Exodus 20:13–26

^13*“Do not commit murder.

^14*“Do not commit adultery.

^15*“Do not steal.

^16*“Do not accuse anyone falsely.

^17*“Do not desire another man’s house; do not desire his wife, his slaves, his cattle, his donkeys, or anything else that he owns.”

The People’s Fear

^18*When the people heard the thunder and the trumpet blast and saw the lightning and the smoking mountain, they trembled with fear and stood a long way off. ^19*They said to Moses, “If you speak to us, we will listen; but we are afraid that if God speaks to us, we will die.”

²⁰Moses replied, “Don’t be afraid; God has only come to test you and make you keep on obeying him, so that you will not sin.” ²¹But the people continued to stand a long way off, and only Moses went near the dark cloud where God was.

Laws about Altars

²²The Lord commanded Moses to say to the Israelites: “You have seen how I, the Lord, have spoken to you from heaven. ²³Do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gold to be worshipped in addition to me. ²⁴Make an altar of earth for me, and on it sacrifice your sheep and your cattle as offerings to be completely burnt and as fellowship offerings. In every place that I set aside for you to worship me, I will come to you and bless you. ^25*If you make an altar of stone for me, do not build it out of cut stones, because when you use a chisel on stones, you make them unfit for my use. ²⁶Do not build an altar for me with steps leading up to it; if you do, you will expose yourselves as you go up the steps.