Exodus 20

The Ten Commandments

¹Then God spoke all these words:²

³I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.⁴

⁵Do not have other gods besides me.⁶

⁷Do not make an idol for yourself, whether in the shape of anything in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth.⁸⁹Do not bow in worship to them, and do not serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, bringing the consequences of the fathers’ iniquity on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me,¹⁰¹¹but showing faithful love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commands.¹²

¹³Do not misuse the name of the Lord your God, because the Lord will not leave anyone unpunished who misuses his name.¹⁴

¹⁵Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy:¹⁶¹⁷You are to labor six days and do all your work,¹⁸¹⁹but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. You must not do any work — you, your son or daughter, your male or female servant, your livestock, or the resident alien who is within your city gates.²⁰²¹For the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and everything in them in six days; then he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and declared it holy.²²

²³Honor your father and your mother so that you may have a long life in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.²⁴

²⁵Do not murder.²⁶

²⁷Do not commit adultery.²⁸

²⁹Do not steal.³⁰

³¹Do not give false testimony against your neighbor.³²

³³Do not covet your neighbor’s house. Do not covet your neighbor’s wife, his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.³⁴

The People’s Reaction

³⁵All the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sound of the ram’s horn, and the mountain surrounded by smoke. When the people saw it they trembled and stood at a distance.³⁶³⁷“You speak to us, and we will listen,” they said to Moses, “but don’t let God speak to us, or we will die.”³⁸

³⁹Moses responded to the people, “Don’t be afraid, for God has come to test you, so that you will fear him and will not sin.”⁴⁰⁴¹And the people remained standing at a distance as Moses approached the total darkness where God was.⁴²

Moses Receives Additional Laws

⁴³Then the Lord told Moses, “This is what you are to say to the Israelites: You have seen that I have spoken to you from heaven.⁴⁴⁴⁵Do not make gods of silver to rival me; do not make gods of gold for yourselves.⁴⁶

⁴⁷“Make an earthen altar for me, and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, your flocks and herds. I will come to you and bless you in every place where I cause my name to be remembered.⁴⁸⁴⁹If you make a stone altar for me, do not build it out of cut stones. If you use your chisel on it, you will defile it.⁵⁰⁵¹Do not go up to my altar on steps, so that your nakedness is not exposed on it.⁵²