Exodus 20

The Decalogue

20:1¹ God spoke all these words:²

20:2 “I,³ the Lord, am your God,⁴ who brought you⁵ from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery.⁶

20:3 “You shall have no⁷ other gods before me.⁸

20:4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image⁹ or any likeness¹⁰ of anything¹¹ that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water below.¹² 20:5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them,¹³ for I, the Lord, your God, am a jealous¹⁴ God, responding to¹⁵ the transgression of fathers by dealing with children to the third and fourth generations¹⁶ of those who reject me,¹⁷ 20:6 and showing covenant faithfulness¹⁸ to a thousand generations¹⁹ of those who love me and keep my commandments.

20:7 “You shall not take²⁰ the name of the Lord your God in vain,²¹ for the Lord will not hold guiltless²² anyone who takes his name in vain.

20:8 “Remember²³ the Sabbath²⁴ day to set it apart as holy.²⁵ 20:9 For six days²⁶ you may labor²⁷ and do all your work,²⁸ 20:10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; on it²⁹ you shall not do any work, you,³⁰ or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your cattle, or the resident foreigner who is in your gates.³¹ 20:11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, and he rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.

20:12 “Honor³² your father and your mother, that you may live a long time³³ in the land³⁴ the Lord your God is giving to you.

20:13 “You shall not murder.³⁵

20:14 “You shall not commit adultery.³⁶

20:15 “You shall not steal.³⁷

20:16 “You shall not give³⁸ false testimony³⁹ against your neighbor.

20:17 “You shall not covet⁴⁰ your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that belongs to your neighbor.”⁴¹

20:18 All the people were seeing⁴² the thundering and the lightning, and heard⁴³ the sound of the horn, and saw⁴⁴ the mountain smoking – and when⁴⁵ the people saw it they trembled with fear⁴⁶ and kept their distance.⁴⁷ 20:19 They said to Moses, “You speak⁴⁸ to us and we will listen, but do not let God speak with us, lest we die.” 20:20 Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you,⁴⁹ that the fear of him⁵⁰ may be before you so that you do not⁵¹ sin.” 20:21 The people kept⁵² their distance, but Moses drew near the thick darkness⁵³ where God was.⁵⁴

The Altar

20:22⁵⁵ The Lord said⁵⁶ to Moses: “Thus you will tell the Israelites: ‘You yourselves have seen that I have spoken with you from heaven. 20:23 You must not make gods of silver alongside me,⁵⁷ nor make gods of gold for yourselves.⁵⁸

20:24 ‘You must make for me an altar made of earth,⁵⁹ and you will sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings,⁶⁰ your sheep and your cattle. In every place⁶¹ where I cause my name to be honored⁶² I will come to you and I will bless you. 20:25 If you make me an altar of stone, you must not build it⁶³ of stones shaped with tools,⁶⁴ for if you use your tool on it you have defiled it.⁶⁵ 20:26 And you must not go up by steps to my altar, so that your nakedness is not exposed.’⁶⁶

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