Moses on Sinai

19 ^(A)In the third month after the sons of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, ^[a]on that very day they came into the wilderness of ^(B)Sinai. ² When they set out from ^(C)Rephidim, they came to the wilderness of Sinai and camped in the wilderness; and there Israel camped in front of ^(D)the mountain. ³ Moses went up to God, and ^(E)the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the sons of Israel: ⁴ ‘^(F)You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on ^(G)eagles’ wings, and brought you to Myself. ⁵ Now then, ^(H)if you will indeed obey My voice and ^(I)keep My covenant, then you shall be ^(J)My ^[b]own possession among all the peoples, for ^(K)all the earth is Mine; ⁶ and you shall be to Me ^(L)a kingdom of priests and ^(M)a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.”

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

¹⁰ The Lord also said to Moses, “Go to the people and ^(R)consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them ^(S)wash their garments; ¹¹ and let them be ready for the third day, for on ^(T)the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. ¹² You shall set bounds for the people all around, saying, ‘^[c]Beware that you do not go up on the mountain or touch the border of it; ^(U)whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death. ¹³ No hand shall touch him, but ^(V)he shall surely be stoned or ^[d]shot through; whether beast or man, he shall not live.’ When the ram’s horn sounds a long blast, they shall come up to ^(W)the mountain.” ¹⁴ So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated the people, and they washed their garments. ¹⁵ He said to the people, “Be ready for the third day; do not go near a woman.”

^16 (X)So it came about on the third day, when it was morning, that there were ^[e]thunder and lightning flashes and a thick cloud upon the mountain and a very loud trumpet sound, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. ¹⁷ And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the ^[f]foot of the mountain.

The Lord Visits Sinai

^18 (Y)Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the Lord descended upon it ^(Z)in fire; and its smoke ascended like ^(AA)the smoke of a furnace, and ^(AB)the whole mountain ^[g]quaked violently. ¹⁹ When the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and ^(AC)God answered him with ^[h]thunder. ^20 (AD)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 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Go down, ^[i]warn the people, so that ^(AE)they do not break through to the Lord to gaze, and many of them ^[j]perish. ²² Also let the ^(AF)priests who come near to the Lord consecrate themselves, or else the Lord will break out against them.” ²³ Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for You ^[k]warned us, saying, ‘^(AG)Set bounds about the mountain and consecrate it.’” ²⁴ Then the Lord said to him, “^[l]Go down and come up again, ^(AH)you and Aaron with you; but do not let the ^(AI)priests and the people break through to come up to the Lord, or He will break forth upon them.” ²⁵ So Moses went down to the people and told them.

The Ten Commandments

20 Then God spoke all these words, saying,

² “^(AJ)I am the Lord your God, ^(AK)who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of ^[m]slavery.

³ “^(AL)You shall have no other ^(AM)gods ^[n]before Me.

⁴ “^(AN)You shall not make for yourself ^[o]an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. ^5 (AO)You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a ^(AP)jealous God, ^(AQ)visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, ⁶ but showing lovingkindness to ^(AR)thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

⁷ “^(AS)You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not ^[p]leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.

⁸ “Remember ^(AT)the sabbath day, to keep it holy. ^9 (AU)Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁰ but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it ^(AV)you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who ^[q]stays with you. ^11 (AW)For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the 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 “^(AX)Honor your father and your mother, that your ^(AY)days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you.

¹³ “^(AZ)You shall not murder.

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

¹⁵ “^(BB)You shall not steal.

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

¹⁷ “^(BE)You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; ^(BF)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 belongs to your neighbor.”

^18 (BG)All the people perceived the ^[r]thunder and the lightning flashes and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance. ^19 (BH)Then they said to Moses, “Speak ^[s]to us yourself and we will listen; but let not God speak ^[t]to us, or we will die.” ²⁰ Moses said to the people, “^(BI)Do not be afraid; for God has come in order ^(BJ)to test you, and in order that ^(BK)the fear of Him may ^[u]remain with you, so that you may not sin.” ²¹ So the people stood at a distance, while Moses approached ^(BL)the thick cloud where God was.

