Exodus 20

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¹God spoke all these words:

²“I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

³You must have no other gods before me.

⁴You must not make for yourself a carved figure nor the likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water below.

⁵You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God. I punish the ancestors' wickedness by bringing punishment on the descendants, to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me.

⁶But I show covenant faithfulness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

⁷You must not take the name of Yahweh your God, in vain, for I will not hold guiltless anyone who takes my name in vain.

⁸Remember the Sabbath day, to set it apart to me.

⁹You must labor and do all your work for six days.

¹⁰But the seventh day is a Sabbath for Yahweh your God. On it you must not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your cattle, or the foreigner who is within your gates.

¹¹For in six days Yahweh made the heavens and earth, the sea, and everything that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore Yahweh blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart.

¹²Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live a long time in the land that Yahweh your God is giving you.

¹³You must not murder anyone.

¹⁴You must not commit adultery.

¹⁵You must not steal from anyone.

¹⁶You must not give false testimony against your neighbor.

¹⁷You must not covet your neighbor's house; you must not covet your neighbor's wife, his male servant, his female servant, his ox, his donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

¹⁸All the people saw the thundering and the lightning, and heard the voice of the trumpet, and saw the mountain smoking. When the people saw it, they trembled and stood far off.

¹⁹They said to Moses, “Speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, or we will die.”

²⁰Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid, for God has come to test you so that the honor of him may be in you, and so that you do not sin.”

²¹So the people stood far off, and Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.

²²Yahweh said to Moses, “This is what you must tell the Israelites: 'You yourselves have seen that I have talked with you from heaven.

²³You will not make for yourselves other gods alongside me, gods of silver or gods of gold.

²⁴You must make an earthen altar for me, and you must sacrifice on it your burnt offerings, fellowship offerings, sheep, and oxen. In every place where I cause my name to be honored, I will come to you and bless you.

²⁵If you make me an altar of stone, you must not build it of cut stones, for if you use your tools on it, you will have defiled it.

²⁶You must not go up to my altar on steps, so that your nakedness is not exposed.'”