Exodus 20:8-26

English Standard Version

^8 (A)“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. ^9 (B)Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, ¹⁰ but the ^(C)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 ^(D)sojourner who is within your gates. ¹¹ For ^(E)in six days the Lord made the heavens and the 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 (F)“Honor your father and your mother, ^(G)that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

^13 (H)“You shall not murder.^[a]

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

^15 (J)“You shall not steal.

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

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