The Ten Commandments

20 Then God spoke all these words, saying,

² “^(A)I am the Lord your God, ^(B)who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of ^[a]slavery.

³ “^(C)You shall have no other ^(D)gods ^[b]before Me.

⁴ “^(E)You shall not make for yourself ^[c]an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath, or in the water under the earth. ^5 (F)You shall not worship them nor serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a ^(G)jealous God, ^(H)inflicting the ^[d]punishment of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, ⁶ but showing ^[e]favor to ^(I)thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

Israel Urged to Obey God’s Law

4 “Now, Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which ^(A)I am teaching you to perform, so that ^(B)you will live and go in and take possession of the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you. ^2 (C)You shall not add to the word which ^(D)I am commanding you, nor take away from it, so that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I am commanding you. ^3 (E)Your eyes have seen what the Lord has done in the case of Baal-peor, for all the men who followed Baal-peor, the Lord your God has destroyed ^[a]them from among you. ⁴ But you who clung to the Lord your God are alive today, every one of you.

⁵ “See, I have taught you statutes and judgments ^(F)just as the Lord my God commanded me, that you are to do these things in the land where you are entering to take possession of it. ⁶ So keep and do them, ^(G)for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ ⁷ For ^(H)what great nation is there that has a god ^(I)so near to it as is the Lord our God ^(J)whenever we call on Him? ⁸ Or what great nation is there that has ^(K)statutes and judgments as righteous as this whole Law which I am setting before you today?

²⁹ “When ^(A)the Lord your God cuts off from you the nations which you are going in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and live in their land, ³⁰ be careful that you are not ensnared ^[a]to follow them, after they are destroyed from your presence, and that you do not inquire about their gods, saying, ‘How do these nations serve their gods, that I also may do likewise?’ ^31 (B)You shall not behave this way toward the Lord your God, because every abominable act which the Lord hates, they have done for their gods; for ^(C)they even burn their sons and daughters in the fire for their gods.

³² “^[b](D)Whatever I command you, you shall be careful to do; ^(E)you shall not add to nor take anything away from it.