16 On the morning of the third day there was thunderg and lightning, with a thick cloudh over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast.i Everyone in the camp trembled.j 17 Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.k 18 Mount Sinai was covered with smoke,l because the Lord descended on it in fire.m The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace,n and the whole mountainb trembledo violently. 19 As the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and the voicep of God answeredq him.c

20 The Lord descended to the top of Mount Sinair and called Moses to the top of the mountain. So Moses went up 21 and the Lord said to him, “Go down and warn the people so they do not force their way through to sees the Lord and many of them perish.t 22 Even the priests, who approachu the Lord, must consecratev themselves, or the Lord will break out against them.”w

23 Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot come up Mount Sinai,x because you yourself warned us, ‘Put limitsy around the mountain and set it apart as holy.’ ”

24 The Lord replied, “Go down and bring Aaronz up with you. But the priests and the people must not force their way through to come up to the Lord, or he will break out against them.”a

25 So Moses went down to the people and told them.

The Ten Commandments

20:1–17pp—Dt 5:6–21

20 And God spokeb all these words:c

2 “I am the Lord your God,d who brought you oute of Egypt,f out of the land of slavery.g

3 “You shall have no other gods beforea me.h

4 “You shall not make for yourself an imagei in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worshipj them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God,k punishing the children for the sin of the parentsl to the third and fourth generationm of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousandn generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

7 “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.o

8 “Remember the Sabbathp day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work,q 10 but the seventh day is a sabbathr to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth,s the sea, and all that is in them, but he restedt on the seventh day.u Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

12 “Honor your father and your mother,v so that you may live longw in the landx the Lord your God is giving you.