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
Common English Bible
The Ten Commandments
20 Then God spoke all these words:
2 I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
3 You must have no other gods before[a] me.
4 Do not make an idol for yourself—no form whatsoever—of anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth. 5 Do not bow down to them or worship them, because I, the Lord your God, am a passionate God. I punish children for their parents’ sins even to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me. 6 But I am loyal and gracious to the thousandth generation[b] of those who love me and keep my commandments.
7 Do not use the Lord your God’s name as if it were of no significance; the Lord won’t forgive anyone who uses his name that way.
8 Remember the Sabbath day and treat it as holy. 9 Six days you may work and do all your tasks, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. Do not do any work on it—not you, your sons or daughters, your male or female servants, your animals, or the immigrant who is living with you. 11 Because the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and everything that is in them in six days, but rested on the seventh day. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
12 Honor your father and your mother so that your life will be long on the fertile land that the Lord your God is giving you.
13 Do not kill.[c]
14 Do not commit adultery.
15 Do not steal.
16 Do not testify falsely against your neighbor.
17 Do not desire and try to take your neighbor’s house. Do not desire and try to take your neighbor’s wife, male or female servant, ox, donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor.
18 When all the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sound of the horn, and the mountain smoking, the people shook with fear and stood at a distance. 19 They said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we’ll listen. But don’t let God speak to us, or we’ll die.”
20 Moses said to the people, “Don’t be afraid, because God has come only to test you and to make sure you are always in awe of God so that you don’t sin.” 21 The people stood at a distance while Moses approached the thick darkness in which God was present.
Instructions about worship
22 The Lord said to Moses: “Say this to the Israelites: You saw for yourselves how I spoke with you from heaven. 23 Don’t make alongside me gods of silver or gold for yourselves. 24 Make for me an altar from fertile soil on which to sacrifice your entirely burned offerings, your well-being sacrifices, your sheep, and your oxen. I will come to you and bless you in every place where I make sure my name is remembered. 25 But if you do make for me an altar from stones, don’t build it with chiseled stone since using your chisel on the stone will make it impure. 26 Don’t climb onto my altar using steps: then your genitals won’t be exposed by doing so.”
Footnotes
- Exodus 20:3 Or besides
- Exodus 20:6 Or to thousands
- Exodus 20:13 Or murder
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible