Exodus 19:16-20:20

Easy-to-Read Version

¹⁶ On the morning of the third day, a thick cloud came down onto the mountain. There was thunder and lightning and a very loud sound from a trumpet. All the people in the camp were frightened. ¹⁷ Then Moses led the people out of the camp to a place near the mountain to meet God. ¹⁸ Mount Sinai was covered with smoke. Smoke rose off the mountain like smoke from a furnace. This happened because the Lord came down to the mountain in fire. Also the whole mountain began to shake. ¹⁹ The noise from the trumpet became louder and louder. Every time Moses spoke to God, God answered him with a voice like thunder.

²⁰ So the Lord came down to Mount Sinai. He came from heaven to the top of the mountain. Then he called Moses to come up to the top of the mountain with him. So Moses went up the mountain.

²¹ The Lord said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people not to come near me and look at me. If they do, many will die. ²² Also tell the priests who come near the Lord that they must prepare themselves for this special meeting. If they don’t, I, the Lord, will punish them.”

²³ Moses said to the Lord, “But the people cannot come up the mountain. You yourself told us to make a line and not allow the people to cross the line to holy ground.”

²⁴ The Lord said to him, “Go down to the people. Get Aaron and bring him back with you. But don’t let the priests or the people come near me. I will punish them if they come too close.”

²⁵ So Moses went down to the people and told them these things.

The Ten Commandments

20 These are the things God told his people:

² “I am the Lord your God. I am the one who freed you from the land of Egypt, where you were slaves.

³ “You must not worship any other gods except me.

⁴ “You must not make any idols. Don’t make any statues or pictures of anything up in the sky or of anything on the earth or of anything down in the water. ⁵ Don’t worship or serve idols of any kind, because I, the Lord, am your God. I hate my people worshiping other gods.^[a] People who sin against me become my enemies, and I will punish them. And I will punish their children, their grandchildren, and even their great-grandchildren. ⁶ But I will be very kind to people who love me and obey my commands. I will be kind to their families for thousands of generations.^[b]

⁷ “You must not use the name of the Lord your God to make empty promises. If you do, the Lord will not let you go unpunished.

⁸ “You must remember to keep the Sabbath a special day. ⁹ You may work six days a week to do your job. ¹⁰ But the seventh day is a day of rest in honor of the Lord your God. So on that day no one should work—not you, your sons and daughters, or your men and women slaves. Even your animals and the foreigners living in your cities must not work! ¹¹ That is because the Lord worked six days and made the sky, the earth, the sea, and everything in them. And on the seventh day, he rested. In this way the Lord blessed the Sabbath—the day of rest. He made that a very special day.

¹² “You must honor and respect your father and your mother. Do this so that you will have a full life in the land that the Lord your God gives you.

¹³ “You must not murder anyone.

¹⁴ “You must not commit adultery.

¹⁵ “You must not steal anything.

¹⁶ “You must not tell lies about other people.^[c]

¹⁷ “You must not want to take your neighbor’s house. You must not want his wife. And you must not want his men and women servants or his cattle or his donkeys. You must not want to take anything that belongs to another person.”

The People Are Afraid of God

¹⁸ During all this time, the people in the valley heard the thundering and saw the lightning on the mountain. They saw smoke rising from the mountain and heard the sound of the trumpet. They were afraid and shook with fear. They stood away from the mountain and watched. ¹⁹ Then the people said to Moses, “If you want to speak to us, then we will listen. But please don’t let God speak to us. If this happens, we will die.”

²⁰ Then Moses said to them, “Don’t be afraid! God has come to test you. He wants you to respect him so that you will not sin.”