Beginning

19 In the third month of the going of Israel out of the land of Egypt, in this day they came into the wilderness of Sinai; (In the third month of Israel going out of the land of Egypt, on this day they came into the Sinai Desert;)

² for they went forth from Rephidim, and came till into the desert of Sinai, and they setted tents in the same place; and there Israel setted tents, even against the hill (and Israel pitched their tents there, opposite the mountain).

³ Forsooth Moses went up into the hill to God; and the Lord called him from the mount, and said, Thou shalt say these things to the house of Jacob, and thou shalt tell to the sons of Israel, (And Moses went up the mountain to meet with God/And Moses went up God’s mountain; and the Lord called to him from the mount, and said, Thou shalt say these things to the house of Jacob, and thou shalt tell it to the Israelites,)

⁴ Ye yourselves have seen what things I have done to [the] Egyptians, how I bare you on the wings of eagles, and took you to me (and brought you here to me).

⁵ Therefore if ye shall hear my voice, and shall keep my covenant, ye shall be to me into a specialty of all peoples (ye shall be special to me out of all peoples), that is, a thing loved excellently; for all the earth is mine;

⁶ and ye shall be to me into a realm of priesthood, and an holy folk; these be the words which thou shalt speak to the sons of Israel. (and ye shall be my kingdom of priests, and my holy nation; these be the words which thou shalt say to the Israelites.)

⁷ Moses came, and when the greater men in birth of the people were called together, he expounded all the words which the Lord commanded him. (Moses came back down, and when the men of great age, that is, the elders, of the people were called together, he expounded all the words which the Lord commanded him to say.)

⁸ And all the people answered together, (and said,) We shall do all [the] things which the Lord hath spoken. And when Moses had told the words of the people to the Lord,

⁹ the Lord said to him, Right now I shall come to thee in the darkness of a cloud, (so) that the people hear me speaking to thee, and believe to thee [into] without end (and then they shall always believe thee). Therefore Moses told the words of the people to the Lord,

¹⁰ which said to Moses (who said to Moses), Go thou (back) to the people, and make them holy today and tomorrow, and wash they their clothes,

¹¹ and be they ready into the third day; for in the third day the Lord shall come down before all the people on the hill of Sinai. (and be they ready by the third day; for on the third day the Lord shall come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.)

¹² And thou shalt set terms to the people, by compass; and thou shalt say to them, Be ye ware, that ye go not up into the hill, neither touch ye the ends thereof; each man that shall touch the hill, shall die by death. (And thou shalt set a boundary for the people, all around the mountain; and thou shalt say to them, Beware, that ye go not up onto the mountain, nor even touch its edges; for anyone who shall touch the mountain, shall die.)

¹³ Hands shall not touch him, but he shall be oppressed with stones, or he shall be pierced with darts; whether it shall be a beast, or a man, it shall not live; (but) when a clarion shall begin to sound, then go they up into the hill. (No hands shall touch him, but he shall be thrown down with stones, or shall be pierced with arrows; whether it be a beast, or a person, they shall not live; but when the trumpet shall begin to sound, then the people can come up onto the mountain.)

¹⁴ And Moses came down from the hill to the people, and hallowed it (And so Moses came down from the mountain to the people, and hallowed them); and when they had washed their clothes,

¹⁵ he said to them, Be ye ready into the third day (Be ye ready by the third day); nigh ye not to your wives.

¹⁶ And now the third day was come, and the morrowtide was clear; and, lo! thunders began to be heard, and lightnings to shine, and a most thick cloud to cover the mountain; and the sounding of a clarion made noise full greatly, and the people dreaded, that was in the tents (and the sounding of a trumpet made a very great noise, and the people in their tents had great fear).

¹⁷ And when Moses had led them out into the coming of God, from the place of the tents, they stood at the roots of the hill. (And when Moses had led them out from the place of the tents to meet with God, they stood at the foot of the mountain.)

¹⁸ Forsooth all the hill of Sinai smoked, for the Lord had come down thereon in fire; and the smoke thereof went up as of a furnace, and all the hill was fearful; (And all of Mount Sinai smoked, for the Lord had come down on it in fire; and its smoke went up like that of a furnace, and all the mountain fearfully shook;)

¹⁹ and the sound of a clarion increased little and little, and it was holden forth longer (and longer). (And) Moses spake, and the Lord answered him (with a clap of thunder/by a voice),

²⁰ and the Lord came down on the hill of Sinai, in that top of the hill (and the Lord came down on Mount Sinai, onto the top of the mountain), and he called Moses (up) to the top thereof. And when he had gone up thither,

²¹ the Lord said to him, Go thou down, and witness thou to the people, lest peradventure it will pass [over] the terms to see the Lord (lest they pass over the boundary to see the Lord), and [a] full great multitude thereof perish;

²² and [the] priests, that nigh to the Lord, be they hallowed, lest I smite them (or I shall strike them down).

