^5:17You must not murder.²⁴^5:18You must not commit adultery. ^5:19You must not steal. ^5:20You must not offer false testimony against another.²⁵^5:21You must not desire²⁶ another man’s²⁷ wife, nor should you crave his²⁸ house, his field, his male and female servants, his ox, his donkey, or anything else he owns.”²⁹

The Narrative of the Sinai Revelation and Israel’s Response

^5:22The Lord said these things to your entire assembly at the mountain from the middle of the fire, the cloud, and the darkness with a loud voice, and that was all he said.³⁰ Then he inscribed the words³¹ on two stone tablets and gave them to me. ^5:23Then, when you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness while the mountain was ablaze, all your tribal leaders and elders approached me. ^5:24You said, “The Lord our God has shown us his great glory³² and we have heard him speak from the middle of the fire. It is now clear to us³³ that God can speak to human beings and they can keep on living. ^5:25But now, why should we die, because this intense fire will consume us! If we keep hearing the voice of the Lord our God we will die! ^5:26Who is there from the entire human race³⁴ who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the middle of the fire as we have, and has lived? ^5:27You go near so that you can hear everything the Lord our God is saying and then you can tell us whatever he³⁵ says to you; then we will pay attention and do it.” ^5:28When the Lord heard you speaking to me, he³⁶ said to me, “I have heard what these people have said to you—they have spoken well. ^5:29If only it would really be their desire to fear me and obey³⁷ all my commandments in the future, so that it may go well with them and their descendants forever. ^5:30Go and tell them, ‘Return to your tents!’

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Footnotes

24 Traditionally “kill” (so , , , ). The verb here (רָצַח, ratsakh) is generic for homicide but in the OT both killing in war and capital punishment were permitted and even commanded (Deut 13:5, 9; 20:13, 16–17), so the technical meaning here is “murder.”
25 Heb “your neighbor.” Clearly this is intended generically, however, and not to be limited only to those persons who live nearby (frequently the way “neighbor” is understood in contemporary contexts). So also in v. 20.
26 The Hebrew verb used here (חָמַד, khamad) is different from the one translated “crave” (אָוַה, ’avah) in the next line. The former has sexual overtones (“lust” or the like; cf. Song of Sol 2:3) whereas the latter has more the idea of a desire or craving for material things.
27 Heb “your neighbor’s.” See note on the term “fellow man” in v. .
28 Heb “your neighbor’s.” The pronoun is used in the translation for stylistic reasons.
29 Heb “or anything that is your neighbor’s.”
30 Heb “and he added no more” (so , , ); “This was all he said at that time.”
31 Heb “them”; the referent (the words spoken by the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
32 Heb “his glory and his greatness.”
33 Heb “this day we have seen.”
34 Heb “who is there of all flesh.”
35 Heb “the Lord our God.” See note on “He” in .
36 Heb “the Lord.” See note on “He” in .
37 Heb “keep” (so , , , ).