Exodus 20

¹God spoke all these words, saying:

²“I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slaves. ³You must have no other gods before me.

⁴“You must not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of what is in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters below the earth. ⁵You must not bow down to them or serve them, for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the fathers' guilt upon sons to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, ⁶but showing steadfast love to thousands, to those who love me and keep my commandments.

⁷“You must not take up the name of Yahweh your God in vain, for Yahweh will not acquit anyone who takes up his name in vain.

⁸“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. ⁹Six days you will labor and do all your work, ¹⁰but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your God. You must not do any work—you, your son or daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the resident foreigner within your gates. ¹¹For in six days Yahweh made the heavens and the earth, the sea and everything in them, and he rested on the seventh day. Therefore Yahweh blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

¹²“Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long on the land that Yahweh your God is giving you.

¹³“You must not murder.

¹⁴“You must not commit adultery.

¹⁵“You must not steal.

¹⁶“You must not testify against your neighbor as a false witness.

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

¹⁸All the people were seeing the thunder, the flashes, the sound of the horn, and the smoking mountain. When the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance. ¹⁹They said to Moses, “You speak with us, and we will listen. But do not let God speak with us, or we will die.” ²⁰Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, so that the fear of him may be before your faces and you may not sin.” ²¹The people stood at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.

²²Yahweh said to Moses, “Say this to the sons of Israel: You yourselves have seen that I have spoken with you from the heavens. ²³You must not make gods of silver alongside me, and you must not make gods of gold for yourselves. ²⁴Make me an altar of earth, and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your flocks and cattle. In every place where I cause my name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you. ²⁵If you make me an altar of stones, do not build it of cut stones, for if you wield your blade over it, you profane it. ²⁶Do not go up to my altar by steps, so that your nakedness is not exposed on it.”

Translation notes 9

20:2–17 — You. Most of these commands address a masculine singular “you,” presenting the people as one addressee or addressing each member individually. The household list in verse 10 includes those under the addressee's authority; the grammar and social setting have not been rewritten as modern legislation.

20:3 — Before me. Literally “before my face.” “Besides me” or “in my presence” expresses the exclusivity; the command does not merely rank Yahweh first while permitting other gods.

20:5–6 — Guilt and steadfast love. “Visiting” means calling guilt to account, not a friendly visit. The text describes consequences across generations. “Sons” preserves the family-descent wording, as in 34:7; descendants are in view, and the expression does not establish male-only liability. “Generation” is supplied in verse 5; verse 6 says “thousands,” which may mean thousands of people or, in the contrast, generations. The draft does not add “only if the children repeat the sin” or turn this passage into a complete account of inherited responsibility.

20:7 — Take up the name in vain. This concerns empty, false, or wrongful use of the divine name, including false oaths; restricting it solely to profanity would be too narrow. “Take up” retains the Hebrew carrying expression without deciding every proposed application.

20:8, 17 — Different forms of the commandments. The Samaritan Hebrew text compared reads “keep” rather than “remember” at verse 8 and includes additional Gerizim altar instructions after the coveting command. This draft follows the Masoretic form. These are differences between textual witnesses, beyond the familiar differences between Exodus and Deuteronomy.

20:13 — Murder. The verb concerns wrongful human killing; it does not function as a universal word for every kind of killing. The case laws that follow distinguish deliberate killing, accidental killing, and judicial penalties.

20:18, 20 — Seeing thunder; fear. The Hebrew uses seeing for the whole sensory event and contrasts fear that drives people away with fear of God that restrains sin. The draft preserves both the mixed sensory language and the repeated fear word.

20:24 — Name; offerings. God is the subject of “cause my name to be remembered,” not simply the worshiper choosing where to invoke him. The Samaritan Hebrew text compared instead speaks of the place where he has caused his name to be remembered. No particular sanctuary is supplied here. “Peace offerings,” also called well-being or fellowship offerings, names a sacrificial category; the label does not by itself explain every occasion for offering it.

20:25 — Blade. The Hebrew word usually means a sword. Here it refers to a metal cutting tool used on stone; the warning concerns shaping the altar stones.