The Ten Commandments Repeated

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. The Lord our God made (A)a covenant with us at Horeb. (B)The Lord did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, all [b]of us who are alive here today. The Lord spoke with you (C)face to face at the mountain (D)from the midst of the fire, 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,

(G)I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of [d]slavery.

(H)You shall have no other gods besides Me.

(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. 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.

Obey God and Prosper

“Now this is the commandment, the statutes, and the judgments which the Lord your God has commanded me to teach you, so that you may do them in the land where you are going over to take possession of it, so that you, your son, and your grandson will (AH)fear the Lord your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, (AI)all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. Now Israel, you shall listen and be careful to do them, so that (AJ)it may go well for you and that you may increase greatly, just as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has [u]promised you, in (AK)a land flowing with milk and honey.

(AL)Hear, Israel! The Lord is our God, the (AM)Lord is one! And (AN)you shall love the Lord your God (AO)with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. (AP)These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. And (AQ)you shall repeat them diligently to your sons and speak of them when you sit in your house, when you walk on the road, when you lie down, and when you get up. (AR)You shall also tie them as a [v]sign to your [w]hand, and they shall be as [x]frontlets [y]on your forehead. (AS)You shall also write them on the [z]doorposts of your house and on your gates.

10 “Then it shall come about when the Lord your God brings you into the land that He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you, (AT)great and splendid cities which you did not build, 11 and houses full of all good things which you did not fill, and carved cisterns which you did not carve out, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant, and (AU)you eat and are satisfied, 12 be [aa]careful that (AV)you do not forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of [ab]slavery. 13 (AW)You shall [ac]fear only the Lord your God; and you shall [ad]worship Him and (AX)swear by His name. 14 (AY)You shall not follow other gods, any of the gods of the peoples who surround you, 15 for the Lord your God who is in the midst of you is a (AZ)jealous God; so follow Him, or else the anger of the Lord your God will be kindled against you, and He will [ae]wipe you off the face of the earth.

16 (BA)You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, (BB)as you tested Him at Massah. 17 (BC)You shall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and His provisions and His statutes which He has commanded you. 18 You shall do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, so that (BD)it may go well for you and that you may go in and take possession of the good land which the Lord swore to give your fathers, 19 by driving out all your enemies from you, as the Lord has spoken.

20 (BE)When your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What do the provisions and the statutes and the judgments mean which the Lord our God commanded you?’ 21 then you shall say to your son, ‘We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 22 Moreover, the Lord provided great and terrible signs and wonders before our eyes against Egypt, Pharaoh, and all his household; 23 He brought us out of there in order to bring us in, to give us the land which He had sworn to our fathers.’ 24 So the Lord commanded us to [af]follow all these statutes, (BF)to fear the Lord our God for our own good always and (BG)for our survival, as it is today. 25 And (BH)it will be righteousness for us if we are careful to [ag]follow all this commandment before the Lord our God, just as He commanded us.

Warnings

(BI)When the Lord your God brings you into the land where you are entering to take possession of it, and He drives away many nations from before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, (BJ)seven nations greater and mightier than you, and when the Lord your God turns them over to you and you [ah]defeat them, (BK)you shall [ai]utterly destroy them. (BL)You shall not make a covenant with them (BM)nor be gracious to them. Furthermore, (BN)you shall not intermarry with them: you shall not give your [aj]daughters to [ak]their sons, nor shall you take [al]their daughters for your [am]sons. For [an]they will turn your [ao]sons away from [ap]following Me, and they will serve other gods; then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you and (BO)He will quickly destroy you. But this is what you shall do to them: (BP)you shall tear down their altars, smash their memorial stones, cut their [aq]Asherim to pieces, and burn their carved images in the fire. For you are (BQ)a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be (BR)a people for His personal possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the [ar]earth.

(BS)The Lord did not [as]make you His beloved nor choose you because you were greater in number than any of the peoples, since you were the fewest of all peoples, but because the Lord loved you and kept the (BT)oath which He swore to your forefathers, (BU)the Lord brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of [at]slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the Lord your God, (BV)He is God, (BW)the faithful God, (BX)who keeps [au]His covenant and [av]His faithfulness to a thousand generations for those who (BY)love Him and keep His commandments; 10 but He (BZ)repays those who hate Him to [aw]their faces, to eliminate [ax]them; He will not hesitate toward him who hates Him, He will repay him to his face. 11 Therefore, you shall keep the commandment, the statutes, and the judgments which I am commanding you today, to do them.

