Exodus 20

New Living Translation

Ten Commandments for the Covenant Community

20 Then God gave the people all these instructions^[a]:

²“I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery.

³“You must not have any other god but me.

⁴“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. ⁵You 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. ⁶But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those^[b] who love me and obey my commands.

⁷“You must not misuse the name of the Lord your God. The Lord will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name.

⁸“Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. ⁹You have six days each week for your ordinary work, ¹⁰but 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 livestock, and any foreigners living among you. ¹¹For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.

¹²“Honor your father and mother. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

¹³“You must not murder.

¹⁴“You must not commit adultery.

¹⁵“You must not steal.

¹⁶“You must not testify falsely against your neighbor.

¹⁷“You must not covet your neighbor’s house. You must not covet your neighbor’s wife, male or female servant, ox or donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor.”

¹⁸When the people heard the thunder and the loud blast of the ram’s horn, and when they saw the flashes of lightning and the smoke billowing from the mountain, they stood at a distance, trembling with fear.

¹⁹And they said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen. But don’t let God speak directly to us, or we will die!”

²⁰“Don’t be afraid,” Moses answered them, “for God has come in this way to test you, and so that your fear of him will keep you from sinning!”

²¹As the people stood in the distance, Moses approached the dark cloud where God was.

Proper Use of Altars

²²And the Lord said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: You saw for yourselves that I spoke to you from heaven. ²³Remember, you must not make any idols of silver or gold to rival me.

²⁴“Build for me an altar made of earth, and offer your sacrifices to me—your burnt offerings and peace offerings, your sheep and goats, and your cattle. Build my altar wherever I cause my name to be remembered, and I will come to you and bless you. ²⁵If you use stones to build my altar, use only natural, uncut stones. Do not shape the stones with a tool, for that would make the altar unfit for holy use. ²⁶And do not approach my altar by going up steps. If you do, someone might look up under your clothing and see your nakedness.

Footnotes

20:1 Hebrew all these words.
20:6 Hebrew for thousands of those.

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, ⁶but 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, ¹⁰but 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.”

¹⁸And ^(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!” ²⁰However, 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.” ²¹So the people stood at a distance, while Moses approached ^(AC)the thick darkness where God was.

²²Then 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. ²⁴You 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. ²⁵And 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. ²⁶And 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

New International Version

The Ten Commandments^(A)

20 And God spoke^(B) all these words:^(C)

²“I am the Lord your God,^(D) who brought you out^(E) of Egypt,^(F) out of the land of slavery.^(G)

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

⁴“You shall not make for yourself an image^(I) in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. ⁵You shall not bow down to them or worship^(J) them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God,^(K) punishing the children for the sin of the parents^(L) to the third and fourth generation^(M) of those who hate me, ⁶but showing love to a thousand^(N) generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

⁷“You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.^(O)

⁸“Remember the Sabbath^(P) day by keeping it holy. ⁹Six days you shall labor and do all your work,^(Q) ¹⁰but the seventh day is a sabbath^(R) to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. ¹¹For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth,^(S) the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested^(T) on the seventh day.^(U) Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

¹²“Honor your father and your mother,^(V) so that you may live long^(W) in the land^(X) the Lord your God is giving you.

¹³“You shall not murder.^(Y)

¹⁴“You shall not commit adultery.^(Z)

¹⁵“You shall not steal.^(AA)

¹⁶“You shall not give false testimony^(AB) against your neighbor.^(AC)

¹⁷“You shall not covet^(AD) your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

¹⁸When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet^(AE) and saw the mountain in smoke,^(AF) they trembled with fear.^(AG) They stayed at a distance ¹⁹and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak^(AH) to us or we will die.”^(AI)

²⁰Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid.^(AJ) God has come to test^(AK) you, so that the fear^(AL) of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.”^(AM)

²¹The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness^(AN) where God was.

Idols and Altars

²²Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites this: ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from heaven:^(AO) ²³Do not make any gods to be alongside me;^(AP) do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gods of gold.^(AQ)

²⁴“‘Make an altar^(AR) of earth for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings^(AS) and fellowship offerings, your sheep and goats and your cattle. Wherever I cause my name^(AT) to be honored, I will come to you and bless^(AU) you. ²⁵If you make an altar of stones for me, do not build it with dressed stones, for you will defile it if you use a tool^(AV) on it. ²⁶And do not go up to my altar on steps, or your private parts^(AW) may be exposed.’

Footnotes

Exodus 20:3 Or besides

New Living Translation (NLT)

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

New American Standard Bible is made available by The Lockman Foundation

New International Version (NIV)

Exodus 20

New Living Translation