The Ten Commandments

20 ^(A)And ^(B)God spoke all these words, saying,

^2 (C)“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

^3 (D)“You shall have no other gods before^[a] me.

^4 (E)“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 (F)You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am ^(G)a jealous God, ^(H)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 thousands^[b] of those who love me and keep my commandments.

^7 (I)“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 (J)“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. ^9 (K)Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, ¹⁰ but the ^(L)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 ^(M)sojourner who is within your gates. ¹¹ For ^(N)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 (O)“Honor your father and your mother, ^(P)that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

^13 (Q)“You shall not murder.^[c]

^14 (R)“You shall not commit adultery.

^15 (S)“You shall not steal.

^16 (T)“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

^17 (U)“You shall not covet ^(V)your neighbor's house; ^(W)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 ^(X)the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid^[d] and trembled, and they stood far off ¹⁹ and said to Moses, ^(Y)“You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” ^20 (Z)Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to ^(AA)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 ^(AB)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 ^(AC)talked with you from heaven. ^23 (AD)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. ^(AE)In every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and ^(AF)bless you. ^25 (AG)If you make me an altar of stone, ^(AH)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.’

The Ten Commandments

5 And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, “Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the rules that I speak in your hearing today, and you shall learn them and be careful to do them. ^2 (A)The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. ^3 (B)Not with our fathers did the Lord make this covenant, but with us, who are all of us here alive today. ⁴ The Lord spoke with you ^(C)face to face at the mountain, out of the midst of the fire, ^5 (D)while I stood between the Lord and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the Lord. For ^(E)you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up into the mountain. He said:

^6 (F)“‘I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

⁷ “‘You shall have no other gods before^[a] me.

⁸ “‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. ⁹ 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 fourth generation of those who hate me, ¹⁰ but showing steadfast love to ^(G)thousands^[b] of those who love me and keep my commandments.

¹¹ “‘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.

¹² “‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. ¹³ Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁴ but ^(H)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 or your male servant or your female servant, or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, ^(I)that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. ^15 (J)You shall remember that you were a slave^[c] in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there ^(K)with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

¹⁶ “‘Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God commanded you, ^(L)that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

^17 (M)“‘You shall not murder.^[d]

^18 (N)“‘And you shall not commit adultery.

¹⁹ “‘And you shall not steal.

²⁰ “‘And you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

²¹ “‘And you shall not covet your neighbor's wife. And you shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field, or his male servant, or his female servant, his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.’

²² “These words the Lord spoke to all your assembly ^(O)at the mountain out of the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a loud voice; and he added no more. And ^(P)he wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me. ²³ And ^(Q)as soon as you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes, and your elders. ²⁴ And you said, ‘Behold, the Lord our God has shown us his glory and ^(R)greatness, and ^(S)we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire. This day we have seen God speak with man, and man ^(T)still live. ²⁵ Now therefore why should we die? For this great fire will consume us. ^(U)If we hear the voice of the Lord our God any more, we shall die. ^26 (V)For who is there of all flesh, that has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of fire as we have, and has still lived? ²⁷ Go near and hear all that the Lord our God will say, and ^(W)speak to us all that the Lord our God will speak to you, and we will hear and do it.’

²⁸ “And the Lord heard your words, when you spoke to me. And the Lord said to me, ‘I have heard the words of this people, which they have spoken to you. ^(X)They are right in all that they have spoken. ^29 (Y)Oh that they had such a heart as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, ^(Z)that it might go well with them and with their descendants^[e] forever! ³⁰ Go and say to them, “Return to your tents.” ³¹ But you, stand here by me, and ^(AA)I will tell you the whole commandment and the statutes and the rules that you shall teach them, that they may do them in the land that I am giving them to possess.’ ³² You shall be careful therefore to do as the Lord your God has commanded you. ^(AB)You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. ^33 (AC)You shall walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live, and ^(AD)that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess.