Beginning
The Ten Commandments
5 Moses called all the people of Israel together and said: Listen, Israel, to the ·commands [statutes; requirements; ordinances] and laws I am ·giving you [L speaking in your ears] today. Learn them and obey them carefully. 2 The Lord our God ·made [L cut] an ·Agreement [Covenant; Treaty] with us at ·Mount Sinai [L Horeb; 1:6]. 3 He did not ·make [L cut] this ·Agreement [Covenant; Treaty] with our ·ancestors [fathers], but he made it with us, with all of us who are alive here today. 4 The Lord spoke to you face to face from the fire on the mountain [Ex. 19]. 5 (At that time I stood between you and the Lord in order to tell you what the Lord said; you were afraid of the fire, so you would not go up on the mountain.) The Lord said:
6 “I am the Lord your God; I brought you out of the land of Egypt ·where you were slaves [L from the house of bondage].
7 “You must not have any other gods ·except [or before] me.
8 “You must not make for yourselves any idols or anything to worship that looks like something in the ·sky [heavens] above or on the earth below or in the water below the ·land [earth]. 9 You must not worship or serve ·any idol [L them], because I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God [4:24]. ·If people sin against me and hate me, I will punish their children, even their grandchildren and great-grandchildren [L I will visit/punish the guilt of the fathers on the sons until the third and fourth generations of those who hate me]. 10 But I will be very kind for a thousand lifetimes to those who love me and obey my commands.
11 “You must not ·use the name of the Lord your God thoughtlessly [take/lift up the name of the Lord your God in vain], because the Lord will ·punish [L not hold/treat as innocent; not acquit] anyone who ·uses [takes in vain] his name in this way.
12 “·Keep [Observe] the Sabbath ·as a holy day [L to consecrate/sanctify it], as the Lord your God has commanded you. 13 You may work and get everything done during six days each week, 14 but the seventh day is a ·day of rest to honor [Sabbath to] the Lord your God. On that day no one may do any work: not you, your son or daughter, your male or female slaves, your ox, your donkey, or any of your animals, or the ·foreigners [resident aliens] living in your cities. That way your servants may rest as you do. 15 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there by his ·great power [L strong hand] and ·strength [L extended arm]. So the Lord your God has commanded you to rest on the Sabbath day.
16 “Honor your father and your mother as the Lord your God has commanded you. Then you will live ·a long time [L for many days], and things will go well for you in the land that the Lord your God is going to give you.
17 “You must not murder anyone.
18 “You must not ·be guilty of [commit] adultery.
19 “You must not steal.
20 “You must not ·tell lies about [bear false witness against] your neighbor.
21 “You must not ·want to take [covet] your neighbor’s wife. You must not ·want to take [covet] your neighbor’s house or land, his male or female slaves, his ox or his donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor [C this final commandment indicates that the previous commandments also involve attitudes, not just actions].”
22 The Lord spoke these ·commands [L words] to ·all of you [your whole community/congregation/assembly] on the mountain in a loud voice out of the fire, the cloud, and the deep darkness; he did not say anything else. Then he wrote them on two stone tablets, and he gave them to me.
23 When you heard the voice from the darkness, as the mountain was blazing with fire, all the leaders of your tribes and your elders ·came to [approached] me. 24 And you said, “The Lord our God has shown us his glory [C his manifest presence] and ·majesty [greatness], and we have heard his voice from the fire. Today we have seen that a person can live even if God speaks to him. 25 But now, ·we will [L why should we … ?] die! This great fire will burn us up, and we will die if we hear the Lord our God speak anymore. 26 ·No human being [L For who of all flesh…?] has ever heard the living God speaking from a fire and still lived, but we have. 27 Moses, you go near and listen to everything the Lord our God says. Then you tell us what the Lord our God tells you, and we will listen and obey.”
28 The Lord heard what you said to me, and he said to me, “I have heard what the people said to you. Everything they said was good. 29 ·I wish [L If only] their ·hearts [minds] would always ·respect [fear] me and that they would always obey my commands so that things would go well for them and their children forever!
30 “Go and tell the people to return to their tents, 31 but you stay here with me so that I may give you all the commands, ·rules [statutes; ordinances; requirements], and laws that you must teach the people to obey in the land I am giving them as their ·own [possession].”