Promises of God

12 (CA)Then it shall come about, because you listen to these judgments and keep and do them, that the Lord your God will keep [ay]His covenant with you and [az]His faithfulness which He swore to your forefathers. 13 And He will (CB)love you, bless you, and (CC)make you numerous; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain, your new wine, and your oil, the newborn of your cattle and the offspring of your flock, [ba]in the land which He swore to your forefathers to give you. 14 You shall be blessed above all peoples; there will be no sterile male or (CD)infertile female among you or among your cattle. 15 And (CE)the Lord will remove from you all sickness; and He will not inflict upon you any of the harmful diseases of Egypt which you have known, but He will give them to all who hate you. 16 You shall consume all the peoples whom the Lord your God will turn over to you; (CF)your eye shall not pity them, nor shall you serve their gods, for that would be (CG)a snare to you.

17 “If you say in your heart, ‘These nations are greater than I; how can I (CH)dispossess them?’ 18 you are not to be afraid of them; you shall (CI)remember well what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt: 19 (CJ)the great trials which your eyes saw and the signs and the wonders, and the mighty hand and the outstretched arm by which the Lord your God brought you out. The Lord your God will do the same to all the peoples of whom you are afraid. 20 Indeed, the Lord your God will send (CK)the hornet against them, until those who are left and hide themselves from you perish. 21 You are not to be terrified of them, because (CL)the Lord your God is in your midst, (CM)a great and awesome God. 22 (CN)And the Lord your God will drive away these nations from you little by little; you will not be able to put an end to them quickly, otherwise the [bb]wild animals would become too numerous for you. 23 (CO)But the Lord your God will turn them over to you, and will [bc]throw them into great confusion until they are destroyed. 24 (CP)And He will hand over their kings to you, so that you will eliminate their name from under heaven; (CQ)no one will be able to stand against you until you have destroyed them. 25 The carved images of their gods you are to (CR)burn with fire; you shall (CS)not covet the silver or the gold that is on them, nor take it for yourselves, or you will be (CT)trapped by it; for it is an (CU)abomination to the Lord your God. 26 And you shall not bring an abomination into your house and become (CV)designated for destruction, like it; you are to utterly detest it, and you are to utterly loathe it, for it is something designated for destruction.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 5:1 Lit in your ears
  2. Deuteronomy 5:3 Lit these of us ourselves
  3. Deuteronomy 5:5 Lit saying
  4. Deuteronomy 5:6 Lit slaves
  5. Deuteronomy 5:8 Or manifestation
  6. Deuteronomy 5:8 Lit or what is on
  7. Deuteronomy 5:8 Lit or what is on
  8. Deuteronomy 5:9 I.e., punishment for the wrongdoing
  9. Deuteronomy 5:9 Or and on
  10. Deuteronomy 5:10 Or faithfulness
  11. Deuteronomy 5:11 I.e., uselessly or abusively
  12. Deuteronomy 5:11 Or hold guiltless
  13. Deuteronomy 5:13 Or may
  14. Deuteronomy 5:14 Lit stranger
  15. Deuteronomy 5:14 Lit is in your gates
  16. Deuteronomy 5:15 Lit perform
  17. Deuteronomy 5:26 Lit all flesh
  18. Deuteronomy 5:27 Lit Go yourself
  19. Deuteronomy 5:31 Lit perform
  20. Deuteronomy 5:33 Lit in all the way of
  21. Deuteronomy 6:3 Lit spoken to
  22. Deuteronomy 6:8 I.e., reminder
  23. Deuteronomy 6:8 Or forearm
  24. Deuteronomy 6:8 Or phylacteries
  25. Deuteronomy 6:8 Lit between your eyes
  26. Deuteronomy 6:9 Heb mezuzoth
  27. Deuteronomy 6:12 Or careful yourself
  28. Deuteronomy 6:12 Lit slaves
  29. Deuteronomy 6:13 Or revere
  30. Deuteronomy 6:13 Or serve
  31. Deuteronomy 6:15 Lit destroy
  32. Deuteronomy 6:24 Lit perform
  33. Deuteronomy 6:25 Lit perform
  34. Deuteronomy 7:2 Lit strike
  35. Deuteronomy 7:2 Or certainly devote to the ban
  36. Deuteronomy 7:3 Lit daughter
  37. Deuteronomy 7:3 Lit his son
  38. Deuteronomy 7:3 Lit his daughter
  39. Deuteronomy 7:3 Lit son
  40. Deuteronomy 7:4 Lit he
  41. Deuteronomy 7:4 Lit son
  42. Deuteronomy 7:4 Lit after
  43. Deuteronomy 7:5 I.e., wooden symbols of a female deity (Asherah)
  44. Deuteronomy 7:6 Lit ground
  45. Deuteronomy 7:7 Or become so attached to
  46. Deuteronomy 7:8 Lit slaves
  47. Deuteronomy 7:9 Lit the
  48. Deuteronomy 7:9 Lit the
  49. Deuteronomy 7:10 Lit his face
  50. Deuteronomy 7:10 Lit him
  51. Deuteronomy 7:12 Lit the
  52. Deuteronomy 7:12 Lit the
  53. Deuteronomy 7:13 Lit on the ground
  54. Deuteronomy 7:22 Lit animals of the field
  55. Deuteronomy 7:23 Lit confuse them with

