Israel Will Fall Away

¹⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, ^[a](A)the time for you to die is near; call Joshua and present yourselves at the tent of meeting, and I will commission him.” ^(B)So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves at the tent of meeting. ^15 (C)And the Lord appeared in the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood at the entrance of the tent. ¹⁶ The Lord said to Moses, “Behold, ^(D)you are about to ^[b]lie down with your fathers; and ^(E)this people will arise and play the prostitute with the foreign gods of the land into the midst of which they are going, and ^(F)they will abandon Me and break My covenant which I have made with them. ^17 (G)Then My anger will be kindled against them on that day, and ^(H)I will abandon them and ^(I)hide My face from them, and they will be consumed, and many evils and troubles will find them; so they will say on that day, ‘^(J)Is it not because our God is not among us that these evils have found us?’ ¹⁸ But I will assuredly hide My face on that day because of all the evil that they will have done, for they will have turned away to other gods.

¹⁹ “Now then, ^(K)write this song for yourselves, and teach it to the sons of Israel; put it ^[c]on their lips, so that this song may be a witness for Me against the sons of Israel. ^20 (L)For when I bring them into the land flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to their fathers, and they eat and are satisfied and ^(M)become ^[d]prosperous, then they will turn to other gods and serve them, and spurn Me and break My covenant. ²¹ Then it will come about, ^(N)when many evils and troubles find them, that this song will testify before them as a witness (for it shall not be forgotten from the mouth of their ^[e]descendants); for ^(O)I know their inclination which they are ^[f]developing today, before I bring them into the land which I swore.” ^22 (P)So Moses wrote down this song on the same day, and taught it to the sons of Israel.

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.

⁷ “^(J)You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not ^[f]leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.

⁸ “Remember ^(K)the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. ^9 (L)For six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁰ but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the Lord your God; on it ^(M)you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male slave or your female slave, or your cattle, or your ^[g]resident who ^[h]stays with you. ^11 (N)For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and everything that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day; for that reason the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

¹² “^(O)Honor your father and your mother, so that your ^(P)days may be prolonged on the land which the Lord 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 ^[i]give false testimony 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 And ^(X)all the people were watching and hearing the ^[j]thunder and the lightning flashes, and the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it all, they trembled and stood at a distance. ^19 (Y)Then they said to Moses, “Speak ^[k]to us yourself and we will listen; but do not have God speak ^[l]to us, or we will die!” ²⁰ However, 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 ^[m]remain with you, so that you will not sin.” ²¹ So the people stood at a distance, while Moses approached ^(AC)the thick darkness where God was.

²² Then the Lord said to Moses, “This is what you shall say to the sons of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen that ^(AD)I have spoken ^[n]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 chisel 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.’