant, so that I will not take of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; for I will cause their captivity to return, and will have compassion on them.’

Jeremiah 34:8–22 (Parsha Mishpatim, Haftarah)

Jer 34:8  The word that came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people that were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them;
Jer 34:9  that every man should let his manservant, and every man his maidservant, being a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, go free; that none should make bondmen of them, even of a Jew his brother;
Jer 34:10  and all the princes and all the people hearkened, that had entered into the covenant to let every one his man-servant, and every one his maid-servant, go free, and not to make bondmen of them any more; they hearkened, and let them go;
Jer 34:11  but afterwards they turned, and caused the servants and the handmaids, whom they had let go free, to return, and brought them into subjection for servants and for handmaids;
Jer 34:12  therefore the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying:
Jer 34:13  Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel: I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying:
Jer 34:14  ‘At the end of seven years ye shall let go every man his brother that is a Hebrew, that hath been sold unto thee, and hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee’; but your fathers hearkened not unto Me, neither inclined their ear.
Jer 34:15  And ye were now turned, and had done that which is right in Mine eyes, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour; and ye had made a covenant before Me in the house whereon My name is called;
Jer 34:16  but ye turned and profaned My name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom ye had let go free at their pleasure, to return; and ye brought them into subjection, to be unto you for servants and for handmaids.
Jer 34:17  Therefore thus saith the LORD: Ye have not hearkened unto Me, to proclaim liberty, every man to his brother, and every man to his neighbour; behold, I proclaim for you a liberty, saith the LORD, unto the sword, unto the pestilence, and unto the famine; and I will make you a horror unto all the kingdoms of the earth.
Jer 34:18  And I will give the men that have transgressed My covenant, that have not performed the words of the covenant which they made before Me, when they cut the calf in twain and passed between the parts thereof;
Jer 34:19  the princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the officers, and the priests, and all the people of the land, that passed between the parts of the calf;
Jer 34:20  I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life; and their dead bodies shall be for food unto the fowls of the heaven, and to the beasts of the earth.
Jer 34:21  And Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes will I give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army, that are gone up from you.
Jer 34:22  Behold, I will command, saith the LORD, and cause them to return to this city; and they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.

Mat. 17:1-11 (Parsha Mishpatim, Renewed Covenant)

Mat 17:1  And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.
Mat 17:2  And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.
Mat 17:3  And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him.
Mat 17:4  And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.”
Mat 17:5  He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”
Mat 17:6  When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified.
Mat 17:7  But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.”
Mat 17:8  And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.
Mat 17:9  And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Tell no one the vision, until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.”
Mat 17:10  And the disciples asked him, “Then why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?”
Mat 17:11  He answered, “Elijah does come, and he will restore all things.