Ten Commandments for the Covenant Community

Moses called all the people of Israel together and said, “Listen carefully, Israel. Hear the decrees and regulations I am giving you today, so you may learn them and obey them!

“The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Mount Sinai.[a] The Lord did not make this covenant with our ancestors, but with all of us who are alive today. At the mountain the Lord spoke to you face to face from the heart of the fire. I stood as an intermediary between you and the Lord, for you were afraid of the fire and did not want to approach the mountain. He spoke to me, and I passed his words on to you. This is what he said:

“I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery.

“You must not have any other god but me.

“You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind, or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me. 10 But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those[b] who love me and obey my commands.

11 “You must not misuse the name of the Lord your God. The Lord will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name.

12 “Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you. 13 You have six days each week for your ordinary work, 14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your oxen and donkeys and other livestock, and any foreigners living among you. All your male and female servants must rest as you do. 15 Remember that you were once slaves in Egypt, but the Lord your God brought you out with his strong hand and powerful arm. That is why the Lord your God has commanded you to rest on the Sabbath day.

16 “Honor your father and mother, as the Lord your God commanded you. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

17 “You must not murder.

18 “You must not commit adultery.

19 “You must not steal.

20 “You must not testify falsely against your neighbor.

21 “You must not covet your neighbor’s wife. You must not covet your neighbor’s house or land, male or female servant, ox or donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor.

22 “The Lord spoke these words to all of you assembled there at the foot of the mountain. He spoke with a loud voice from the heart of the fire, surrounded by clouds and deep darkness. This was all he said at that time, and he wrote his words on two stone tablets and gave them to me.

23 “But when you heard the voice from the heart of the darkness, while the mountain was blazing with fire, all your tribal leaders and elders came to me. 24 They said, ‘Look, the Lord our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice from the heart of the fire. Today we have seen that God can speak to us humans, and yet we live! 25 But now, why should we risk death again? If the Lord our God speaks to us again, we will certainly die and be consumed by this awesome fire. 26 Can any living thing hear the voice of the living God from the heart of the fire as we did and yet survive? 27 Go yourself and listen to what the Lord our God says. Then come and tell us everything he tells you, and we will listen and obey.’

28 “The Lord heard the request you made to me. And he said, ‘I have heard what the people said to you, and they are right. 29 Oh, that they would always have hearts like this, that they might fear me and obey all my commands! If they did, they and their descendants would prosper forever. 30 Go and tell them, “Return to your tents.” 31 But you stand here with me so I can give you all my commands, decrees, and regulations. You must teach them to the people so they can obey them in the land I am giving them as their possession.’”

32 So Moses told the people, “You must be careful to obey all the commands of the Lord your God, following his instructions in every detail. 33 Stay on the path that the Lord your God has commanded you to follow. Then you will live long and prosperous lives in the land you are about to enter and occupy.

A Call for Wholehearted Commitment

“These are the commands, decrees, and regulations that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you. You must obey them in the land you are about to enter and occupy, and you and your children and grandchildren must fear the Lord your God as long as you live. If you obey all his decrees and commands, you will enjoy a long life. Listen closely, Israel, and be careful to obey. Then all will go well with you, and you will have many children in the land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you.

“Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.[c] And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

10 “The Lord your God will soon bring you into the land he swore to give you when he made a vow to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It is a land with large, prosperous cities that you did not build. 11 The houses will be richly stocked with goods you did not produce. You will draw water from cisterns you did not dig, and you will eat from vineyards and olive trees you did not plant. When you have eaten your fill in this land, 12 be careful not to forget the Lord, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt. 13 You must fear the Lord your God and serve him. When you take an oath, you must use only his name.

