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Deuteronomy 5

1Moses called all Israel and said to them, “Listen, Israel, to the statutes and judgments I speak in your hearing today. Learn them and take care to carry them out. 2Yahweh our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. 3Yahweh did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us—with us who are here today, all of us alive. 4Yahweh spoke with you face to face on the mountain, from within the fire. 5I was standing between Yahweh and you at that time to declare Yahweh’s word to you, because you were afraid of the fire and did not go up the mountain. He said:

6“‘I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slaves. 7You must have no other gods before me. 8You must not make yourself a carved image, any likeness of what is in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters below the earth. 9You must not bow down to them or serve them, because I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, calling the guilt of fathers to account upon sons, upon the third and fourth generations of those who hate me, 10but showing loyal love to thousands, to those who love me and keep my commandments.

11“‘You must not bear the name of Yahweh your God for falsehood, because Yahweh will not acquit anyone who bears his name for falsehood.

12“‘Observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy, as Yahweh your God commanded you. 13Six days you are to labor and do all your work, 14but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your God. You must not do any work—you, your son, your daughter, your male slave, your female slave, your ox, your donkey, any of your livestock, or the resident foreigner within your towns—so that your male slave and your female slave may rest as you do. 15Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and Yahweh your God brought you out of there with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. That is why Yahweh your God commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.

16“‘Honor your father and your mother, as Yahweh your God commanded you, so that your days may be prolonged and it may go well with you on the ground Yahweh your God is giving you.

17“‘You must not murder. 18You must not commit adultery. 19You must not steal. 20You must not testify against your neighbor as a false witness. 21You must not covet your neighbor’s wife. You must not crave your neighbor’s house, his field, his male slave, his female slave, his ox, his donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.’

22“These words Yahweh spoke to your whole assembly on the mountain, from within the fire, the cloud, and the thick gloom, with a great voice; he added no more. He wrote them on two stone tablets and gave them to me. 23When you heard the voice from within the darkness while the mountain was burning with fire, all the heads of your tribes and your elders approached me. 24You said, ‘Look, Yahweh our God has shown us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice from within the fire. Today we have seen that God can speak with a human being and that person can live. 25Now why should we die? This great fire will consume us. If we keep hearing the voice of Yahweh our God any longer, we will die. 26For who of all flesh has heard the voice of the living God speaking from within the fire, as we have, and lived? 27You go near and hear everything Yahweh our God says. Then you tell us everything Yahweh our God speaks to you, and we will listen and do it.’

28“Yahweh heard the words you spoke to me, and Yahweh said to me, ‘I have heard the words this people spoke to you. Everything they said is good. 29If only they had such a heart to fear me and keep all my commandments always, so that it might go well with them and their sons forever! 30Go, say to them, “Return to your tents.” 31But you, stand here with me, and I will speak to you the whole commandment—the statutes and judgments you are to teach them, so that they may carry them out in the land I am giving them to possess.’ 32So take care to do as Yahweh your God commanded you. You must not turn aside to the right or the left. 33Walk in all the way Yahweh your God commanded you, so that you may live, it may go well with you, and you may prolong your days in the land you will possess.

Translation notes 6

5:2–5 — The covenant’s audience. Moses addresses the present assembly as the participants at Horeb and distinguishes it from “our fathers.” The English preserves that rhetorical identification without inserting an explanation about which generations were physically present. “Face to face” stands beside Moses’ role as intermediary, as it does in the Hebrew.

5:6–10 — Exclusive loyalty and generations. “House of slaves” names Egypt through its enslavement of Israel. “Before me” translates “upon/before my face” and demands exclusive allegiance, not merely first place among acceptable gods. “Calling the guilt to account” carries a punitive force here; it does not erase the consequences borne by subsequent generations. The Hebrew says “thousands” without expressly repeating “generations.” Verse 10 follows the traditional read form “my commandments”; the written form has “his commandments.”

5:11 — Bearing the name. “Bear … for falsehood” preserves the name-bearing expression and its association with what is false or worthless. False oaths are an important application, but the wording is broader than a prohibition of particular spoken exclamations.

5:12–16 — This account of the Sabbath. Deuteronomy says “observe,” explicitly extends rest to male and female slaves, and grounds the command in release from Egyptian slavery. Exodus 20’s wording and creation rationale have not been substituted here. “Within your towns” translates “within your gates,” referring to the community’s jurisdiction. “Honor” includes treating parents as persons of weight and consequence.

5:17–21 — Prohibitions and desire. “Murder” fits the unlawful homicide prohibited here; the same root can be used for an unintentional killer in other contexts. Verse 21 distinguishes coveting the wife from craving the household and includes a field, following this passage’s own order and two different verbs. The slave language retains the household’s actual ownership relation.

5:22–31 — No more and the whole commandment. “He added no more” describes the conclusion of this public utterance, not the end of all subsequent divine speech. “All flesh” is humanity viewed in its vulnerable bodily life. The singular “whole commandment” in verse 31 introduces the statutes and judgments as a collective body of instruction.