Deuteronomy 5
The Message
Moses Teaches Israel on the Plains of Moab
5 Moses called all Israel together. He said to them,
Attention, Israel. Listen obediently to the rules and regulations I am delivering to your listening ears today. Learn them. Live them.
2-5 God, our God, made a covenant with us at Horeb. God didn’t just make this covenant with our parents; he made it also with us, with all of us who are alive right now. God spoke to you personally out of the fire on the mountain. At the time I stood between God and you, to tell you what God said. You were afraid, remember, of the fire and wouldn’t climb the mountain. He said:
6 I am God, your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt,
out of a house of slaves.
7 No other gods, only me.
8-10 No carved gods of any size, shape, or form of anything whatever, whether of things that fly or walk or swim. Don’t bow down to them and don’t serve them because I am God, your God, and I’m a most jealous God. I hold parents responsible for any sins they pass on to their children to the third, and yes, even to the fourth generation. But I’m lovingly loyal to the thousands who love me and keep my commandments.
11 No using the name of God, your God, in curses or silly banter; God won’t put up with the irreverent use of his name.
12-15 No working on the Sabbath; keep it holy just as God, your God, commanded you. Work six days, doing everything you have to do, but the seventh day is a Sabbath, a Rest Day—no work: not you, your son, your daughter, your servant, your maid, your ox, your donkey (or any of your animals), and not even the foreigner visiting your town. That way your servants and maids will get the same rest as you. Don’t ever forget that you were slaves in Egypt and God, your God, got you out of there in a powerful show of strength. That’s why God, your God, commands you to observe the day of Sabbath rest.
16 Respect your father and mother—God, your God, commands it! You’ll have a long life; the land that God is giving you will treat you well.
17 No murder.
18 No adultery.
19 No stealing.
20 No lies about your neighbor.
21 No coveting your neighbor’s wife. And no lusting for his house, field, servant, maid, ox, or donkey either—nothing that belongs to your neighbor!
22 These are the words that God spoke to the whole congregation at the mountain. He spoke in a tremendous voice from the fire and cloud and dark mist. And that was it. No more words. Then he wrote them on two slabs of stone and gave them to me.
23-24 As it turned out, when you heard the Voice out of that dark cloud and saw the mountain on fire, you approached me, all the heads of your tribes and your leaders, and said,
24-26 “Our God has revealed to us his glory and greatness. We’ve heard him speak from the fire today! We’ve seen that God can speak to humans and they can still live. But why risk it further? This huge fire will devour us if we stay around any longer. If we hear God’s voice anymore, we’ll die for sure. Has anyone ever known of anyone who has heard the Voice of God the way we have and lived to tell the story?
27 “From now on, you go and listen to what God, our God, says and then tell us what God tells you. We’ll listen and we’ll do it.”
28-29 God heard what you said to me and told me, “I’ve heard what the people said to you. They’re right—good and true words. What I wouldn’t give if they’d always feel this way, continuing to revere me and always keep all my commands; they’d have a good life forever, they and their children!
30-31 “Go ahead and tell them to go home to their tents. But you, you stay here with me so I can tell you every commandment and all the rules and regulations that you must teach them so they’ll know how to live in the land that I’m giving them as their own.”
32-33 So be very careful to act exactly as God commands you. Don’t veer off to the right or the left. Walk straight down the road God commands so that you’ll have a good life and live a long time in the land that you’re about to possess.
Deuteronomy 5
New American Standard Bible
The Ten Commandments Repeated
5 Now Moses summoned all Israel and said to them:
“Listen, Israel, to the statutes and ordinances which I am speaking today [a]for you to hear, so that you may learn them and be careful to do them. 2 The Lord our God made (A)a covenant with us at Horeb. 3 (B)The Lord did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, all [b]of us who are alive here today. 4 The Lord spoke with you (C)face to face at the mountain (D)from the midst of the fire, 5 while (E)I was standing between the Lord and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the Lord; (F)for you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up on the mountain. [c]He said,
6 ‘(G)I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of [d]slavery.
