Exodus 20:12-26

English Standard Version

^12 (A)“Honor your father and your mother, ^(B)that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

^13 (C)“You shall not murder.^[a]

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

^15 (E)“You shall not steal.

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

^17 (G)“You shall not covet ^(H)your neighbor's house; ^(I)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 ^(J)the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid^[b] and trembled, and they stood far off ¹⁹ and said to Moses, ^(K)“You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” ^20 (L)Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to ^(M)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 ^(N)thick darkness where God was.

Laws About Altars

²² And the Lord said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the people of Israel: ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have ^(O)talked with you from heaven. ^23 (P)You shall not make gods of silver to be with me, nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold. ²⁴ An altar of earth you shall make for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. ^(Q)In every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and ^(R)bless you. ^25 (S)If you make me an altar of stone, ^(T)you shall not build it of hewn stones, for if you wield your tool on it you profane it. ²⁶ And you shall not go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness be not exposed on it.’