Exodus 19:18-20:21

English Standard Version

¹⁸ Now ^(A)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 ^(B)the whole mountain trembled greatly. ¹⁹ And as the ^(C)sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and ^(D)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 ^(E)to look and many of them perish. ²² Also let the priests who come near to the Lord ^(F)consecrate themselves, lest the Lord ^(G)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, ^(H)‘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 ^(I)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 ^(J)And ^(K)God spoke all these words, saying,

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

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

^4 (N)“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 (O)You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am ^(P)a jealous God, ^(Q)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 (R)“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 (S)“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. ^9 (T)Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, ¹⁰ but the ^(U)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 ^(V)sojourner who is within your gates. ¹¹ For ^(W)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 (X)“Honor your father and your mother, ^(Y)that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

^13 (Z)“You shall not murder.^[c]

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

^15 (AB)“You shall not steal.

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

^17 (AD)“You shall not covet ^(AE)your neighbor's house; ^(AF)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 ^(AG)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, ^(AH)“You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” ^20 (AI)Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to ^(AJ)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 ^(AK)thick darkness where God was.