Essay Preview: Laws
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If any one ensnare another [charge him with manslaughter], putting a ban upon him, but he can not prove it, then he that ensnared him shall be put to death.
2. If any one bring an accusation [of witchcraft] against a man, and the accused go to the river and leap into the river, if he sink in the river his accuser shall take possession of his house. But if the river prove that the accused is not guilty, and he escape unhurt, then he who had brought the accusation shall be put to death, while he who leaped into the river shall take possession of the house that had belonged to his accuser.
3. If any one bring an accusation of any crime [a felony] before the elders, and does not prove what he has charged, he shall, if it be a capital offense charged, be put to death.
4. If he satisfy the elders to impose a fine of grain or money, he shall receive the fine that the action produces. [entirely different meaning: if anyone bear witness to a claim for corn or money, he shall remain liable for the penalty–apparently a punishment for false witness, not a reward for true witness]
5. If a judge try a case, reach a decision, and present his judgment in writing; if later error shall appear in his decision, and it be through his own fault, [if he is later convicted of changing his judgment] then he shall pay twelve times the fine set by him in the case, and he shall be publicly removed from the judges bench, and never again shall he sit there to render judgment.
6. If any one steal the property of a temple or of the court, he shall be put to death, and also the one who receives the stolen thing from him shall be put to death.
7. If any one buy from the son or the slave of another man, without witnesses or a contract, silver or gold, a male or female slave, an ox or a sheep, an ass or anything, or if he take it in charge, he is considered a thief and shall be put to death.
8. If any one steal cattle or sheep, or an ass, or a pig or a goat, if it belong to a god or to the court, the thief shall pay thirtyfold therefor; if they belonged to a freed man of the king he shall pay tenfold; if the thief has nothing with which to pay he shall be put to death. [because this time the thief has not profaned the temple, perhaps]