Exodus 20 — Legacy Standard Bible

The Commandments of Yahweh

20Then God spoke all these words, saying,

²“^aI am Yahweh your God, ^bwho brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of ¹slavery. ³“^aYou shall have no other ^bgods ¹before Me. ⁴“^aYou shall not make for yourself ¹an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. ⁵“^aYou shall not worship them or serve them; for I, Yahweh your God, am a ^bjealous God, ^cvisiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,

⁶but showing lovingkindness to ^athousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

⁷“^aYou shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain, for Yahweh will not ¹leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain. ⁸“Remember ^athe sabbath day, to keep it holy. ⁹“^aSix days you shall labor and do all your work,

¹⁰but the seventh day is a sabbath of Yahweh your God; in it ^ayou shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female slave or your cattle or your sojourner who is within your gates. ¹¹“^aFor in six days Yahweh made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore Yahweh blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.

¹²“^aHonor your father and your mother, that your ^bdays may be prolonged in the land which Yahweh your God gives you. ¹³“^aYou shall not murder. ¹⁴“^aYou shall not commit adultery. ¹⁵“^aYou shall not steal. ¹⁶“^aYou shall not bear false witness against your ^bneighbor. ¹⁷“^aYou shall not covet your neighbor’s house; ^byou shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male slave or his female slave or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

¹⁸^aAnd all the people perceived the ¹thunder and the lightning flashes and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and the people perceived it, and they shook and stood at a distance. ¹⁹^aThen they said to Moses, “Speak ¹to us yourself, and we will listen; but let not God speak ²to us, lest we die.” ²⁰And Moses said to the people, “^aDo not be afraid; for God has come in order ^bto test you, and in order that ^cthe fear of Him may ¹be with you, so that you may not sin.” ²¹So the people stood at a distance, but Moses came near ^athe dense gloom where God was.

²²Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘You yourselves have seen that ^aI have spoken ¹to you from heaven. ²³‘^aYou shall not make other gods besides Me; ^bgods of silver or gods of gold, you shall not make for yourselves. ²⁴‘You shall make ^aan altar of earth for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your ^bburnt offerings and your ^cpeace offerings, ^dyour sheep and your oxen; in every place ^ewhere I cause My name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you. ²⁵‘And if you make an altar of stone for Me, ^ayou shall not build it of cut stones, for if you wield your tool on it, you will profane it. ²⁶‘And you shall not go up by steps to My altar, so that ^ayour nakedness will not be exposed on it.’