32 So be careful to do what the Lord your God has commanded you, and ·follow the commands exactly [L do not turn aside to the right or to the left]. 33 ·Live the way [L Walk on the way/path that] the Lord your God has commanded you so that you may live and have what is good and have a long life in the land you will ·take [possess].
The Command to Love God
6 These are the commands, ·rules [statutes; ordinances; requirements], and laws that the Lord your God told me to teach you to obey in the land you are crossing the Jordan River to ·take [possess]. 2 You, your children, and your grandchildren must ·respect [fear] the Lord your God ·as long as you live [L all the days of your life]. Obey all his ·rules [statutes; ordinances; requirements] and commands I give you so that ·you will live a long time [L your days will be long]. 3 Listen, Israel, and carefully obey these laws. Then all will go well for you, and you will become a great nation in a ·fertile land [L land flowing with milk and honey; Ex. 3:8], just as the Lord, the God of your ·ancestors [fathers], has promised you [Gen. 12:1–3; 15:17–20].
4 ·Listen, people of [T Hear, O] Israel! The Lord our God is the ·only [or one] Lord. 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. 6 Always ·remember [L keep in your heart] these commands I give you today. 7 ·Teach [Recite; Repeat] them to your children, and talk about them when you sit at home and walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 ·Write them down and tie [L Bind] them to your hands as a sign. Tie them ·on your forehead [L between your eyes] ·to remind you [as an emblem/headband/frontlet], 9 and write them on ·your doors [L the lintels/doorposts of your house] and gates.
10 The Lord your God will bring you into the land he promised to your ·ancestors [fathers], to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and he will give it to you [Gen. 12:1–3; 15:17–20]. The land has large, ·growing [L good; fine] cities you did not build, 11 houses full of good things you did not ·buy [L fill], ·wells [cisterns] you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees you did not plant. You will eat as much as you want. 12 But be careful! Do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt ·where you were slaves [L from the house of bondage].
13 ·Respect [Fear] the Lord your God. You must ·worship [serve] him and make your ·promises [oaths; vows] only in his name. 14 Do not ·worship [L go after] other gods as the people around you do, 15 because the Lord your God is a jealous God [4:24]. He is present with you, and if you worship other gods, he will become angry with you and destroy you from the earth. 16 Do not test the Lord your God as you did at Massah [Ex. 17:1–7; Ps. 95:8; Matt. 4:7]. 17 Be sure to obey the commands of the Lord your God and the ·rules [statutes; requirements; ordinances] and laws he has given you. 18 Do what ·the Lord says is good and right [L is good and right in the Lord’s eyes] so that things will go well for you. Then you may go in and ·take [possess] the good land the Lord promised to your ·ancestors [fathers; Gen. 12:1–3; 15:17–20]. 19 He will force all your enemies out as you go in, as the Lord has said.
20 In the future when your children ask you, “What is the meaning of the laws, ·commands [statutes; ordinances; requirements], and rules the Lord our God gave us?” 21 tell them, “We were slaves to the king of Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt ·by his great power [L with a strong hand]. 22 The Lord showed us great and terrible signs and miracles, which he did to Egypt, the king, and his whole ·family [L house]. 23 The Lord brought us out of Egypt to lead us here and to give us the land he promised our ·ancestors [fathers; Gen. 12:1–3; 15:17–20]. 24 The Lord ordered us to obey all these ·commands [statutes; ordinances; requirements] and to ·respect [fear] the Lord our God so that we will always do well and stay alive, as we are today. 25 The right thing for us to do is this: Obey all these rules in the presence of the Lord our God, as he has commanded.”
You Are God’s People
7 The Lord your God will bring you into the land that you are entering and that you will ·have as your own [possess]. As you go in, he will ·force out [clear away/out] these nations: the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—seven nations that are stronger than you. 2 The Lord your God will hand these nations over to you, and when you ·defeat [L strike] them, you must ·destroy them completely [devote them to the Lord; 20:15–18; Josh. 6:17]. Do not ·make [L cut] a ·peace treaty [covenant] with them or show them any mercy. 3 Do not marry any of them, or let your daughters marry their sons, or let your sons marry their daughters. 4 If you do, those people will turn your children away from me, to begin serving other gods. Then the Lord will be very angry with you, and he will quickly destroy you. 5 This is what you must do to those people: Tear down their altars, smash their holy stone pillars, cut down their ·Asherah idols [L Asherah; 7:5; Judg. 3:7], and burn their idols in the fire. 6 You are holy people who belong to the Lord your God. He has chosen you from all the people on earth ·to be his very own [as his treasured/special possession; Ex. 19:5].
