Exodus 19:16-21:21

English Standard Version

¹⁶ On the morning of the ^(A)third day there were ^(B)thunders and lightnings and ^(C)a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud ^(D)trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp ^(E)trembled. ¹⁷ Then ^(F)Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. ¹⁸ Now ^(G)Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and ^(H)the whole mountain trembled greatly. ¹⁹ And as the ^(I)sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and ^(J)God answered him in thunder. ²⁰ The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

²¹ And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to the Lord ^(K)to look and many of them perish. ²² Also let the priests who come near to the Lord ^(L)consecrate themselves, lest the Lord ^(M)break out against them.” ²³ And Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for you yourself warned us, saying, ^(N)‘Set limits around the mountain and consecrate it.’” ²⁴ And the Lord said to him, “Go down, and come up bringing Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people ^(O)break through to come up to the Lord, lest he break out against them.” ²⁵ So Moses went down to the people and told them.

The Ten Commandments

20 ^(P)And ^(Q)God spoke all these words, saying,

^2 (R)“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

^3 (S)“You shall have no other gods before^[a] me.

^4 (T)“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. ^5 (U)You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am ^(V)a jealous God, ^(W)visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, ⁶ but showing steadfast love to thousands^[b] of those who love me and keep my commandments.

^7 (X)“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

^8 (Y)“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. ^9 (Z)Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, ¹⁰ but the ^(AA)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 ^(AB)sojourner who is within your gates. ¹¹ For ^(AC)in six days the Lord made heaven and 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 (AD)“Honor your father and your mother, ^(AE)that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

^13 (AF)“You shall not murder.^[c]

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

^15 (AH)“You shall not steal.

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

^17 (AJ)“You shall not covet ^(AK)your neighbor's house; ^(AL)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 ^(AM)the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid^[d] and trembled, and they stood far off ¹⁹ and said to Moses, ^(AN)“You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” ^20 (AO)Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to ^(AP)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 ^(AQ)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 ^(AR)talked with you from heaven. ^23 (AS)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. ^(AT)In every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and ^(AU)bless you. ^25 (AV)If you make me an altar of stone, ^(AW)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.’

Laws About Slaves

21 “Now these are the ^(AX)rules that you shall set before them. ^2 (AY)When you buy a Hebrew slave,^[e] he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing. ³ If he comes in single, he shall go out single; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him. ⁴ If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out alone. ⁵ But ^(AZ)if the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’ ⁶ then his master shall bring him to ^(BA)God, and he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall be his slave forever.

⁷ “When a man ^(BB)sells his daughter as a slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do. ⁸ If she does not please her master, who has designated her^[f] for himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has broken faith with her. ⁹ If he designates her for his son, he shall deal with her as with a daughter. ¹⁰ If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, or ^(BC)her marital rights. ¹¹ And if he does not do these three things for her, she shall go out for nothing, without payment of money.

^12 (BD)“Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death. ^13 (BE)But if he did not lie in wait for him, but God let him fall into his hand, then ^(BF)I will appoint for you a place to which he may flee. ¹⁴ But if a man willfully attacks another to kill him by cunning, ^(BG)you shall take him from my altar, that he may die.

¹⁵ “Whoever strikes his father or his mother shall be put to death.

^16 (BH)“Whoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found ^(BI)in possession of him, shall be put to death.

^17 (BJ)“Whoever curses^[g] his father or his mother shall be put to death.

¹⁸ “When men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist and the man does not die but takes to his bed, ¹⁹ then if the man rises again and walks outdoors with his staff, he who struck him shall be clear; only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall have him thoroughly healed.

²⁰ “When a man strikes his slave, male or female, with a rod and the slave dies under his hand, he shall be avenged. ²¹ But if the slave survives a day or two, he is not to be avenged, for the ^(BK)slave is his money.