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.

9.  If any one lose an article, and find it in the possession of another:  if the person in whose possession the thing is found say “A merchant sold it to me, I paid for it before witnesses,” and if the owner of the thing say “I will bring witnesses who know my property,” then shall the purchaser bring the merchant who sold it to him, and the witnesses before whom he bought it, and the owner shall bring witnesses who can identify his property.  The judge shall examine their testimony—­both of the witnesses before whom the price was paid, and of the witnesses who identify the lost article on oath.  The merchant is then proven to be a thief and shall be put to death.  The owner of the lost article receives his property, and he who bought it receives the money he paid from the estate of the merchant.

10.  If the purchaser does not bring the merchant and the witnesses before whom he bought the article, but its owner bring witnesses who identify it, then the buyer is the thief and shall be put to death, and the owner receives the lost article.

11.  If the owner do not bring witnesses to identify the lost article, he is an evil-doer, he has traduced, and shall be put to death.

12.  If the witnesses be not at hand, then shall the judge set a limit, at the expiration of six months.  If his witnesses have not appeared within the six months, he is an evil-doer, and shall bear the fine of the pending case.

14.  If any one steal the minor son of another, he shall be put to death.

15.  If any one take a male or female slave of the court, or a male or female slave of a freed man, outside the city gates, he shall be put to death.

16.  If any one receive into his house a runaway male or female slave of the court, or of a freedman, and does not bring it out at the public proclamation of the major domus, the master of the house shall be put to death.

17.  If any one find a runaway male or female slave in the open country and bring them to their masters, the master of the slaves shall pay him two shekels of silver.

18.  If the slave will not give the name of the master, the finder shall bring him to the palace; a further investigation must follow and the slave shall be returned to his master.

19.  If he hold the slaves in his house, and they are caught there, he shall be put to death.

20.  If the slave that he caught run away from him, then shall he swear to the owners of the slave, and he is free of all blame.