Exodus 20
Legacy Standard Bible
The Commandments of Yahweh
20 Then God spoke all these words, saying,
2 “(A)I am Yahweh 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 or serve them; for I, Yahweh your God, am a (G)jealous God, (H)visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,
6 but showing lovingkindness to (I)thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
7 “(J)You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain, for Yahweh will not [d]leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.
8 “Remember (K)the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 (L)Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
10 but the seventh day is a sabbath of Yahweh your God; in it (M)you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female slave or your cattle or your sojourner who is within your gates.
11 (N)For in six days Yahweh made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore Yahweh blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.
12 “(O)Honor your father and your mother, that your (P)days may be prolonged in the land which Yahweh your God gives you.
13 “(Q)You shall not murder.
14 “(R)You shall not commit adultery.
15 “(S)You shall not steal.
16 “(T)You shall not bear false witness against your (U)neighbor.
17 “(V)You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; (W)you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male slave or his female slave or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
18 (X)And all the people perceived the [e]thunder and the lightning flashes and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and the people perceived it, and they shook and stood at a distance. 19 (Y)Then they said to Moses, “Speak [f]to us yourself, and we will listen; but let not God speak [g]to us, lest we die.” 20 And Moses said to the people, “(Z)Do not be afraid; for God has come in order (AA)to test you, and in order that (AB)the fear of Him may [h]be with you, so that you may not sin.” 21 So the people stood at a distance, but Moses came near (AC)the dense gloom where God was.
22 Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘You yourselves have seen that (AD)I have spoken [i]to you from heaven. 23 (AE)You shall not make other gods besides Me; (AF)gods of silver or gods of gold, you shall not make for yourselves. 24 You shall make (AG)an altar of earth for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your (AH)burnt offerings and your (AI)peace offerings, (AJ)your sheep and your oxen; in every place (AK)where I cause My name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you. 25 And if you make an altar of stone for Me, (AL)you shall not build it of cut stones, for if you wield your tool on it, you will profane it. 26 And you shall not go up by steps to My altar, so that (AM)your nakedness will not be exposed on it.’
Footnotes
- Exodus 20:2 Lit slaves
- Exodus 20:3 Or besides Me
- Exodus 20:4 Or a graven image
- Exodus 20:7 Or hold him guiltless
- Exodus 20:18 Lit sounds
- Exodus 20:19 Lit with
- Exodus 20:19 Lit with
- Exodus 20:20 Lit be before
- Exodus 20:22 Lit with
Exodus 20
International Children’s Bible
The Ten Commandments
20 Then God spoke all these words:
2 “I am the Lord your God. I brought you out of the land of Egypt where you were slaves.
3 “You must not have any other gods except me.
4 “You must not make for yourselves any idols. Don’t make something that looks like anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the water below the land. 5 You must not worship or serve any idol. This is because I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God. A person may sin against me and hate me. I will punish his children, even his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. 6 But I will be very kind to thousands who love me and obey my commands.
7 “You must not use the name of the Lord your God thoughtlessly. The Lord will punish anyone who is guilty and misuses his name.
8 “Remember to keep the Sabbath as a holy day. 9 You may work and get everything done during six days each week. 10 But the seventh day is a day of rest to honor the Lord your God. On that day no one may do any work: not you, your son or daughter, or your men or women slaves. Neither your animals nor the foreigners living in your cities may work. 11 The reason is that in six days the Lord made everything. He made the sky, earth, sea and everything in them. And on the seventh day, he rested. So the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
12 “Honor your father and your mother. Then you will live a long time in the land. The Lord your God is going to give you this land.
13 “You must not murder anyone.
14 “You must not be guilty of adultery.
15 “You must not steal.
16 “You must not tell lies about your neighbor in court.
17 “You must not want to take your neighbor’s house. You must not want his wife or his men or women slaves. You must not want his ox or his donkey. You must not want to take anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
18 The people heard the thunder and the trumpet. They saw the lightning on the mountain and smoke rising from the mountain. They shook with fear and stood far away from the mountain. 19 Then they said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself. Then we will listen. But don’t let God speak to us, or we will die.”
20 Then Moses said to the people, “Don’t be afraid. God has come to test you. He wants you to respect him so you will not sin.”
21 The people stood far away from the mountain while Moses went near the dark cloud where God was. 22 Then the Lord told Moses to say these things to the Israelites: “You yourselves have seen that I talked with you from heaven. 23 You must not use gold or silver to make idols for yourselves. You must not worship these false gods in addition to me.
24 “Make an altar of dirt for me. Offer your whole burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on this altar as a sacrifice to me. Use your sheep and your cattle to do this. Worship me in every place that I choose. Then I will come and bless you. 25 You may use stones to make an altar for me. But don’t use stones that you have made smooth with tools. You must not use any tools on the stones. If you do, you make them unsuitable for use in worship. 26 And you must not make steps leading up to my altar. If you go up steps, people will be able to see under your clothes.”
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The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
