Exodus 19–24

Israel at Mount Sinai

19On the third new moon after the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that day they ^pcame into the wilderness of Sinai. ²They set out from ^qRephidim and came into the wilderness of Sinai, and they encamped in the wilderness. There Israel encamped before ^rthe mountain, ³while ^sMoses went up to God. ^tThe Lord called to him out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: ^4u‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how ^vI bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. ⁵Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be ^wmy treasured possession among all peoples, for ^xall the earth is mine; ⁶and you shall be to me a ^ykingdom of priests and ^za holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”

⁷So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him. ^8aAll the people answered together and said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.” And Moses reported the words of the people to the Lord. ⁹And the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am coming to you ^bin a thick cloud, that ^cthe people may hear when I speak with you, and may also ^dbelieve you forever.”

When Moses told the words of the people to the Lord, ¹⁰the Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and ^econsecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them ^fwash their garments ¹¹and be ready for the third day. For on the third day ^gthe Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. ¹²And you shall set limits for the people all around, saying, ‘Take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it. ^hWhoever touches the mountain shall be put to death. ¹³No hand shall touch him, but he shall be stoned or shot;¹ whether beast or man, he shall not live.’ When ⁱthe trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.” ¹⁴So Moses ^jwent down from the mountain to the people and ^econsecrated the people; ^fand they washed their garments. ¹⁵And he said to the people, “Be ready for the ^kthird day; ^ldo not go near a woman.”

¹⁶On the morning of the ^kthird day there were ^mthunders and lightnings and ⁿa thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud ^otrumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp ^ptrembled. ¹⁷Then ^qMoses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. ¹⁸Now ^rMount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and ^sthe whole mountain trembled greatly. ¹⁹And as the ^osound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and ^tGod answered him in thunder. ²⁰The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

²¹And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to the Lord ^uto look and many of them perish. ²²Also let the priests who come near to the Lord ^vconsecrate themselves, lest the Lord ^wbreak out against them.” ²³And Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for you yourself warned us, saying, ^x‘Set limits around the mountain and consecrate it.’ ” ²⁴And the Lord said to him, “Go down, and come up bringing Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people ^ybreak through to come up to the Lord, lest he break out against them.” ²⁵So Moses went down to the people and told them.

The Ten Commandments

20^zAnd ^aGod spoke all these words, saying,

^2b“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

^3c“You shall have no other gods before¹ me.

^4d“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. ^5eYou shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am ^fa jealous God, ^gvisiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, ⁶but showing steadfast love to thousands² of those who love me and keep my commandments.

^7h“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.

⁸ⁱ“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. ^9jSix days you shall labor, and do all your work, ¹⁰but the ^kseventh 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 ^lsojourner who is within your gates. ¹¹For ^min six days the Lord made the heavens and the 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.

¹²ⁿ“Honor your father and your mother, ^othat your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

^13p“You shall not murder.³

^14q“You shall not commit adultery.

^15r“You shall not steal.

^16s“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

^17t“You shall not covet ^uyour neighbor’s house; ^vyou 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.”

¹⁸Now when all the people saw ^wthe thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid⁴ and trembled, and they stood far off ¹⁹and said to Moses, ^x“You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” ^20yMoses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to ^ztest you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” ²¹The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the ^athick darkness where God was.

Laws About Altars

²²And the Lord said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the people of Israel: ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have ^btalked with you from heaven. ^23cYou shall not make gods of silver to be with me, nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold. 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. ^dIn every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and ^ebless you. ^25fIf you make me an altar of stone, ^gyou shall not build it of hewn stones, for if you wield your tool on it you profane it. ²⁶And you shall not go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness be not exposed on it.’

Laws About Slaves

21“Now these are the ^hrules that you shall set before them. ²ⁱWhen you buy a Hebrew slave,¹ he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing. ³If he comes in single, he shall go out single; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him. ⁴If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out alone. ⁵But ^jif the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’ ⁶then his master shall bring him to ^kGod, and he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall be his slave forever.

⁷“When a man ^lsells his daughter as a slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do. ⁸If she does not please her master, who has designated her² for himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has broken faith with her. ⁹If he designates her for his son, he shall deal with her as with a daughter. ¹⁰If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, or ^mher marital rights. ¹¹And if he does not do these three things for her, she shall go out for nothing, without payment of money.

¹²ⁿ“Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death. ^13oBut if he did not lie in wait for him, but God let him fall into his hand, then ^pI will appoint for you a place to which he may flee. ¹⁴But if a man willfully attacks another to kill him by cunning, ^qyou shall take him from my altar, that he may die.

¹⁵“Whoever strikes his father or his mother shall be put to death.

^16r“Whoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found ^sin possession of him, shall be put to death.

^17t“Whoever curses³ his father or his mother shall be put to death.

¹⁸“When men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist and the man does not die but takes to his bed, ¹⁹then if the man rises again and walks outdoors with his staff, he who struck him shall be clear; only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall have him thoroughly healed.

²⁰“When a man strikes his slave, male or female, with a rod and the slave dies under his hand, he shall be avenged. ²¹But if the slave survives a day or two, he is not to be avenged, for the ^uslave is his money.

²²“When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman’s husband shall impose on him, and ^vhe shall pay as the ^wjudges determine. ²³But if there is harm,⁴ then you shall pay ^xlife for life, ^24yeye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, ²⁵burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

²⁶“When a man strikes the eye of his slave, male or female, and destroys it, he shall let the slave go free because of his eye. ²⁷If he knocks out the tooth of his slave, male or female, he shall let the slave go free because of his tooth.

²⁸“When an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ^zox shall be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten, but the owner of the ox shall not be liable. ²⁹But if the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past, and its owner has been warned but has not kept it in, and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned, and its owner also shall…