Exodus 20 :: English Standard Version (ESV)

The Ten Commandments

(Deu 5:1–22 )

Exo 20:1

Exo 20:1And God spoke all these words, saying,

Exo 20:2

Exo 20:2“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

Exo 20:3

Exo 20:3“You shall have no other gods before[fn] me.

Exo 20:4

Exo 20:4“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

Exo 20:5

Exo 20:5You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me,

Exo 20:6

Exo 20:6but showing steadfast love to thousands[fn] of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Exo 20:7

Exo 20:7“You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

Exo 20:8

Exo 20:8“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

Exo 20:9

Exo 20:9Six days you shall labor, and do all your work,

Exo 20:10

Exo 20:10but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.

Exo 20:11

Exo 20:11For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Exo 20:12

Exo 20:12“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

Exo 20:13

Exo 20:13“You shall not murder.[fn]

Exo 20:14

Exo 20:14“You shall not commit adultery.

Exo 20:15

Exo 20:15“You shall not steal.

Exo 20:16

Exo 20:16“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

Exo 20:17

Exo 20:17“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”

Exo 20:18

Exo 20:18Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid[fn] and trembled, and they stood far off

Exo 20:19

Exo 20:19and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.”

Exo 20:20

Exo 20:20Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.”

Exo 20:21

Exo 20:21The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.

Laws About Altars

Exo 20:22

Exo 20:22And the LORD said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the people of Israel: ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have talked with you from heaven.

Exo 20:23

Exo 20:23You shall not make gods of silver to be with me, nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold.

Exo 20:24

Exo 20:24An altar of earth you shall make for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and bless you.

Exo 20:25

Exo 20:25If you make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stones, for if you wield your tool on it you profane it.

Exo 20:26

Exo 20:26And you shall not go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness be not exposed on it.’

See the ESV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

ESV Footnotes

(20:3)

Or besides

(20:6)

Or to the thousandth generation

(20:13)

The Hebrew word also covers causing human death through carelessness or negligence

(20:18)

Samaritan, Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Masoretic Text the people saw

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For more information on this translation, see the ESV Preface.

Exodus Chapter 20 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New King James Version New Living Translation New International Version Christian Standard Bible New American Standard Bible 2020 New American Standard Bible 1995 Legacy Standard Bible Amplified Bible New English Translation Revised Standard Version American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Webster's Bible Hebrew Names Version Latin Vulgate Westminster Leningrad Codex Septuagint Smith Van Dyck Arabic Bible Open New Arabic Version Brenton's English Septuagint Reina Valera 1909 Reina-Valera 1960 Bible in Basic English Chinese Traditional Union Espanol Moderno Korean Holy Bible Louis Segond German Luther Russian Synodal Translation Sagradas Escrituras

Exodus 20 :: English Standard Version (ESV)

The Ten Commandments

Laws About Altars

ESV Footnotes

Exodus Chapter 20 — Additional Translations:

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