14 “You must not worship any of the gods of neighboring nations, 15 for the Lord your God, who lives among you, is a jealous God. His anger will flare up against you, and he will wipe you from the face of the earth. 16 You must not test the Lord your God as you did when you complained at Massah. 17 You must diligently obey the commands of the Lord your God—all the laws and decrees he has given you. 18 Do what is right and good in the Lord’s sight, so all will go well with you. Then you will enter and occupy the good land that the Lord swore to give your ancestors. 19 You will drive out all the enemies living in the land, just as the Lord said you would.

20 “In the future your children will ask you, ‘What is the meaning of these laws, decrees, and regulations that the Lord our God has commanded us to obey?’

21 “Then you must tell them, ‘We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with his strong hand. 22 The Lord did miraculous signs and wonders before our eyes, dealing terrifying blows against Egypt and Pharaoh and all his people. 23 He brought us out of Egypt so he could give us this land he had sworn to give our ancestors. 24 And the Lord our God commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear him so he can continue to bless us and preserve our lives, as he has done to this day. 25 For we will be counted as righteous when we obey all the commands the Lord our God has given us.’

The Privilege of Holiness

“When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are about to enter and occupy, he will clear away many nations ahead of you: the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. These seven nations are greater and more numerous than you. When the Lord your God hands these nations over to you and you conquer them, you must completely destroy[d] them. Make no treaties with them and show them no mercy. You must not intermarry with them. Do not let your daughters and sons marry their sons and daughters, for they will lead your children away from me to worship other gods. Then the anger of the Lord will burn against you, and he will quickly destroy you. This is what you must do. You must break down their pagan altars and shatter their sacred pillars. Cut down their Asherah poles and burn their idols. For you are a holy people, who belong to the Lord your God. Of all the people on earth, the Lord your God has chosen you to be his own special treasure.

“The Lord did not set his heart on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other nations, for you were the smallest of all nations! Rather, it was simply that the Lord loves you, and he was keeping the oath he had sworn to your ancestors. That is why the Lord rescued you with such a strong hand from your slavery and from the oppressive hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Understand, therefore, that the Lord your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his commands. 10 But he does not hesitate to punish and destroy those who reject him. 11 Therefore, you must obey all these commands, decrees, and regulations I am giving you today.

12 “If you listen to these regulations and faithfully obey them, the Lord your God will keep his covenant of unfailing love with you, as he promised with an oath to your ancestors. 13 He will love you and bless you, and he will give you many children. He will give fertility to your land and your animals. When you arrive in the land he swore to give your ancestors, you will have large harvests of grain, new wine, and olive oil, and great herds of cattle, sheep, and goats. 14 You will be blessed above all the nations of the earth. None of your men or women will be childless, and all your livestock will bear young. 15 And the Lord will protect you from all sickness. He will not let you suffer from the terrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but he will inflict them on all your enemies!

16 “You must destroy all the nations the Lord your God hands over to you. Show them no mercy, and do not worship their gods, or they will trap you. 17 Perhaps you will think to yourselves, ‘How can we ever conquer these nations that are so much more powerful than we are?’ 18 But don’t be afraid of them! Just remember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all the land of Egypt. 19 Remember the great terrors the Lord your God sent against them. You saw it all with your own eyes! And remember the miraculous signs and wonders, and the strong hand and powerful arm with which he brought you out of Egypt. The Lord your God will use this same power against all the people you fear. 20 And then the Lord your God will send terror[e] to drive out the few survivors still hiding from you!

21 “No, do not be afraid of those nations, for the Lord your God is among you, and he is a great and awesome God. 22 The Lord your God will drive those nations out ahead of you little by little. You will not clear them away all at once, otherwise the wild animals would multiply too quickly for you. 23 But the Lord your God will hand them over to you. He will throw them into complete confusion until they are destroyed. 24 He will put their kings in your power, and you will erase their names from the face of the earth. No one will be able to stand against you, and you will destroy them all.

25 “You must burn their idols in fire, and you must not covet the silver or gold that covers them. You must not take it or it will become a trap to you, for it is detestable to the Lord your God. 26 Do not bring any detestable objects into your home, for then you will be destroyed, just like them. You must utterly detest such things, for they are set apart for destruction.

Footnotes

  1. 5:2 Hebrew Horeb, another name for Sinai.
  2. 5:10 Hebrew for thousands of those.
  3. 6:4 Or The Lord our God is one Lord; or The Lord our God, the Lord is one; or The Lord is our God, the Lord is one.
  4. 7:2 The Hebrew term used here refers to the complete consecration of things or people to the Lord, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering; also in 7:26.
  5. 7:20 Often rendered the hornet. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.