Exodus 20

The Ten Commandments

1 And God spoke all these words, saying: And God spoke all these words, saying:2 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.3 You shall have no other gods before Me.4 You shall not make for yourself a carved imageany likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.7 You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.8 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work,10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates.11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.12 Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.13 You shall not murder.14 You shall not commit adultery.15 You shall not steal.16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.17 You shall not covet your neighbors house; you shall not covet your neighbors wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbors.

The People Afraid of Gods Presence

18 Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off.19 Then they said to Moses, You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.20 And Moses said to the people, Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin.21 So the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was.

The Law of the Altar

22 Then the Lord said to Moses, Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: You have seen that I have talked with you from heaven.23 You shall not make anything to be with Megods of silver or gods of gold you shall not make for yourselves.24 An altar of earth you shall make for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I record My name I will come to you, and I will bless you.25 And if you make Me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stone; for if you use your tool on it, you have profaned it.26 Nor shall you go up by steps to My altar, that your nakedness may not be exposed on it.

EXODUS 20

The Ten Commandments

(Deuteronomy 5.1-21)

1 God said to the people of Israel:

2 I am the [Lord] your God, the one who brought you out of Egypt where you were slaves.

3 Do not worship any god except me.
4  t Do not make idols that look like anything in the sky or on earth or in the ocean under the earth. 5 t Don't bow down and worship idols. I am the [Lord] your God, and I demand all your love. If you reject me, I will punish your families for three or four generations.

6 But if you love me and obey my laws, I will be kind to your families for thousands of generations.

7  t Do not misuse my name.t I am the [Lord] your God, and I will punish anyone who misuses my name.
8  t Remember that the Sabbath Day belongs to me. 9 t You have six days when you can do your work, 10 but the seventh day of each week belongs to me, your God. No one is to work on that day—not you, your children, your slaves, your animals, or the foreigners who live in your towns.

11 t In six days I made the sky, the earth, the oceans, and everything in them, but on the seventh day I rested. That's why I made the Sabbath a special day that belongs to me.

12  t Respect your father and your mother, and you will live a long time in the land I am giving you.

13  t Do not murder.

14  t Be faithful in marriage.

15  t Do not steal.

16  t Do not tell lies about others.

17  t Do not desire to possess anything that belongs to another person—not a house, a wife, a husband, a slave, an ox, a donkey, or anything else.

The People Are Afraid

(Deuteronomy 5.23-33)

19 and said to Moses, “If you speak to us, we will listen. But don't let God speak to us, or we will die!”
20 “Don't be afraid!” Moses replied. “God has come only to test you, so that by obeying him you won't sin.”

21 But when Moses went near the thick cloud where God was, the people stayed a long way off.

Idols and Altars

22 The [Lord] told Moses to say to the people of Israel:
With your own eyes you saw me speak to you from heaven.

23 So you must never make idols of silver or gold to worship in place of me.t
24 Build an altar out of earth, and offer on it your sacrificest of sheep, goats, and cattle. Wherever I choose to be worshiped, I will come down to bless you. 25 t If you ever build an altar for me out of stones, do not use any tools to chisel the stones, because that would make the altar unfit for use in worship. 26 And don't build an altar that requires steps; you might expose yourself when you climb up.