The Ten Commandments

5 Moses called all the people of Israel together and said: Listen, Israel, to the ·commands [statutes; requirements; ordinances] and laws I am ·giving you [^Lspeaking in your ears] today. Learn them and obey them carefully. ² The Lord our God ·made [^Lcut] an ·Agreement [Covenant; Treaty] with us at ·Mount Sinai [^LHoreb; 1:6]. ³ He did not ·make [^Lcut] this ·Agreement [Covenant; Treaty] with our ·ancestors [fathers], but he made it with us, with all of us who are alive here today. ⁴ The Lord spoke to you face to face from the fire on the mountain [Ex. 19]. ⁵ (At that time I stood between you and the Lord in order to tell you what the Lord said; you were afraid of the fire, so you would not go up on the mountain.) The Lord said:

⁶ “I am the Lord your God; I brought you out of the land of Egypt ·where you were slaves [^Lfrom the house of bondage].

⁷ “You must not have any other gods ·except [or before] me.

⁸ “You must not make for yourselves any idols or anything to worship that looks like something in the ·sky [heavens] above or on the earth below or in the water below the ·land [earth]. ⁹ You must not worship or serve ·any idol [^Lthem], because I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God [4:24]. ·If people sin against me and hate me, I will punish their children, even their grandchildren and great-grandchildren [^LI will visit/punish the guilt of the fathers on the sons until the third and fourth generations of those who hate me]. ¹⁰ But I will be very kind for a thousand lifetimes to those who love me and obey my commands.

¹¹ “You must not ·use the name of the Lord your God thoughtlessly [take/lift up the name of the Lord your God in vain], because the Lord will ·punish [^Lnot hold/treat as innocent; not acquit] anyone who ·uses [takes in vain] his name in this way.

¹² “·Keep [Observe] the Sabbath ·as a holy day [^Lto consecrate/sanctify it], as the Lord your God has commanded you. ¹³ You may work and get everything done during six days each week, ¹⁴ but the seventh day is a ·day of rest to honor [Sabbath to] the Lord your God. On that day no one may do any work: not you, your son or daughter, your male or female slaves, your ox, your donkey, or any of your animals, or the ·foreigners [resident aliens] living in your cities. That way your servants may rest as you do. ¹⁵ Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there by his ·great power [^Lstrong hand] and ·strength [^Lextended arm]. So the Lord your God has commanded you to rest on the Sabbath day.

¹⁶ “Honor your father and your mother as the Lord your God has commanded you. Then you will live ·a long time [^Lfor many days], and things will go well for you in the land that the Lord your God is going to give you.

¹⁷ “You must not murder anyone.

¹⁸ “You must not ·be guilty of [commit] adultery.

¹⁹ “You must not steal.

²⁰ “You must not ·tell lies about [bear false witness against] your neighbor.

²¹ “You must not ·want to take [covet] your neighbor’s wife. You must not ·want to take [covet] your neighbor’s house or land, his male or female slaves, his ox or his donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor [^Cthis final commandment indicates that the previous commandments also involve attitudes, not just actions].”

²² The Lord spoke these ·commands [^Lwords] to ·all of you [your whole community/congregation/assembly] on the mountain in a loud voice out of the fire, the cloud, and the deep darkness; he did not say anything else. Then he wrote them on two stone tablets, and he gave them to me.

²³ When you heard the voice from the darkness, as the mountain was blazing with fire, all the leaders of your tribes and your elders ·came to [approached] me. ²⁴ And you said, “The Lord our God has shown us his glory [^Chis manifest presence] and ·majesty [greatness], and we have heard his voice from the fire. Today we have seen that a person can live even if God speaks to him. ²⁵ But now, ·we will [^Lwhy should we … ?] die! This great fire will burn us up, and we will die if we hear the Lord our God speak anymore. ²⁶ ·No human being [^LFor who of all flesh…?] has ever heard the living God speaking from a fire and still lived, but we have. ²⁷ Moses, you go near and listen to everything the Lord our God says. Then you tell us what the Lord our God tells you, and we will listen and obey.”

²⁸ The Lord heard what you said to me, and he said to me, “I have heard what the people said to you. Everything they said was good. ²⁹ ·I wish [^LIf only] their ·hearts [minds] would always ·respect [fear] me and that they would always obey my commands so that things would go well for them and their children forever!

³⁰ “Go and tell the people to return to their tents, ³¹ but you stay here with me so that I may give you all the commands, ·rules [statutes; ordinances; requirements], and laws that you must teach the people to obey in the land I am giving them as their ·own [possession].”

³² So be careful to do what the Lord your God has commanded you, and ·follow the commands exactly [^Ldo not turn aside to the right or to the left]. ³³ ·Live the way [^LWalk on the way/path that] the Lord your God has commanded you so that you may live and have what is good and have a long life in the land you will ·take [possess].