Deuteronomy 5–6

The Ten Commandments Reviewed

5And Moses called all Israel, and said to them: “Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your hearing today, that you may learn them and be careful to observe them. ^2aThe Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. ³The Lord ^bdid not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, those who are here today, all of us who are alive. ^4cThe Lord talked with you face to face on the mountain from the midst of the fire. ^5dI stood between the Lord and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the Lord; for ^eyou were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up the mountain. He said:

^6f‘I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of ¹bondage.

^7g‘You shall have no other gods ²before Me.

^8h‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image—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; ⁹you shall not ⁱbow ³down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, ⁴visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, ^10jbut showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and ⁵keep My commandments.

^11k‘You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him ⁶guiltless who takes His name in vain.

^12l‘Observe the Sabbath day, to ⁷keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. ^13mSix days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁴but the seventh day is the ⁿSabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. ^15oAnd remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there ^pby a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

^16q‘Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, ^rthat your days may be long, and that it may be well with ^syou in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

^17t‘You shall not murder.

^18u‘You shall not commit adultery.

^19v‘You shall not steal.

^20w‘You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

^21x‘You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife; and you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field, his male servant, his female servant, his ox, his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.’

²²“These words the Lord spoke to all your assembly, in the mountain from the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a loud voice; and He added no more. And ^yHe wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me.

The People Afraid of God’s Presence

^23z“So it was, when you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, that you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes and your elders. ²⁴And you said: ‘Surely the Lord our God has shown us His glory and His greatness, and ^awe have heard His voice from the midst of the fire. We have seen this day that God speaks with man; yet he ^bstill lives. ²⁵Now therefore, why should we die? For this great fire will consume us; ^cif we hear the voice of the Lord our God anymore, then we shall die. ^26dFor who is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived? ²⁷You go near and hear all that the Lord our God may say, and ^etell us all that the Lord our God says to you, and we will hear and do it.’

²⁸“Then the Lord heard the voice of your words when you spoke to me, and the Lord said to me: ‘I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken to you. ^fThey are right in all that they have spoken. ^29gOh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and ^halways keep all My commandments, ⁱthat it might be well with them and with their children forever! ³⁰Go and say to them, “Return to your tents.” ³¹But as for you, stand here by Me, ^jand I will speak to you all the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments which you shall teach them, that they may observe them in the land which I am giving them to possess.’

³²“Therefore you shall ⁸be careful to do as the Lord your God has commanded you; ^kyou shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. ³³You shall walk in ^lall the ways which the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live ^mand that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess.

The Greatest Commandment

6“Now this is ^athe commandment, and these are the statutes and judgments which the Lord your God has commanded to teach you, that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess, ^2bthat you may fear the Lord your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, you and your son and your grandson, all the days of your life, ^cand that your days may be prolonged. ³Therefore hear, O Israel, and ¹be careful to observe it, that it may be well with you, and that you may ^dmultiply greatly ^eas the Lord God of your fathers has promised you—^f‘a land flowing with milk and honey.’

^4g“Hear, O Israel: ²The Lord our God, the Lord is one! ^5hYou shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, ⁱwith all your soul, and with all your strength.

⁶“And ^jthese words which I command you today shall be in your heart. ^7kYou shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. ^8lYou shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. ^9mYou shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Caution Against Disobedience

¹⁰“So it shall be, when the Lord your God brings you into the land of which He ³swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you large and beautiful cities ⁿwhich you did not build, ¹¹houses full of all good things, which you did not fill, hewn-out wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant—^owhen you have eaten and are full—¹²then beware, lest you forget the ^pLord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. ¹³You shall ^qfear the Lord your God and serve Him, and ^rshall take oaths in His name. ¹⁴You shall not go after other gods, ^sthe gods of the peoples who are all around you ¹⁵(for ^tthe Lord your God is a jealous God ^uamong you), lest the anger of the Lord your God be aroused against you and destroy you from the face of the earth.

^16v“You shall not ⁴tempt the Lord your God ^was you ⁵tempted Him in Massah. ¹⁷You shall ^xdiligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, His testimonies, and His statutes which He has commanded you. ¹⁸And you ^yshall do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, that it may be well with you, and that you may go in and possess the good land of which the Lord swore to your fathers, ^19zto cast out all your enemies from before you, as the Lord has spoken.

^20a“When your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies, the statutes, and the judgments which the Lord our God has commanded you?’ ²¹then you shall say to your son: ‘We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, and the Lord brought us out of Egypt ^bwith a mighty hand; ²²and the Lord showed signs and wonders before our eyes, great and severe, against Egypt, Pharaoh, and all his household. ²³Then He brought us out from there, that He might bring us in, to give us the land of which He ⁶swore to our fathers. ²⁴And the Lord commanded us to ⁷observe all these ⁸statutes, ^cto fear the Lord our God, ^dfor our good always, that ^eHe might preserve us alive, as it is ⁹this day. ²⁵Then ^fit will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to observe all these commandments before the Lord our God, as He has commanded us.’