Exodus 20
20
The Ten Commandments
1These are the things God told his people:
2“I am the Lord your God. I am the one who freed you from the land of Egypt, where you were slaves.
3“You must not worship any other gods except me.
4“You must not make any idols. Don’t make any statues or pictures of anything up in the sky or of anything on the earth or of anything down in the water. 5Don’t worship or serve idols of any kind, because I, the Lord, am your God. I hate my people worshiping other gods.#20:5 I hate … gods Or “I am El Kanah—the Jealous God.” People who sin against me become my enemies, and I will punish them. And I will punish their children, their grandchildren, and even their great-grandchildren. 6But I will be very kind to people who love me and obey my commands. I will be kind to their families for thousands of generations.#20:6 Or “But I will show mercy to thousands of people who love me and obey my commands.”
7“You must not use the name of the Lord your God to make empty promises. If you do, the Lord will not let you go unpunished.
8“You must remember to keep the Sabbath a special day. 9You may work six days a week to do your job. 10But the seventh day is a day of rest in honor of the Lord your God. So on that day no one should work—not you, your sons and daughters, or your men and women slaves. Even your animals and the foreigners living in your cities must not work! 11That is because the Lord worked six days and made the sky, the earth, the sea, and everything in them. And on the seventh day, he rested. In this way the Lord blessed the Sabbath—the day of rest. He made that a very special day.
12“You must honor and respect your father and your mother. Do this so that you will have a full life in the land that the Lord your God gives you.
13“You must not murder anyone.
14“You must not commit adultery.
15“You must not steal anything.
16“You must not tell lies about other people.#20:16 Or “You must not be a false witness against your neighbor.”
17“You must not want to take your neighbor’s house. You must not want his wife. And you must not want his men and women servants or his cattle or his donkeys. You must not want to take anything that belongs to another person.”
The People Are Afraid of God
18During all this time, the people in the valley heard the thundering and saw the lightning on the mountain. They saw smoke rising from the mountain and heard the sound of the trumpet. They were afraid and shook with fear. They stood away from the mountain and watched. 19Then the people said to Moses, “If you want to speak to us, then we will listen. But please don’t let God speak to us. If this happens, we will die.”
20Then Moses said to them, “Don’t be afraid! God has come to test you. He wants you to respect him so that you will not sin.”
21The people stood far away from the mountain while Moses went to the dark cloud where God was. 22Then the Lord told Moses to say this to the Israelites: “You people have seen that I talked with you from heaven. 23So you must not make idols using gold or silver to compete with me. You must not make these false gods.
24“Make a special altar for me. You should use dirt to make this altar. Offer sheep and cattle as burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on this altar. Do this in every place where I tell you to remember me. Then I will come and bless you. 25But if you use stones to make an altar, then don’t use stones that were cut with an iron tool.#20:25 iron tool Literally, “sword.” If you do that, it will make the altar unacceptable. 26And you must not make steps leading up to the altar. If there are steps, when people look up to the altar, they will be able to see under your clothes.”
Currently Selected:
Exodus 20: ERV
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
Exodus 20
20
God Gives His People the Ten Commandments
1Here are all the words God spoke. He said,
2“I am the Lord your God. I brought you out of Egypt. That is the land where you were slaves.
3“Do not put any other gods in place of me.
4“Do not make for yourself statues of gods that look like anything in the sky. They may not look like anything on the earth or in the waters either. 5Do not bow down to them or worship them. I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God. I cause the sins of the parents to affect their children. I will cause the sins of those who hate me to affect even their grandchildren and great-grandchildren. 6But for all time to come I show love to all those who love me and keep my commandments.
7“Do not misuse the name of the Lord your God. The Lord will find guilty anyone who misuses his name.
8“Remember to keep the Sabbath day holy. 9Do all your work in six days. 10But the seventh day is a sabbath to honor the Lord your God. Do not do any work on that day. The same command applies to your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and your animals. It also applies to any outsiders who live in your towns. 11In six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea and everything in them. But he rested on the seventh day. So the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
12“Honor your father and mother. Then you will live a long time in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
13“Do not murder.
14“Do not commit adultery.
15“Do not steal.
16“Do not be a false witness against your neighbor.
17“Do not want to have anything your neighbor owns. Do not want to have your neighbor’s house, wife, male or female servant, ox or donkey.”
18The people saw the thunder and lightning. They heard the trumpet. They saw the mountain covered with smoke. They trembled with fear and stayed a long way off. 19They said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself. Then we’ll listen. But don’t let God speak to us. If he does, we’ll die.”
20Moses said to the people, “Don’t be afraid. God has come to test you. He wants you to have respect for him. That will keep you from sinning.”
21Moses approached the thick darkness where God was. But the people remained a long way off.
Worship the Lord
22Then the Lord said to Moses, “Here is what you must tell the people of Israel. Say to them, ‘You have seen for yourselves what I said to you from heaven. 23Do not put any other gods in place of me. Do not make silver or gold statues of them for yourselves.
24“ ‘Make an altar out of dirt for me. Sacrifice your burnt offerings and friendship offerings on it. Sacrifice your sheep, goats and cattle on it. I will come to you and bless you everywhere I cause my name to be honored. 25If you make an altar out of stones to honor me, do not build it with blocks of stone. You will make it “unclean” if you use a tool on it. 26Do not walk up steps to my altar. If you do, someone might see your naked body under your robes.’
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®
Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998, 2014 by Biblica, Inc.®
Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.