Exodus 20:13–26

¹³“Never murder. 

¹⁴“Never commit adultery. 

¹⁵“Never steal. 

¹⁶“Never lie when you testify about your neighbor. 

¹⁷“Never desire to take your neighbor’s household away from him. 

“Never desire to take your neighbor’s wife, his male or female slave, his ox, his donkey, or anything else that belongs to him.” 

The People’s Reaction

¹⁸All the people heard the thunder and saw the lightning. They heard the blast of the ram’s horn and saw the mountain covered with smoke. So they shook with fear and stood at a distance. ¹⁹Then they said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we’ll listen. But don’t let God speak to us, or we’ll die!” 

²⁰Moses answered the people, “Don’t be afraid! God has come only to test you, so that you will be in awe of him and won’t sin.” 

²¹The people kept their distance while Moses went closer to the dark cloud where God was. 

General Rules for Worship

²²The Lord said to Moses, “This is what you must say to the Israelites: You’ve seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from heaven. ²³Never make any gods of silver or gold for yourselves. Never worship them. 

²⁴“You must build an altar for me made out of dirt. Sacrifice your burnt offerings and your fellowship offerings, your sheep, goats, and cattle on it. Wherever I choose to have my name remembered, I will come to you and bless you. ²⁵If you build an altar for me made out of stones, never make it with cut stone blocks. If you use a chisel on it, you will make it unacceptable to me. ²⁶Never use stairs to go up to my altar. Otherwise, people will be able to see under your clothes.”