²² Then the Lord said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘You yourselves have seen that ^(BM)I have spoken ^[v]to you from heaven. ^23 (BN)You shall not make other gods besides Me; ^(BO)gods of silver or gods of gold, you shall not make for yourselves. ²⁴ You shall make ^(BP)an altar of earth for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your ^(BQ)burnt offerings and your ^(BR)peace offerings, ^(BS)your sheep and your oxen; in every place ^(BT)where I cause My name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you. ²⁵ If you make an altar of stone for Me, ^(BU)you shall not build it of cut stones, for if you wield your tool on it, you will profane it. ²⁶ And you shall not go up by steps to My altar, so that ^(BV)your nakedness will not be exposed on it.’

Ordinances for the People

21 “Now these are the ^(BW)ordinances which you are to set before them:

² “If you buy ^(BX)a Hebrew slave, he shall serve for six years; but on the seventh he shall go out as a free man without payment. ³ If he comes ^[w]alone, he shall go out ^[x]alone; if he is the husband of a wife, then his wife shall go out with him. ⁴ If his master gives him a wife, and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall belong to her master, and he shall go out ^[y]alone. ⁵ But ^(BY)if the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife and my children; I will not go out as a free man,’ ⁶ then his master shall bring him to ^[z]God, then he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him permanently.

⁷ “^(BZ)If a man sells his daughter as a female slave, she is not to ^[aa]go free ^(CA)as the male slaves ^[ab]do. ⁸ If she is ^[ac]displeasing in the eyes of her master ^[ad]who designated her for himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He does not have authority to sell her to a foreign people because of his ^[ae]unfairness to her. ⁹ If he designates her for his son, he shall deal with her according to the custom of daughters. ¹⁰ If he takes to himself another woman, he may not reduce her ^[af]food, her clothing, or ^(CB)her conjugal rights. ¹¹ If he will not do these three things for her, then she shall go out for nothing, without payment of money.

Personal Injuries

¹² “^(CC)He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death. ^13 (CD)But ^[ag]if he did not lie in wait for him, but ^(CE)God let him fall into his hand, then I will appoint you a place to which he may flee. ^14 (CF)If, however, a man acts presumptuously toward his neighbor, so as to kill him craftily, you are to take him even from My altar, that he may die.

¹⁵ “He who strikes his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.

¹⁶ “^(CG)He who ^[ah]kidnaps a man, whether he sells him or he is found in his ^[ai]possession, shall surely be put to death.

¹⁷ “^(CH)He who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.

¹⁸ “If men have a quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist, and he does not die but ^[aj]remains in bed, ¹⁹ if he gets up and walks around outside on his staff, then he who struck him shall go unpunished; he shall only pay for his ^[ak]loss of time, and ^[al]shall take care of him until he is completely healed.

²⁰ “If a man strikes his male or female slave with a rod and he dies ^[am]at his hand, he shall ^[an]be punished. ²¹ If, however, he ^[ao]survives a day or two, no vengeance shall be taken; ^(CI)for he is his ^[ap]property.

²² “If men struggle with each other and strike a woman with child so that ^[aq]she gives birth prematurely, yet there is no injury, he shall surely be fined as the woman’s husband ^[ar]may demand of him, and he shall ^(CJ)pay ^[as]as the judges decide. ²³ But if there is any further injury, ^(CK)then you shall appoint as a penalty life for life, ^24 (CL)eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, ²⁵ burn for burn, wound for wound, ^[at]bruise for bruise.

²⁶ “If a man strikes the eye of his male or female slave, and destroys it, he shall let him go free on account of his eye. ²⁷ And if he ^[au]knocks out a tooth of his male or female slave, he shall let him go free on account of his tooth.

