Exodus 20

CHAPTER 20

1And the Lord spake all these words,

2I am thy Lord God, that led thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of servage.

3Thou shalt not have alien gods before me.

4Thou shalt not make to thee a graven image, neither any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, and that is in earth beneath, neither of those things that be in waters under the earth;

5thou shalt not bow down to them, neither worship them; for I am thy Lord God, a strongly jealous lover; I visit the wickedness of fathers in children into the third and fourth generation of them that hated me,

6and I do mercy into thousands, to them that love me, and keep my behests.

7Thou 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.

8Have thou mind, that thou hallow the sabbath day;

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

10forsooth 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;

11for in six days God made heaven and earth, the sea, and all things that be in those [or them], and rested in the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

12Honour thy father and thy mother, that thou be long living on the land, which thy Lord God shall give to thee.

13Thou shalt not slay.

14Thou shalt not do lechery.

15Thou shalt not do theft.

16Thou shalt not speak false witness-ing [or false witness] against thy neigh-bour.

17Thou shalt not covet the house of thy neighbour, neither thou shalt desire his wife, nor his servant, nor his handmaid, nor his ox, nor his ass, neither all things that be his.

18Forsooth 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,

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

20And 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.

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

22And 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;

23ye shall not make gods of silver, neither ye shall make to you gods of gold.

24Ye 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.

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

26Thou shalt not go up by degrees to mine altar, lest thy filthhood be showed.

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Exodus 20

The Ten Commandments

(Deuteronomy 5.1-21)

1God said to the people of Israel:

2I am the Lord your God, the one who brought you out of Egypt where you were slaves.

3Do not worship any god except me.

4 # Ex 34.17; Lv 19.4; 26.1; Dt 4.15-18; 27.14-26. Do not make idols that look like anything in the sky or on earth or in the ocean under the earth. 5#Ex 34.6,7; Nu 14.18; Dt 7.9,10. Don't bow down and worship idols. I am the Lord your God, and I demand all your love. If you reject me, I will punish your families for three or four generations. 6But if you love me and obey my laws, I will be kind to your families for thousands of generations.

7 # Lv 19.12. Do not misuse my name.#20.7 misuse my name: Probably includes breaking promises, telling lies after swearing to tell the truth, using the Lord's name as a curse word or a magic formula, and trying to control the Lord by using his name. I am the Lord your God, and I will punish anyone who misuses my name.

8 # Ex 16.23-30; 31.12-15. Remember that the Sabbath Day belongs to me. 9#Ex 23.12; 31.14,15; 34.21; 35.2; Lv 23.3. You have six days when you can do your work, 10but the seventh day of each week belongs to me, your God. No one is to work on that day—not you, your children, your slaves, your animals, or the foreigners who live in your towns. 11#Gn 2.1-3; Ex 31.17. In six days I made the sky, the earth, the oceans, and everything in them, but on the seventh day I rested. That's why I made the Sabbath a special day that belongs to me.

12 # Dt 27.14-26; Mt 15.4; 19.19; Mk 7.10; 10.19; Lk 18.20; Eph 6.2; Eph 6.3. Respect your father and your mother, and you will live a long time in the land I am giving you.

13 # Gn 9.5,6; Lv 24.17; Mt 5.21; 19.18; Mk 10.19; Lk 18.20; Ro 13.9; Jas 2.11. Do not murder.

14 # Lv 20.10; Mt 5.27; 19.18; Mk 10.19; Lk 18.20; Ro 13.9; Jas 2.11. Be faithful in marriage.

15 # Lv 19.11; Mt 19.18; Mk 10.19; Lk 18.20; Ro 13.9. Do not steal.

16 # Ex 23.1; Mt 19.18; Mk 10.19; Lk 18.20. Do not tell lies about others.

17 # Ro 7.7; 13.9. Do not desire to possess anything that belongs to another person—not a house, a wife, a husband, a slave, an ox, a donkey, or anything else.

The People Are Afraid

(Deuteronomy 5.23-33)

18 # He 12.18,19. The people trembled with fear when they heard the thunder and the trumpet and saw the lightning and the smoke coming from the mountain. They stood a long way off 19and said to Moses, “If you speak to us, we will listen. But don't let God speak to us, or we will die!”

20“Don't be afraid!” Moses replied. “God has come only to test you, so that by obeying him you won't sin.” 21But when Moses went near the thick cloud where God was, the people stayed a long way off.

Idols and Altars

22The Lord told Moses to say to the people of Israel:

With your own eyes you saw me speak to you from heaven. 23So you must never make idols of silver or gold to worship in place of me.#20.23 in place of me: Or “together with me.”

24Build an altar out of earth, and offer on it your sacrifices#20.24 sacrifices: The Hebrew text mentions two types of sacrifices: Sacrifices to please the Lord (traditionally called “whole burnt offerings”) and sacrifices to ask the Lord's blessing (traditionally called “peace offerings”). of sheep, goats, and cattle. Wherever I choose to be worshiped, I will come down to bless you. 25#Dt 27.5-7; Js 8.30-32. If you ever build an altar for me out of stones, do not use any tools to chisel the stones, because that would make the altar unfit for use in worship. 26And don't build an altar that requires steps; you might expose yourself when you climb up.

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