²³ And Moses said to the Lord, The common people may not go up into the hill of Sinai; for thou hast witnessed, and hast commanded, saying, Set thou terms about the hill, and hallow it. (And Moses said to the Lord, The common people cannot come up onto Mount Sinai; for thou hast witnessed, and hast commanded, saying, Set thou a sacred boundary all around the mountain, and hallow it, and they have heard thee.)

²⁴ To whom the Lord said, Go thou down, and (then) thou shalt go up, and (bring) Aaron with thee; forsooth the priests and the people pass not (over) the terms, neither go they up to the Lord, lest peradventure he slay them. (To whom the Lord said, Go thou down, and then come back up, and bring Aaron with thee; but the priests and the people must not pass over the boundary, nor let them come up to the Lord, lest I kill them.)

²⁵ (And so) Moses went down to the people, and told all (these) things to them.

20 And the Lord spake all these words,

² I am thy Lord God, that led thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of servage. (I am the Lord thy God, who led thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of servitude, or of slavery.)

³ Thou shalt not have alien gods before me. (Thou shalt not have foreign, or other, gods in place of me/instead of me.)

⁴ Thou shalt not make to thee a graven image, neither any likeness of (any)thing that is in heaven above, and that is in (the) earth beneath, neither of those things that be in waters under the earth; (Thou shalt not make a carved image for thyself, nor any likeness of anything that is in the heavens above, or on the earth beneath, or of those things that be in the waters under the earth;)

⁵ thou shalt not bow down to them, neither worship them; for I am thy Lord God, a strong(ly) jealous lover; I visit the wickedness of (the) fathers in (the) children into the third and fourth generation of them that hated me, (thou shalt not bow down to them, nor worship them; for I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God; I punish the children for the wickedness of their fathers, unto the third and fourth generations of those who hate me,)

⁶ and I do mercy into thousands, to them that love me, and keep my behests. (but I do mercy unto thousands, to those who love me, and who keep my commandments.)

⁷ Thou shalt not take in vain the name of thy Lord God, for the Lord shall not have him guiltless, that taketh in vain the name of his Lord God. (Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, for the Lord shall not hold guiltless he who taketh the name of the Lord his God in vain.)

⁸ Have thou mind, that thou hallow the sabbath day; (Remember to keep the sabbath day holy, or sacred;)

⁹ in six days thou shalt work, and do all thy works; (for six days thou shalt work, and do all thy works;)

¹⁰ forsooth in the seventh day is the sabbath of thy Lord God; thou shalt not do any work (on that day), thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thine handmaid, thy work beast, and the comeling that is within thy gates; (but on the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord thy God; thou shalt not do any work on that day, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy male slave, and thy slave-girl, and thy work beast, and the newcomer who is within thy gates;)

¹¹ for in six days God made (the) heaven(s) and (the) earth, the sea, and all things that be in those, and rested in the seventh day (and then he rested on the seventh day); therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

¹² Honour thy father and thy mother, that thou be long living on the land (so that thou can live a long life in the land), which thy Lord God shall give to thee.

¹³ Thou shalt not slay. (Thou shalt not kill.)

¹⁴ Thou shalt not do lechery.

¹⁵ Thou shalt not do theft.

¹⁶ Thou shalt not speak false witnessing against thy neighbour.

¹⁷ Thou shalt not covet the house of thy neighbour, neither thou shalt desire his wife, nor his (man)servant, nor his handmaid, nor his ox, nor his ass, neither (anything of) all (the) things that be his. (Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, nor shalt thou desire his wife, or his slave, or his slave-girl, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything of all the things that be his.)

¹⁸ Forsooth all the people heard voices, (that is, the thunder,) and saw lamps, that is, shining lights, and the sound of a clarion, and the hill smoking; and they were afeared, and shaken with inward dread, and stood afar, (And all the people heard the thunder, and saw the lightening, and heard the sound of the trumpet, and saw the mountain smoking; and they were afraid, and shaken with inward fear, and stood afar off,)

¹⁹ and (they) said to Moses, Speak thou to us, and we shall hear; (but) the Lord speak not to us, lest peradventure we die.