²⁸ “If an ox gores a man or a woman ^[av]to death, ^(CM)the ox shall surely be stoned and its flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall go unpunished. ²⁹ If, however, an ox was previously in the habit of goring and its owner has been warned, yet he does not confine it and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned and its owner also shall be put to death. ³⁰ If a ransom is ^[aw]demanded of him, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is ^[ax]demanded of him. ³¹ Whether it gores a son or ^[ay]a daughter, it shall be done to him according to ^[az]the same rule. ³² If the ox gores a male or female slave, ^[ba]the owner shall give his or her master ^(CN)thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.

³³ “If a man opens a pit, or ^[bb]digs a pit and does not cover it over, and an ox or a donkey falls into it, ³⁴ the owner of the pit shall make restitution; he shall ^[bc]give money to its owner, and the dead animal shall become his.

³⁵ “If one man’s ox hurts another’s so that it dies, then they shall sell the live ox and divide its price equally; and also they shall divide the dead ox. ³⁶ Or if it is known that the ox was previously in the habit of goring, yet its owner has not confined it, he shall surely pay ox for ox, and the dead animal shall become his.

Praise to the Creator and Preserver.

Be Imitators of God

5 ^(A)Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; ² and ^(B)walk in love, just as Christ also ^(C)loved ^[a]you and ^(D)gave Himself up for us, an ^(E)offering and a sacrifice to God ^[b]as a ^(F)fragrant aroma.

³ But ^(G)immorality ^[c]or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among ^[d]saints; ⁴ and there must be no ^(H)filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which ^(I)are not fitting, but rather ^(J)giving of thanks. ⁵ For this you know with certainty, that ^(K)no ^[e]immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom ^(L)of Christ and God.

^6 (M)Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things ^(N)the wrath of God comes upon ^(O)the sons of disobedience. ⁷ Therefore do not be ^(P)partakers with them; ⁸ for ^(Q)you were formerly ^(R)darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as ^(S)children of Light ⁹ (for ^(T)the fruit of the Light consists in all ^(U)goodness and righteousness and truth), ^10 [f](V)trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. ^11 (W)Do not participate in the unfruitful ^(X)deeds of ^(Y)darkness, but instead even ^[g](Z)expose them; ¹² for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. ¹³ But all things become visible ^(AA)when they are ^[h]exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. ¹⁴ For this reason ^[i]it says,

¹⁵ Therefore ^[j]be careful how you ^(AE)walk, not ^(AF)as unwise men but as wise, ^16 [k](AG)making the most of your time, because ^(AH)the days are evil. ¹⁷ So then do not be foolish, but ^(AI)understand what the will of the Lord is. ¹⁸ And ^(AJ)do not get drunk with wine, ^[l]for that is ^(AK)dissipation, but be ^(AL)filled with the Spirit, ^19 (AM)speaking to ^[m]one another in ^(AN)psalms and ^(AO)hymns and spiritual ^(AP)songs, ^(AQ)singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; ^20 (AR)always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to ^[n](AS)God, even the Father; ^21 [o](AT)and be subject to one another in the ^[p](AU)fear of Christ.

Marriage Like Christ and the Church

^22 (AV)Wives, ^(AW)be subject to your own husbands, ^(AX)as to the Lord. ²³ For ^(AY)the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the ^(AZ)head of the church, He Himself ^(BA)being the Savior of the body. ²⁴ But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.

^25 (BB)Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and ^(BC)gave Himself up for her, ^26 (BD)so that He might sanctify her, having ^(BE)cleansed her by the ^(BF)washing of water with ^(BG)the word, ²⁷ that He might ^(BH)present to Himself the church ^[q]in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be ^(BI)holy and blameless. ²⁸ So husbands ought also to ^(BJ)love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; ²⁹ for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, ³⁰ because we are ^(BK)members of His ^(BL)body. ^31 (BM)For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. ³² This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. ³³ Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to ^(BN)love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she ^[r](BO)respects her husband.