Exodus 20
20
The Ten Commandments
1Then God spoke all these words:
2“I am the Lord your God. I brought you out of the land of Egypt where you were slaves.
3“You must not have any other gods except me.
4“You must not make for yourselves any idols. Don’t make something that looks like anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the water below the land. 5You must not worship or serve any idol. This is because I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God. A person may sin against me and hate me. I will punish his children, even his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. 6But I will be very kind to thousands who love me and obey my commands.
7“You must not use the name of the Lord your God thoughtlessly. The Lord will punish anyone who is guilty and misuses his name.
8“Remember to keep the Sabbath as a holy day. 9You may work and get everything done during six days each week. 10But the seventh day is a day of rest to honor the Lord your God. On that day no one may do any work: not you, your son or daughter, or your men or women slaves. Neither your animals nor the foreigners living in your cities may work. 11The reason is that in six days the Lord made everything. He made the sky, earth, sea and everything in them. And on the seventh day, he rested. So the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
12“Honor your father and your mother. Then you will live a long time in the land. The Lord your God is going to give you this land.
13“You must not murder anyone.
14“You must not be guilty of adultery.
15“You must not steal.
16“You must not tell lies about your neighbor in court.
17“You must not want to take your neighbor’s house. You must not want his wife or his men or women slaves. You must not want his ox or his donkey. You must not want to take anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
18The people heard the thunder and the trumpet. They saw the lightning on the mountain and smoke rising from the mountain. They shook with fear and stood far away from the mountain. 19Then they said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself. Then we will listen. But don’t let God speak to us, or we will die.”
20Then Moses said to the people, “Don’t be afraid. God has come to test you. He wants you to respect him so you will not sin.”
21The people stood far away from the mountain while Moses went near the dark cloud where God was. 22Then the Lord told Moses to say these things to the Israelites: “You yourselves have seen that I talked with you from heaven. 23You must not use gold or silver to make idols for yourselves. You must not worship these false gods in addition to me.
24“Make an altar of dirt for me. Offer your whole burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on this altar as a sacrifice to me. Use your sheep and your cattle to do this. Worship me in every place that I choose. Then I will come and bless you. 25You may use stones to make an altar for me. But don’t use stones that you have made smooth with tools. You must not use any tools on the stones. If you do, you make them unsuitable for use in worship. 26And you must not make steps leading up to my altar. If you go up steps, people will be able to see under your clothes.”
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Exodus 20: ICB
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Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Exodus 20
20
Ten Commandments
1And God spoke all these words, saying, 2“I am Yahweh, your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt, from the house of slaves.
3“There shall be for you no other gods before me.
4“You shall not make for yourself a divine image with any form that is in the heavens above or that is in the earth below or that is in the water below the earth. 5You will not bow down to them, and you will not serve them, because I am Yahweh your God, a jealous God, punishing the guilt of the parents on the children on the third and on the fourth generations#“Generations” is understood from comparison with parallel verses (compare Exod 34:6–7; Deut 7:9) of those hating me, 6and showing loyal love to thousands of generations#“Generations” is understood from comparison with parallel verses ( compare Exod 34:6–7; Deut 7:9) of those loving me and of those keeping my commandments.
7“You shall not misuse the name of Yahweh your God,#Literally “take up/bear/carry the name of Yahweh your God for what is worthless/false/empty” because Yahweh will not leave unpunished anyone who misuses his name.#Literally “bears his name for what is false”
8“Remember the day of the Sabbath, to consecrate it. 9Six days you will work, and you will do all your work. 10But the seventh day is a Sabbath for Yahweh your God; you will not do any work—you or your son or your daughter, your male slave or your female slave, or your animal, or your alien who is in your gates—11because in six days Yahweh made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and on the seventh day he rested. Therefore Yahweh blessed the seventh day and consecrated it.
12“Honor your father and your mother, so that your days can be long on the land that Yahweh your God is giving you.
13“You shall not murder.
14“You shall not commit adultery.
15“You shall not steal.
16“You shall not testify against your neighbor with a false witness.
17“You shall not covet the house of your neighbor; you will not covet the wife of your neighbor or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that is your neighbor’s.”
18And all the people were seeing the thunder and the lightning and the sound of the ram’s horn and the mountain smoking, and the people saw, and they trembled, and they stood at a distance. 19And they said to Moses, “You speak with us, and we will listen, but let not God speak with us, lest we die.” 20And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. God has come to test you so that his fear will be before you so that you do not sin.” 21And the people stood at a distance, and Moses approached the very thick cloud where God was.
Instructions for Building Altars
22And Yahweh said to Moses, “Thus you will say to the Israelites,#Literally “sons/children of Israel” ‘You yourselves have seen that I have spoken to you from the heavens. 23You will not make alongside me gods of silver, and gods of gold you will not make for yourselves. 24An altar of earth you will make for me, and you will sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your fellowship offerings, your sheep and your cattle. In every place where I cause my name to be remembered,#Or “proclaimed” I will come to you, and I will bless you. 25And if you make an altar of stones for me, you will not build them as hewn stone, because if you use your chisel on it, you have defiled it. 26You will not go up with steps onto my altar, that your nakedness not be exposed on it.’
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