²⁰ And Moses said to the people, Do not ye dread, for God came to prove you, and that his dread should be in you, and that ye should not do sin. (And Moses said to the people, Do not ye fear/Fear not, for God came to prove you, so that his fear would be in you, and then ye shall not sin.)

²¹ And the people stood afar (off); and Moses nighed to the darkness, wherein God was.

²² And the Lord said furthermore to Moses, Thou shalt say these things to the sons of Israel, Ye saw that from heaven I have spoken to you; (And the Lord also said to Moses, Thou shalt say these things to the Israelites, Ye have seen that I have spoken to you from heaven;)

²³ ye shall not make gods of silver, neither ye shall make to you gods of gold. (ye shall not make gods out of silver, or gods out of gold, to be worshipped in addition to me.)

²⁴ Ye shall make an altar of earth to me, and ye shall offer thereon your burnt sacrifices, and peaceable sacrifices, your sheep, and oxen; in each place in which the mind of my name shall be, I shall come to thee, and I shall bless thee. (Ye shall make an altar out of earth for me, and ye shall offer on it your burnt sacrifices, and your peace offerings, your sheep, and your oxen; and in each place where I ask thee to remember my name, I shall come to thee, and I shall bless thee.)

²⁵ That if thou shalt make an altar of stone to me, thou shalt not build it of stones hewn (And if thou make an altar out of stones for me, thou shalt not build it out of cut stones); for if thou shalt raise thy knife thereupon, or (any) other instrument wherewith blood may be shed out, it shall be polluted.

²⁶ Thou shalt not go up by degrees to mine altar, lest thy filth(hood) be showed. (Thou shalt not go up to my altar by steps, lest thy nakedness should be shown.)

21 These be the dooms, which thou shalt set forth to them. (These be the laws, which thou shalt set forth to them.)

² If thou buyest an Hebrew servant, he shall serve thee six years; in the seventh year he shall go out free, without price; (If thou buyest a Hebrew slave, he shall serve thee for six years; then in the seventh year he shall go out free, without payment of any money;)

³ with what manner cloak he entered, with such cloak go he out; if he entered having a wife, also the wife shall go out together with him.

⁴ But if the lord of a servant gave a wife to him, and she childed sons and daughters, the woman and her children shall be her lord’s; soothly the servant shall go out with his own cloth. (But if the lord of a slave gave a wife to him, and she bare him sons and daughters, the woman and her children shall be her lord’s; the slave shall go out free with only his own cloak.)

⁵ And if the servant saith, I love my lord, and my wife, and children, I will not go out free; (And if the slave saith, I love my lord, and my wife, and my children, and I shall not go out free;)

⁶ his lord shall bring him to [the] gods, that is, (to the) judges; and he shall be set to the door, and to the posts; and his lord shall pierce his ear with an awl, and he shall be servant to him till into the world. (then his lord shall bring him to the judges; and he shall put him up against the door, or the door-post; and his lord shall pierce his ear with an awl, and then he shall be his slave forevermore.)

⁷ If any man selleth his daughter into a servantess, she shall not go out as handmaids were wont to go out; (If any man selleth his daughter to be a slave-girl, she shall not go out free like slaves can go out free;)

⁸ if she displeaseth in the eyes of her lord, to whom she was betaken, he shall deliver her; soothly he shall not have power, (or the right,) to sell her to an alien people, if he forsaketh her. (yea, if she displeaseth in the eyes of her lord, to whom she was delivered, then he shall sell her back to her father; and he shall not have the power, or the right, to sell her to a foreign people, if he forsaketh her.)

⁹ Forsooth if he weddeth her to his son, he shall do to her by the custom of daughters (he shall treat her like a daughter);

¹⁰ and if he take with this handmaid another woman, or wife, to his son, he shall purvey to the (first) damsel, or handmaid, weddings, and clothes, and he shall not deny her the price of (her) chastity, that is, the hour of yielding debt. (but if he get another wife, besides this woman, for his son, he shall still give this young woman her wedding, and her clothes, and he shall not deny her the rights of her marriage bed.)

¹¹ If he doeth not to her these three (things), she shall go out freely without money. (And if he giveth her not these three things, then she shall go out free without payment of any money.)

¹² He that smiteth a man, and will slay him, die he by death; (He who striketh a man, and killeth him, shall be put to death;)

¹³ forsooth if a man setteth not ambush, but God betook him into his hands, I shall ordain a place to thee (I shall ordain a place for thee), whither he oughteth to flee.