7 The Lord did not ·care [have affection] for you and choose you because there were many of you—you are the smallest nation of all. 8 But the Lord chose you because he loved you, and he kept his promise to your ·ancestors [fathers; Gen. 12:1–3; 15:17–20]. So he brought you out of Egypt by his ·great power [L strong hand] and ·freed [ransomed; redeemed] you from the ·land of slavery [L house of bondage], from the ·power [L hand] of the king of Egypt. 9 So know that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God. He will ·keep [guard] his ·agreement [covenant; treaty] of love for a thousand ·lifetimes for people [generations] who love him and obey his commands. 10 But he will pay back those people who hate him. He will destroy them, and he will not be slow to pay back those who hate him. 11 So be careful to obey the commands, ·rules [statutes; ordinances; requirements], and laws I give you today.
12 If you pay attention to these laws and obey them carefully, the Lord your God will keep his ·agreement [covenant; treaty] and show his ·love [loyalty] to you, as he promised your ·ancestors [fathers]. 13 He will love and bless you. He will ·make the number of your people grow; he will bless you with children [L multiply the fruit of your womb]. ·He will bless your fields with good crops and will give you grain, new wine, and oil [L …and the fruit of your land, your grain, new wine, and oil]. ·He will bless your herds with calves and your flocks with lambs [L …the increase of your cattle and the issue of your flocks] in the land he promised your ·ancestors [fathers] he would give you. 14 You will be blessed more than any other people [Gen. 12:1–3]. ·Every husband and wife will have children, and all your cattle will have calves [L There will be no barrenness or sterility among you or your livestock]. 15 The Lord will take away all disease from you; ·you will not have [L he will not inflict you with] the terrible diseases that were in Egypt, but he will give them to all the people who hate you. 16 You must ·destroy [devour] all the people the Lord your God hands over to you. Do not ·feel sorry for [pity] them, and do not ·worship [serve] their gods, or they will trap you.
17 You might say ·to yourselves [L in your hearts], “Because these nations are stronger than we are, ·we can’t [L how can we…?] ·force them out [dispossess them].” 18 But don’t be afraid of them. Remember what the Lord your God did to all of Egypt and ·its king [L Pharaoh]. 19 ·You [L Your eyes] saw for yourselves the troubles, signs, and miracles he did, how the Lord’s ·great power [L strong hand] and ·strength [L outstretched arm] brought you out of Egypt. The Lord your God will do the same thing to all the nations you now fear. 20 The Lord your God will also send ·terror [or pestilence; or hornets] among them so that even those who are alive and hiding from you will die. 21 Don’t ·be afraid of [dread] them, because the Lord your God is with you; he is a great God and ·people are afraid of him [awesome]. 22 When the Lord your God ·forces those nations out [clears away/out those nations] of the land, he will do it little by little ahead of you. You won’t be able to destroy them all at once; otherwise, the wild animals will grow too many in number [C because of the reduced population]. 23 But the Lord your God will hand those nations over to you, ·confusing [panicking] them until they are destroyed. 24 The Lord will ·help you defeat their kings [L give their kings into your hand], and ·the world will forget who they were [L you will destroy their name from under the heavens]. No one will be able to ·stop you [stand against you]; you will destroy them all. 25 Burn up their idols in the fire. Do not ·wish for [covet] the silver and gold they have, and don’t take it for yourselves, or you will be trapped by it. The Lord your God ·hates [despises] it. 26 Do not bring one of those ·hateful [despised] things into your house, or you will be ·completely destroyed [devoted to the Lord; 20:15–18; Josh. 6:17] along with it. ·Hate [Detest] and reject those things; they must be ·completely destroyed [devoted to the Lord; 20:15–18; Josh. 6:17].
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