7 ‘(H)You shall have no other gods besides Me.
8 ‘(I)You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any [e]likeness of what is in heaven above [f]or on the earth beneath [g]or in the water under the earth. 9 You shall not worship them nor serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, (J)inflicting the [h]punishment of the fathers on the children, [i]even on the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 10 but (K)showing [j]favor to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
11 ‘(L)You shall not take the name of the Lord your God [k]in vain, for the Lord will not [l]leave unpunished the one who takes His name in vain.
12 ‘(M)Keep the Sabbath day to treat it as holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. 13 For six days you [m]shall labor and do all your work, 14 but (N)the seventh day is a Sabbath of the Lord your God; you shall not do any work that day, you or your son or your daughter, or your male slave or your female slave, or your ox, your donkey, or any of your cattle, or your [n]resident who [o]stays with you, so that your male slave and your female slave may rest as well as you. 15 (O)And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to [p]celebrate the Sabbath day.
16 ‘(P)Honor your father and your mother, just as the Lord your God has commanded you, (Q)so that your days may be prolonged and that it may go well for you on the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
17 ‘(R)You shall not murder.
18 ‘(S)You shall not commit adultery.
19 ‘(T)You shall not steal.
20 ‘(U)You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
21 ‘(V)You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor desire your neighbor’s house, his field, his male slave or his female slave, his ox, his donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.’
Moses Interceded
22 “These words the Lord spoke to your whole assembly at the mountain from the midst of the fire, from the cloud, and from the thick darkness, with a great voice, and He added nothing more. (W)He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me. 23 And when you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you approached me, all the heads of your tribes and your elders. 24 You said, ‘Behold, the Lord our God has shown us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice from the midst of the fire; we have seen today that God speaks with mankind, yet he lives. 25 (X)Now then, why should we die? For this great fire will consume us; if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any longer, then we will die! 26 For (Y)who is there of [q]humanity who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived? 27 [r]Go near and listen to everything that the Lord our God says; then speak to us everything that the Lord our God speaks to you, and we will listen and do it.’
28 “Now the Lord heard the sound of your words when you spoke to me, (Z)and the Lord said to me, ‘I have heard the sound of the words of this people which they have spoken to you. They have done well in all that they have spoken. 29 (AA)If only they had such a heart in them, to fear Me and (AB)keep all My commandments always, so that (AC)it would go well with them and with their sons forever! 30 Go, say to them, “Return to your tents.” 31 (AD)But as for you, stand here by Me, that I may speak to you all the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments which you shall teach them, so that they may [s]follow them in the land which I am giving them to possess.’ 32 So you shall be careful to do just as the Lord your God has commanded you; (AE)you shall not turn aside to the right or to the left. 33 (AF)You shall walk [t]entirely in the way which the Lord your God has commanded you, (AG)so that you may live and that it may be well for you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you will possess.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 5:1 Lit in your ears
- Deuteronomy 5:3 Lit these of us ourselves
- Deuteronomy 5:5 Lit saying
- Deuteronomy 5:6 Lit slaves
- Deuteronomy 5:8 Or manifestation
- Deuteronomy 5:8 Lit or what is on
- Deuteronomy 5:8 Lit or what is on
- Deuteronomy 5:9 I.e., punishment for the wrongdoing
- Deuteronomy 5:9 Or and on
- Deuteronomy 5:10 Or faithfulness
- Deuteronomy 5:11 I.e., uselessly or abusively
- Deuteronomy 5:11 Or hold guiltless
- Deuteronomy 5:13 Or may
- Deuteronomy 5:14 Lit stranger
- Deuteronomy 5:14 Lit is in your gates
- Deuteronomy 5:15 Lit perform
- Deuteronomy 5:26 Lit all flesh
- Deuteronomy 5:27 Lit Go yourself
- Deuteronomy 5:31 Lit perform
- Deuteronomy 5:33 Lit in all the way of
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
