ዘጸአት 20

The Ten Words

¹God spoke all these words, and said,

²“I am the LORD your God. I brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house where you were slaves. ³You shall have no other gods besides me.^{a 4}You shall not make yourself a carved idol, nor a figure of anything in the heavens overhead, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath the earth. ⁵You shall neither bow to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God. I bring the guilt of fathers upon their children, upon the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me,^{b 6}but to thousands who love me and keep my commandments I show faithful love.^c

⁷You shall not use the name of the LORD your God for what is false or worthless, for the LORD will not let anyone go unpunished who uses his name that way.^d

⁸Remember the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy. ⁹You have six days to labor and do all your work, ¹⁰but the seventh day is a Sabbath for the LORD your God. Do no work on it: not you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your livestock, nor the foreigner living among you in your towns. ¹¹For the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and everything in them, in six days, and on the seventh day he rested. For this reason the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

¹²Honor your father and your mother. Then your days will be long in the land the LORD your God is going to give you.

¹³You shall not murder.^{e 14}You shall not commit adultery. ¹⁵You shall not steal. ¹⁶You shall not give false evidence against your neighbor.

¹⁷You shall not covet your neighbor’s household: you shall not set your heart on his wife, his male or female servant, his ox or his donkey, or anything else your neighbor has.”

The people keep their distance

¹⁸All the people witnessed the thunder and the lightning, the blast of the ram’s horn and the smoking mountain. When they saw it, they trembled and stood back at a distance.^{f 19}They said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen. But God must not speak to us, or we will die.” ²⁰Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, and to put the fear of him before your eyes, so that you will not sin.” ²¹So the people kept their distance, and Moses went up close to the thick darkness where God was.

Instructions about altars

²²The LORD said to Moses, “Say this to the Israelites: ‘You saw with your own eyes that I spoke with you from heaven. ²³You shall not make gods to share my place; you shall not make yourselves gods of silver or gold.^{g 24}You are to make an altar of earth for me, and on it sacrifice your burnt offerings and your fellowship offerings, from your flocks and your herds. Wherever I cause my name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you.^{h 25}If you make me an altar of stones, do not build it from cut stones. Once you swing your tool over it, you rob it of its holiness. ²⁶Do not climb to my altar by steps, so that your nakedness is not exposed there.