Exodus 19:1–20:17

Israel Camps at Sinai

19Exactly three months after the Israelites had left Egypt, they reached the Desert of Sinai. ²When they left Rephidim, they came to the Desert of Sinai and camped in the desert in front of the mountain. ³Then Moses went up on the mountain to God. The Lord called to him from the mountain and said, “Say this to the family of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: ⁴‘Every one of you has seen what I did to the people of Egypt. You saw how I carried you out of Egypt, as if on eagle’s wings. And I brought you here to me. ⁵So now if you obey me and keep my agreement, you will be my own possession, chosen from all nations. Even though the whole earth is mine, ⁶you will be my kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ You must tell the Israelites these words.”

⁷So Moses went down and called the elders of the people together. He told them all the words the Lord had commanded him to say. ⁸All the people answered together, “We will do everything he has said.” Then Moses took their answer back to the Lord.

⁹And the Lord said to Moses, “I will come to you in a thick cloud and speak to you. The people will hear me speaking with you and will always trust you.” Then Moses told the Lord what the people had said.

¹⁰The Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and have them spend today and tomorrow preparing themselves. They must wash their clothes ¹¹and be ready by the day after tomorrow. On that day I, the Lord, will come down on Mount Sinai, and all the people will see me. ¹²But you must set a limit around the mountain that the people are not to cross. Tell them not to go up on the mountain and not to touch the foot of it. Anyone who touches the mountain must be put to death ¹³with stones or shot with arrows. No one is allowed to touch him. Whether it is a person or an animal, he will not live. But the trumpet will make a long blast, and only then may the people go up on the mountain.”

¹⁴After Moses went down from the mountain to the people, he made them prepare themselves for service to God, and they washed their clothes. ¹⁵Then Moses said to the people, “Be ready in three days. Do not have sexual relations during this time.”

¹⁶On the morning of the third day, there was thunder and lightning with a thick cloud on the mountain. There was a very loud blast from a trumpet, and all the people in the camp trembled. ¹⁷Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. ¹⁸Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord came down on it in fire. The smoke rose from the mountain like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain shook wildly. ¹⁹The sound from the trumpet became louder. Then Moses spoke, and the voice of God answered him.

²⁰When the Lord came down on top of Mount Sinai, he called Moses to come up to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. ²¹The Lord said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people that they must not force their way through to see me. If they do, many of them will die. ²²Even the priests, who may come near me, must first prepare themselves. If they don’t, I, the Lord, will punish them.”

²³Moses told the Lord, “The people cannot come up on Mount Sinai, because you yourself told us, ‘Set a limit around the mountain, and set it apart as holy.’ ”

²⁴The Lord said to him, “Go down and bring Aaron up with you, but don’t allow the priests or the people to force their way through. They must not come up to the Lord, or I will punish them.”

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

The Ten Commandments

20Then God spoke all these words:

²“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt where you were slaves.

³“You must not have any other gods except me.

⁴“You must not make for yourselves an idol that looks like anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the water below the land. ⁵You must not worship or serve any idol, because I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God. If you hate me, I will punish your children, and even your grandchildren and great-grandchildren. ⁶But I show kindness to thousands who love me and obey my commands.

⁷“You must not use the name of the Lord your God thoughtlessly; the Lord will punish anyone who misuses his name.

⁸“Remember to keep the Sabbath holy. ⁹Work and get everything done during six days each week, ¹⁰but the seventh day is a day of rest to honor the Lord your God. On that day no one may do any work: not you, your son or daughter, your male or female slaves, your animals, or the foreigners living in your cities. ¹¹The reason is that in six days the Lord made everything—the sky, the earth, the sea, and everything in them. On the seventh day he rested. So the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

¹²“Honor your father and your mother so that you will live a long time in the land that the Lord your God is going to give you.

¹³“You must not murder anyone.

¹⁴“You must not be guilty of adultery.

¹⁵“You must not steal.

¹⁶“You must not tell lies about your neighbor.

¹⁷“You must not want to take your neighbor’s house. You must not want his wife or his male or female slaves, or his ox or his donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”