Exodus 20
The Ten Commandments
1 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 slavery.
3 "You shall have no other gods beforet me.
4 "You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any 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 or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me,6 but showing steadfast love to thousandst of 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 a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
12 "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
13 "You shall not murder.t
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 neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's."
18 Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraidt and trembled, and they stood far off19 and said to Moses, "You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die."20 Moses said to the people, "Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin."21 The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.
Laws About Altars
22 And the Lord said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the people of Israel: 'You have seen for yourselves that I have talked with you from heaven.23 You shall not make gods of silver to be with me, nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold.24 An altar of earth you shall make for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and bless you.25 If you make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stones, for if you wield your tool on it you profane it.26 And you shall not go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness be not exposed on it.'
Exodus 20
The Decalogue
1 s God spoke all these words:s
2 “I,s the Lord, am your God,t who brought yout from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery.ts
3 “You shall have not other gods before me.t
4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved imaget or any likenesst of anythingt that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water below.t5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them,t for I, the Lord, your God, am a jealouss God, responding tot the transgression of fathers by dealing with children to the third and fourth generationst of those who reject me,t
6 and showing covenant faithfulnesst to a thousand generationst of those who love me and keep my commandments.
7 “You shall not taket the name of the Lord your God in vain,t for the Lord will not hold guiltlesst anyone who takes his name in vain.
8 “Remembert the Sabbatht day to set it apart as holy.t9 For six dayst you may labort and do all your work,t10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; on itt you shall not do any work, you,s or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your cattle, or the resident foreigner who is in your gates.s
11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, and he rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.
12 “Honort your father and your mother, that you may live a long timet in the lands the Lord your God is giving to you.
13 “You shall not murder.t
14 “You shall not commit adultery.s
15 “You shall not steal.s
16 “You shall not givet false testimonyt against your neighbor.
17 “You shall not covett your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that belongs to your neighbor.”s
18 All the people were seeingt the thundering and the lightning, and heardt the sound of the horn, and sawt the mountain smoking – and whent the people saw it they trembled with feart and kept their distance.t19 They said to Moses, “You speakt to us and we will listen, but do not let God speak with us, lest we die.”20 Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you,t that the fear of himt may be before you so that you do nott sin.”
21 The people keptt their distance, but Moses drew near the thick darknesss where God was.s
The Altar
22 s The Lord saidt to Moses: “Thus you will tell the Israelites: ‘You yourselves have seen that I have spoken with you from heaven.
23 You must not make gods of silver alongside me,t nor make gods of gold for yourselves.ts
24 ‘You must make for me an altar made of earth,s and you will sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings,s your sheep and your cattle. In every placet where I cause my name to be honoredt I will come to you and I will bless you.25 If you make me an altar of stone, you must not build itt of stones shaped with tools,t for if you use your tool on it you have defiled it.t
26 And you must not go up by steps to my altar, so that your nakedness is not exposed.’t
