Exodus 20

The Ten Commandments

(1) God spoke all these words, saying,

(2) "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

Commandment 1: No Other Gods Before Me

(3) You shall have no other gods before me.

Commandment 2: Do Not Make Any Graven Image

(4) You shall not make for yourself any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

(5) You shall not bow down to them, nor serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,

(6) but showing mercy to thousands of those that love me, and keep my commandments.

Commandment 3: Do Not Take The Name of God in Vain

(7) You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that takes his name in vain.

Commandment 4: Remember the Sabbath Day and Keep it Holy

8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

(9) Six days you shall labor, and do all your work.

(10) But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:

(11) For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and made it holy.

Commandment 5: Honor Your Father and Mother

(12) Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God gives you.

Commandment 6: Do Not Kill

(13) You shall not kill.

Commandment 7: Do Not Commit Adultery

(14) You shall not commit adultery.

Commandment 8: Do Not Steal

(15) You shall not steal.

Commandment 9: Do Not Bear False Witness

(16) You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

Commandment 10: Do Not Covet Your Neighbour

(17) You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s."

Moses Comforts the People

(18) And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and heard the sound of the trumpet, and saw the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they removed themselves, and stood afar off.

(19) They said to Moses, "You speak with us, and we will hear; but do not let God speak with us, lest we die."

(20) Moses said to the people, "Do not fear, for God has come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, so that YOU do not sin."

Idolatry is Forbidden

(21) So the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.

(22) The LORD said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'YOU have seen that I have talked with you from heaven.

What the Altar Should Be

(23) YOU shall not make alongside of me gods of silver, neither shall YOU make for yourselves gods of gold.

(24) You shall make an altar of earth for me, and shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings, and your peace offerings, your sheep, and your oxen; in all places where I record my name I will come to you, and I will bless you.

(25) If you make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stone, for if you lift up your tool on it, you have polluted it.

(26) Neither shall you go up by steps to my altar, so that your nakedness is not discovered on it.'

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