Deuteronomy 5
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 5
The Ten Commandments.[a] 1 Moses then summoned all of the Israelites and said to them, “Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the decrees that I proclaim in your hearing today. Learn them and carefully observe them. 2 The Lord, our God, made a covenant with us at Horeb. 3 The Lord did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with those of us who are still alive and present today. 4 The Lord spoke with you face to face on the mountain from the midst of the flame.
5 “I stood between you and the Lord at that time, declaring the word of the Lord to you, for you were afraid and did not go up the mountain because of the fire. He said, 6 ‘I am the Lord, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out from the land of slavery. 7 You shall have no god other than me. 8 You shall not make any idols in the form of anything that dwells in the heavens above or on the earth below or even in the waters below the land. 9 You shall not prostrate yourself to them nor worship them. I, the Lord, your God, am a jealous God. I visit the iniquity of the fathers upon their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me, 10 but I will show mercy to the thousandth generation on those who love me and observe my commandments.
11 “ ‘You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain, for the Lord will not consider blameless those who take his name in vain.
12 “ ‘You shall observe the Sabbath by keeping it holy, as the Lord, your God, has commanded you. 13 You are to labor on six days, doing all of your work then. 14 The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord, your God. You shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your ox, nor your ass, nor your cattle, nor even the foreigner living in your town. Thus your manservant and maidservant can rest as well. 15 Remember that you were once a slave in the land of Egypt. The Lord, your God, brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore, the Lord, your God, has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.[b]
16 “ ‘Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord, your God, has commanded you,[c] so that you might have a long life and things might go well with you in the land that the Lord, your God, has given you.
17 “ ‘You shall not murder. 18 You shall not commit adultery. 19 You shall not steal. 20 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 21 You shall not desire your neighbor’s wife. Nor shall you desire your neighbor’s house or land, or his manservant or his maidservant, or his ox or ass or anything that belongs to your neighbor.’ ”
22 Moses at Sinai. These are the things that the Lord proclaimed in a loud voice to your whole assembly on the mountain from the midst of the flame, out of the cloud and the deep darkness, this and nothing more. He then wrote them on two stone tablets and gave them to me. 23 When you heard the voice coming out of the darkness, while the mountain was blazing with fire,[d] all of the leaders of your tribes and your elders drew near to me.
24 You said, “The Lord, our God, has shown us his glory and his majesty. We have heard his voice coming forth from out of the fire. Today we have seen that a man can live even if God were to speak to him. 25 But now, why should we die, for this great fire will consume us if we listen anymore to the voice of the Lord, our God? We will surely die. 26 For what mortal has ever heard the voice of the living God speaking out from the midst of the flames, as we have, and continued to live? 27 You approach him and listen to all that the Lord, our God, will say to you. Then you can tell us all that the Lord, our God, said to you. We will listen and obey.”
28 The Lord heard what you said to me, and the Lord said to me, “I have heard what this people has said to you. Everything that they said is acceptable. 29 Oh, that they would have fear of me in their hearts and they would observe all of my commandments always. Then things would go well with them and their children forever. 30 Go tell them, ‘Go back to your tents.’ 31 But you, stay here with me, so that I can pass on to you all of the commandments and statutes and decrees that you are to teach them so that they might observe them in the land that I am giving to them to possess. 32 Therefore, be careful to observe what the Lord, your God, has commanded of you. Do not turn away from it to the right nor the left. 33 Continue in all of the ways that the Lord, your God, has commanded you. Continue in them so that you may live and prosper and that you may long dwell on the land of your inheritance.”
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 5:1 These covenant statutes, which we have already met in Ex 20:1-16, were recited by the Israelites during liturgical assemblies. They contain the word of God and show the people the way they must follow at all times; they are the basis of the morality of both the Old Testament and the gospel and represent fundamental norms of a human ethics. Comparable lists are found in 27:15-26; Ex 34:11-26; Lev 19:1-4, 11-18; but these are less general than the Decalogue.
- Deuteronomy 5:15 Like Passover (Deut 16:1-8), the Sabbath celebrates the deliverance of the people. In like manner, for Christians, Sunday commemorates the resurrection of Christ and their deliverance from sin. The day is a testimony to freedom.
- Deuteronomy 5:16 As the Lord, your God, has commanded you: this phrase is worth repeating to give credence to what is expected of the Israelites and occurs many times throughout Deuteronomy.
- Deuteronomy 5:23 The mountain was blazing with fire: whether the fire was symbolic or real, the association of fire with God’s presence confirms for the Israelites the Lord’s power to destroy.
