Exodus 20
New American Standard Bible
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.’
Footnotes
- Exodus 20:2 Lit slaves
- Exodus 20:3 Or besides Me
- Exodus 20:4 Or a carved image
- Exodus 20:5 I.e., punishment for the wrongdoing
- Exodus 20:6 Or faithfulness
- Exodus 20:7 Or hold him guiltless
- Exodus 20:10 Lit stranger
- Exodus 20:10 Lit is in your gates
- Exodus 20:16 Lit answer as a false witness against
- Exodus 20:18 Lit sounds
- Exodus 20:19 Lit with
- Exodus 20:19 Lit with
- Exodus 20:20 Lit be before
- Exodus 20:22 Lit with
Exodus 20
The Voice
20 Then God began to speak directly to all the people.
Until now God has dealt only with Moses on behalf of His people; at Mount Sinai, He turns to address them directly in order to express the core of His covenant obligations. He begins by reminding them of all He has done for them. His miraculous deeds in liberating the Hebrew slaves and providing for them in the desert become the basis of this new relationship. He then proceeds to lay out the Ten Directives that will define and shape their lives together. The first four Directives concern their duties to know and worship the one True God. The last six pertain to how Israel is to live with one another in a covenant-based society. Properly understood, all the other teachings, prescriptions, and directives that come in later chapters derive from these Ten Directives.
Eternal One: 2 I am the Eternal your God. I led you out of Egypt and liberated you from lives of slavery and oppression.
3 You are not to serve any other gods before Me.
4 You are not to make any idol or image of other gods. In fact, you are not to make an image of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath. 5 You are not to bow down and serve any image, for I, the Eternal your God, am a jealous God. As for those who are not loyal to Me, their children will endure the consequences of their sins for three or four generations. 6 But for those who love Me and keep My directives, their children will experience My loyal love for a thousand generations.
7 You are not to use My name for your own idle purposes, for the Eternal will punish anyone who treats His name as anything less than sacred.
8 You and your family are to remember the Sabbath Day; set it apart, and keep it holy. 9 You have six days to do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is to be different; it is the Sabbath of the Eternal your God. Keep it holy by not doing any work—not you, your sons, your daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, or any outsiders living among you. 11 For the Eternal made the heavens above, the earth below, the seas, and all the creatures in them in six days. Then, on the seventh day, He rested. That is why He blessed the Sabbath Day and made it sacred.
12 You are to honor your father and mother. If you do, you and your children will live long and well in the land the Eternal your God has promised to give you.
13 You are not to murder.
14 You are not to commit adultery.
15 You are not to take what is not yours.
16 You are not to give false testimony against your neighbor.
17 You are not to covet what your neighbor has or set your heart on getting his house, his wife, his male or female servants, his ox or donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor.
18 As all the people witnessed the signs of God’s presence—the blast of the ram’s horn, the roaring thunder, the flashing lightning, and the smoke-covered mountain—they shook with fear and astonishment and wisely kept their distance.
Israelites (to Moses): 19 We are afraid to have God speak directly to us; we are certain that we will die. You speak to us instead; we promise to listen.
Moses: 20 Don’t be afraid. These powerful manifestations are God’s way of instilling awe and fear in you so that you will not sin; He is testing you for your own good.
21 But everyone remained far away from the mountain as Moses began moving toward the thick, dark cloud where God was.
Eternal One (to Moses): 22 This is what I want you to tell the people of Israel: “You yourselves witnessed that I have spoken to you from heaven. 23 It is essential that you not make any idols to rival Me. Do not make any idols out of silver or gold for yourselves! 24 Take earth and build an altar to Me and sacrifice all of your burnt offerings and peace offerings there. Offer Me the best of your sheep and oxen. Wherever I choose for My name to be remembered, I will come to you and shower blessings upon you. 25 But if you decide to build an altar out of stones for Me, use only natural stones, not hand-cut stones, because any attempt to shape them with your tools will desecrate the altar. 26 Also, do not approach My altar by walking up steps, for you might profane the altar by exposing your nakedness.”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.