Exodus 20

1 'And God speaketh all these words, saying,

God spoke all the following words:

2 I [am] Jehovah thy God, who hath brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of a house of servants.

“I am the Lord your God, who led you out of Egypt, out of the land of your slavery.

3 'Thou hast no other Gods before Me.

You must not have any other gods except me.

4 'Thou dost not make to thyself a graven image, or any likeness which [is] in the heavens above, or which [is] in the earth beneath, or which [is] in the waters under the earth.

You must not make for yourself any kind of idol, whether in the form of anything in the heavens above, or on the earth beneath, or in the waters below.

5 Thou dost not bow thyself to them, nor serve them: for I, Jehovah thy God, [am] a zealous God, charging iniquity of fathers on sons, on the third [generation], and on the fourth, of those hating Me,

You must not bow down before them or worship them; for I am the Lord your God and I am passionately exclusive. I lay the consequences of the sin of those who hate me on their sons, grandsons, and great-grandsons;

6 and doing kindness to thousands, of those loving Me and keeping My commands.

but I show trustworthy love to the thousands of generations who love me and keep my commandments.

7 'Thou dost not take up the name of Jehovah thy God for a vain thing, for Jehovah acquitteth not him who taketh up His name for a vain thing.

You must not use the name of the Lord your God in a wrong way, for the Lord will not forgive anyone who uses his name in a wrong way.

8 'Remember the Sabbath-day to sanctify it;

Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.

9 six days thou dost labour, and hast done all thy work,

You have six days to work and earn your living,

10 and the seventh day [is] a Sabbath to Jehovah thy God; thou dost not do any work, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, thy man-servant, and thy handmaid, and thy cattle, and thy sojourner who is within thy gates, —

but the seventh day is the Sabbath to honor the Lord your God. On this day you must not do any work—not you, not your son or daughter, not your male slave or female slave or livestock, and not the foreigner who is staying with you.

11 for six days hath Jehovah made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that [is] in them, and resteth in the seventh day; therefore hath Jehovah blessed the Sabbath-day, and doth sanctify it.

For the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and everything in them in six days, and then rested on the seventh day. That's why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

12 'Honour thy father and thy mother, so that thy days are prolonged on the ground which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee.

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

13 'Thou dost not murder.

You must not murder.

14 'Thou dost not commit adultery.

You must not commit adultery.

15 'Thou dost not steal.

You must not steal.

16 'Thou dost not answer against thy neighbour a false testimony.

You must not give false evidence against others.

17 'Thou dost not desire the house of thy neighbour, thou dost not desire the wife of thy neighbour, or his man-servant, or his handmaid, or his ox, or his ass, or anything which [is] thy neighbour's.'

You must not desire to have anyone else's house. You must not desire to have their wife, or their male slave or female slave, or their ox or donkey, or anything else that belongs to them.”

18 And all the people are seeing the voices, and the flames, and the sound of the trumpet, and the mount smoking; and the people see, and move, and stand afar off,

When all the people heard the thunder and the sound of the trumpet, and saw the lightning and the smoke from the mountain, they trembled with fear and stood a long way off.

19 and say unto Moses, 'Speak thou with us, and we hear, and let not God speak with us, lest we die.'

“You speak to us, and we'll listen,” they said to Moses. “But don't let God speak to us, or we'll die.”

20 And Moses saith unto the people, 'Fear not, for to try you hath God come, and in order that His fear may be before your faces — that ye sin not.'

Moses told them, “Do not be afraid, for God has only come to test you. He wants you to be in awe of him so that you don't sin.”

21 And the people stand afar off, and Moses hath drawn nigh unto the thick darkness where God [is].

The people stood a long way off as Moses went over to the thick, dark cloud where God was.

22 And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'Thus dost thou say unto the sons of Israel: Ye — ye have seen that from the heavens I have spoken with you;

The Lord told Moses, “This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘You saw for yourselves that I spoke with you from heaven.

23 ye do not make with Me gods of silver, even gods of gold ye do not make to yourselves.

You must not make any idols of silver or gold to worship in addition to me.

24 'An altar of earth thou dost make for Me, and thou hast sacrificed on it thy burnt-offerings and thy peace-offerings, thy flock and thy herd; in every place where I cause My name to be remembered I come in unto thee, and have blessed thee.

Make me an altar of earth, and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and peace offerings, your sheep, goats, and cattle. Wherever I decide to be worshiped, I will come to you and bless you.

25 'And if an altar of stones thou dost make to Me, thou dost not build them of hewn work; when thy tool thou hast waved over it, then thou dost pollute it;

Now if you make an altar out of stones for me, you must not build it with cut stones, because if you use a chisel to cut the stone, you make it unholy.

26 neither dost thou go up by steps on Mine altar, that thy nakedness be not revealed upon it.

Also, you must not go up to my altar using steps, so your private parts are not seen.’”