¹⁴ If any man slayeth his neighbour by before-casting, and by ambush, draw thou him away from mine altar, that he die (and put him to death).

¹⁵ He that smiteth his father, or his mother, die he by death. (He who striketh his father, or his mother, shall be put to death.)

¹⁶ He that curseth his father, or mother, die he by death. (He who curseth his father, or his mother, shall be put to death.)

¹⁷ He that stealeth a man, and selleth him, if he is convicted of the guilt, die he by death (shall be put to death).

¹⁸ If men chide, and the tother smite his neighbour with a stone, or with the fist, and he is not dead, but lieth in the bed,

¹⁹ if he riseth (up), and goeth forth on his staff, he that smote (him) shall be innocent; so nevertheless that he restore (to him for) his travails, and his costs in leaches (and his expenses for physicians).

²⁰ He that smiteth his servant, or handmaid, with a rod, and they be dead in his hands, he shall be guilty of the crime, or hideous trespass. (He who striketh his slave, or his slave-girl, with a rod, and they die by his hands, he shall be guilty of a crime, or of a hideous trespass.)

²¹ Soothly if the servant liveth over this beating one day, or twain, the smiter shall not be subject to the pain of death, for the servant is his master’s chattel.

²² If men chide, and a man smiteth a woman with child, and soothly he maketh the child dead-born, but the woman liveth over that smiting, he shall be subject to the harm (he shall be subject to a fine), as much as the woman’s husband asketh (for), and as the judges deem (appropriate).

²³ Soothly if the death of her followeth (And if her death followeth), he shall yield life for life,

²⁴ eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,

²⁵ burning for burning, wound for wound, sore for sore.

²⁶ If a man smiteth the eye of his servant, either of his handmaid, and maketh them one-eyed, he shall deliver them free for the eye which he put out (he shall let them go out free for the eye which he hath put out).

²⁷ Also if he smite out a tooth of his servant, or (of) [his] handmaid, in like manner he shall deliver them free (likewise he shall let them go out free).

²⁸ If an ox smiteth with his horn either man, or woman, and they be dead, the ox shall be thrown down with stones, and his flesh shall not be eaten, and the lord of the ox shall be guiltless. (If an ox striketh with his horn a man, or a woman, unto the death, the ox shall be thrown down with stones, and his flesh shall not be eaten, but the lord of the ox shall be guiltless.)

²⁹ That if the ox was an horn-putter from yesterday and the third day ago, and men warned his lord, (yet) neither the lord closed him, and he slayeth a man, or a woman, both the ox shall be thrown adown with stones, and they shall slay his lord; (But if the ox was a horn-putter from yesterday and the third day ago, and men had warned his lord, but his lord did not enclose him, and he killeth a man, or a woman, the ox shall be thrown down with stones, and they shall also kill his lord;)

³⁰ that if the price be put to the lord, he shall give for his life whatever he is asked. (but if a fine be put on the ox’s lord, he shall give whatever he is asked for, as the ransom for his life.)

³¹ And if he smiteth with (his) horn a man’s son, and his daughter (And if the ox striketh with his horn a man’s son, or his daughter), his lord shall be subject to the same sentence.

³² If the ox assaileth a manservant, and an handmaid, the lord of the ox shall give thirty shekels of silver to the lord of that servant; forsooth the ox shall be oppressed with stones. (But if the ox assaileth a slave, or a slave-girl, the ox’s lord shall give thirty shekels of silver to their lord, and the ox shall be thrown down with stones.)

³³ If any man openeth a cistern, or a pit, and diggeth it, and covereth it not, and an ox either an ass falleth into it, (If anyone openeth a cistern, or a well, and diggeth it, and covereth it not up, and an ox or a donkey falleth into it,)

³⁴ the lord of the cistern shall yield the price of the beasts (the lord of the cistern shall pay the fair value for the beast); forsooth that that is dead shall be his.

³⁵ If one man’s ox woundeth the ox of another man, and he is dead, they shall sell the quick ox, and they shall part the price (If one person’s ox woundeth another person’s ox, and it dieth, they shall sell the living ox, and they shall evenly divide the price); soothly they shall part betwixt them(selves) the carcass of the dead ox.

³⁶ Forsooth if the lord knew, that his ox was a (horn)-putter from yesterday and the third day ago, and kept not him (and did not keep him in), he shall yield (another) ox for (the dead) ox, and he shall take the whole dead carcass.