Israel at Mount Sinai

19 In the third month after the children of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on the same day, ^(A)they came to the Wilderness of Sinai. ² For they had departed from ^(B)Rephidim, had come to the Wilderness of Sinai, and camped in the wilderness. So Israel camped there before ^(C)the mountain.

³ And ^(D)Moses went up to God, and the Lord ^(E)called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel: ^4 (F)‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how ^(G)I ^[a]bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. ⁵ Now ^(H)therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and ^(I)keep My covenant, then ^(J)you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is ^(K)Mine. ⁶ And you shall be to Me a ^(L)kingdom of priests and a ^(M)holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”

⁷ So Moses came and called for the ^(N)elders of the people, and ^[b]laid before them all these words which the Lord commanded him. ⁸ Then ^(O)all the people answered together and said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.” So Moses brought back the words of the people to the Lord. ⁹ And the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I come to you ^(P)in the thick cloud, ^(Q)that the people may hear when I speak with you, and believe you forever.”

So Moses told the words of the people to the Lord.

¹⁰ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and ^(R)consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes. ¹¹ And let them be ready for the third day. For on the third day the Lord will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. ¹² You shall set bounds for the people all around, saying, ‘Take heed to yourselves that you do not go up to the mountain or touch its base. ^(S)Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death. ¹³ Not a hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot with an arrow; whether man or beast, he shall not live.’ When the trumpet sounds long, they shall come near the mountain.”

¹⁴ So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and sanctified the people, and they washed their clothes. ¹⁵ And he said to the people, “Be ready for the third day; ^(T)do not come near your wives.”

¹⁶ Then it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that there were ^(U)thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp ^(V)trembled. ¹⁷ And ^(W)Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. ¹⁸ Now ^(X)Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the Lord descended upon ^(Y)it in fire. ^(Z)Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and ^[c]the ^(AA)whole mountain quaked greatly. ¹⁹ And when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder, ^(AB)Moses spoke, and ^(AC)God answered him by voice. ²⁰ Then the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, on 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 ^(AD)to gaze at the Lord, and many of them perish. ²² Also let the ^(AE)priests who come near the Lord ^(AF)consecrate themselves, lest the Lord ^(AG)break out against them.”

²³ But Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai; for You warned us, saying, ^(AH)‘Set bounds around the mountain and consecrate it.’ ”

²⁴ Then the Lord said to him, “Away! Get down and then come up, you and Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the Lord, lest He break out against them.” ²⁵ So Moses went down to the people and spoke to them.

The Ten Commandments^(AI)

20 And God spoke ^(AJ)all these words, saying:

The People Afraid of God’s Presence

¹⁸ Now ^(BI)all the people ^(BJ)witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain ^(BK)smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. ¹⁹ Then they said to Moses, ^(BL)“You speak with us, and we will hear; but ^(BM)let not God speak with us, lest we die.”

²⁰ And Moses said to the people, ^(BN)“Do not fear; ^(BO)for God has come to test you, and ^(BP)that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin.” ²¹ So the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near ^(BQ)the thick darkness where God was.

The Law of the Altar

²² Then the Lord said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘You have seen that I have talked with you ^(BR)from heaven. ²³ You shall not make anything to be ^(BS)with Me—gods of silver or gods of gold you shall not make for yourselves. ²⁴ An altar of ^(BT)earth you shall make for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, ^(BU)your sheep and your oxen. In every ^(BV)place where I ^[g]record My name I will come to you, and I will ^(BW)bless you. ²⁵ And ^(BX)if you make Me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stone; for if you ^(BY)use your tool on it, you have profaned it. ²⁶ Nor shall you go up by steps to My altar, that your ^(BZ)nakedness may not be exposed on it.’

Freed from the Law

7 Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law ^[a]has dominion over a man as long as he lives? ² For ^(A)the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband. ³ So then ^(B)if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man. ⁴ Therefore, my brethren, you also have become ^(C)dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should ^(D)bear fruit to God. ⁵ For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law ^(E)were at work in our members ^(F)to bear fruit to death. ⁶ But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve ^(G)in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.

Sin’s Advantage in the Law

⁷ What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, ^(H)I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, ^(I)“You shall not covet.” ⁸ But ^(J)sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For ^(K)apart from the law sin was dead. ⁹ I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. ¹⁰ And the commandment, ^(L)which was to bring life, I found to bring death. ¹¹ For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me. ¹² Therefore ^(M)the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.

Law Cannot Save from Sin

¹³ Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful. ¹⁴ For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, ^(N)sold under sin. ¹⁵ For what I am doing, I do not understand. ^(O)For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. ¹⁶ If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. ¹⁷ But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. ¹⁸ For I know that ^(P)in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. ¹⁹ For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. ²⁰ Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.

²¹ I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. ²² For I ^(Q)delight in the law of God according to ^(R)the inward man. ²³ But ^(S)I see another law in ^(T)my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. ²⁴ O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me ^(U)from this body of death? ^25 (V)I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!

So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.

Greeting

1 Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect and ^(A)the acknowledgment of the truth ^(B)which accords with godliness, ² in hope of eternal life which God, who ^(C)cannot lie, promised before time began, ³ but has in due time manifested His word through preaching, which was committed to me according to the commandment of God our Savior;

⁴ To ^(D)Titus, a true son in our common faith:

Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and ^[a]the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior.

Qualified Elders

⁵ For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should ^(E)set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you— ⁶ if a man is blameless, the husband of one wife, ^(F)having faithful children not accused of ^[b]dissipation or insubordination. ⁷ For a ^[c]bishop must be blameless, as a steward of God, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, ^(G)not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, ⁸ but hospitable, a lover of what is good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled, ⁹ holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict.

The Elders’ Task

¹⁰ For there are many insubordinate, both idle ^(H)talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, ¹¹ whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not, ^(I)for the sake of dishonest gain. ^12 (J)One of them, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” ¹³ This testimony is true. ^(K)Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, ¹⁴ not giving heed to Jewish fables and ^(L)commandments of men who turn from the truth. ^15 (M)To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled. ¹⁶ They profess to ^(N)know God, but ^(O)in works they deny Him, being ^[d]abominable, disobedient, ^(P)and disqualified for every good work.