Exodus
Chapter 20
1 God said all these words:
2 I am God, your God, who brought you out from Egypt, from the place where you were slaves.
3 You should not worship any other gods but me.
4 Do not make for yourself any carved idol, or any picture of anything in the sky above, or on the earth below, or in the water under the earth.
5 Do not bow down to them or serve them; for I, your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me.
6 I show kindness to thousands who love me and follow my rules.
7 Do not use God’s name for no good reason; God will not let anyone who misuses his name go unpunished.
8 Remember the day of rest, to keep it special.
9 Work for six days and do all your tasks.
10 The seventh day is a rest day for God. On that day, you or your son, daughter, servants, animals, or any guest in your home, should not do any work.
11 In six days, God created the sky, the earth, the sea, and everything in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore, God blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
12 Respect your father and your mother so you may live a long time in the land God gives you.
13 Do not kill.
14 Do not cheat on your spouse.
15 Do not steal.
16 Do not tell lies about others.
17 Do not want your neighbor’s house, do not want your neighbor’s wife, their worker, their helper, their ox, their donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
18 Everyone saw the thunder, the lightning, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; when they saw this, they moved back and stood far away.
19 They said to Moses, “You talk to us, and we will listen, but don’t let God talk to us, or we might die.”
20 Moses told the people, “Don’t be afraid. God has come to test you, so that you will respect him and not sin.”
21 The people stayed far away, while Moses went close to the deep darkness where God was.
22 God told Moses, “Tell the people of Israel, ‘You have seen that I have spoken to you from heaven.’”
23 Do not make silver gods to be with me, and do not make gold gods for yourselves.
24 Make an earth altar for me and sacrifice your burnt offerings and peace offerings, your sheep and cattle on it. Wherever I make my name known, I’ll come to you and bless you.
25 If you make me an altar of stone, do not use cut stones: if you use tools on it, you make it unclean.
26 Do not climb steps to my altar, so your nakedness is not exposed.