The Ten Commandments
1 And 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 slavery. 3 You shall have no other gods before me.
4 You shall not make for yourselves an idol, nor any image of anything that is in the heavens above or that is on 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 the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 and showing mercy and kindness to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
7 You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
8 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 You shall labor six days and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it, you shall not do any work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your livestock, nor any foreigner who is within your 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.
12 Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
13 You shall not murder.
14 You shall not commit adultery.
15 You shall not steal.
16 You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
17 You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”
Moses Comforts the People
18 All the people witnessed the thunder, the lightning, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking. When the people saw it, they trembled and stayed at a distance. 19 They said to Moses, “Speak with us yourself, and we will listen, but do not let God speak with us, lest we die.”
20 Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come in order to test you, that his fear may be before you, that you will not sin.” 21 The people stood at a distance, and Moses came near to the thick darkness where God was.
Idolatry Forbidden
22 The Lord said to Moses, “This is what you shall tell the Israelites: ‘You yourselves have seen that from heaven I have talked with you. 23 You shall most certainly not make idols of silver or gold against me.
The Altar of Sacrifice
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 cattle. In every place where I cause my name to be remembered 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 cut stones, for if you use your tool on it, you have defiled it. 26 You shall not go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness may not be exposed.'”