Exodus 20
New American Standard Bible
The Ten Commandments
20 Then God spoke all these words, saying,
2 “(A)I am the Lord your God, (B)who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of [a]slavery.
3 “(C)You shall have no other (D)gods [b]before Me.
4 “(E)You shall not make for yourself [c]an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath, or in the water under the earth. 5 (F)You shall not worship them nor serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a (G)jealous God, (H)inflicting the [d]punishment of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing [e]favor to (I)thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
7 “(J)You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not [f]leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.
8 “Remember (K)the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 (L)For six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the Lord your God; on it (M)you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male slave or your female slave, or your cattle, or your [g]resident who [h]stays with you. 11 (N)For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and everything that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day; for that reason the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
12 “(O)Honor your father and your mother, so that your (P)days may be prolonged on the land which the Lord your God gives you.
13 “(Q)You shall not murder.
14 “(R)You shall not commit adultery.
15 “(S)You shall not steal.
16 “(T)You shall not [i]give false testimony against your (U)neighbor.
17 “(V)You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; (W)you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male slave, or his female slave, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
18 And (X)all the people were watching and hearing the [j]thunder and the lightning flashes, and the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it all, they trembled and stood at a distance. 19 (Y)Then they said to Moses, “Speak [k]to us yourself and we will listen; but do not have God speak [l]to us, or we will die!” 20 However, Moses said to the people, “(Z)Do not be afraid; for God has come in order (AA)to test you, and in order that (AB)the fear of Him may [m]remain with you, so that you will not sin.” 21 So the people stood at a distance, while Moses approached (AC)the thick darkness where God was.
22 Then the Lord said to Moses, “This is what you shall say to the sons of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen that (AD)I have spoken [n]to you from heaven. 23 (AE)You shall not make other gods besides Me; (AF)gods of silver or gods of gold, you shall not make for yourselves. 24 You shall make (AG)an altar of earth for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your (AH)burnt offerings and your (AI)peace offerings, (AJ)your sheep and your oxen; in every place (AK)where I cause My name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you. 25 And if you make an altar of stone for Me, (AL)you shall not build it of cut stones, for if you wield your chisel on it, you will profane it. 26 And you shall not go up by steps to My altar, so that (AM)your nakedness will not be exposed on it.’
Footnotes
- Exodus 20:2 Lit slaves
- Exodus 20:3 Or besides Me
- Exodus 20:4 Or a carved image
- Exodus 20:5 I.e., punishment for the wrongdoing
- Exodus 20:6 Or faithfulness
- Exodus 20:7 Or hold him guiltless
- Exodus 20:10 Lit stranger
- Exodus 20:10 Lit is in your gates
- Exodus 20:16 Lit answer as a false witness against
- Exodus 20:18 Lit sounds
- Exodus 20:19 Lit with
- Exodus 20:19 Lit with
- Exodus 20:20 Lit be before
- Exodus 20:22 Lit with
Exodus 20
English Standard Version
The Ten Commandments
20 (A)And (B)God spoke all these words, saying,
2 (C)“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
3 (D)“You shall have no other gods before[a] me.
4 (E)“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 (F)You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am (G)a jealous God, (H)visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and 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 (I)“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 (J)“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 (K)Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 but the (L)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 (M)sojourner who is within your gates. 11 For (N)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 (O)“Honor your father and your mother, (P)that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
13 (Q)“You shall not murder.[c]
14 (R)“You shall not commit adultery.
15 (S)“You shall not steal.
16 (T)“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
17 (U)“You shall not covet (V)your neighbor's house; (W)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 (X)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, (Y)“You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” 20 (Z)Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to (AA)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 (AB)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 (AC)talked with you from heaven. 23 (AD)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. (AE)In every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and (AF)bless you. 25 (AG)If you make me an altar of stone, (AH)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.’
Footnotes
- Exodus 20:3 Or besides
- Exodus 20:6 Or to the thousandth generation
- Exodus 20:13 The Hebrew word also covers causing human death through carelessness or negligence
- Exodus 20:18 Samaritan, Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Masoretic Text the people saw
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
