Deuteronomy 5:1-21

The Ten Commandments

1 Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, "Israel, listen to the statutes and ordinances I am proclaiming as you hear them today. Learn and follow them carefully.

2 The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Horeb.

3 He did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with all of us who are alive here today.

4 The Lord spoke to you face to face from the fire on the mountain.

5 At that time I was standing between the Lord and you to report the word^[a] of the Lord to you, because you were afraid of the fire and did not go up the mountain. And He said:

6 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.^[b]

7 Do not have other gods besides Me.

8 Do not make an idol for yourself in the shape of anything in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth.

9 You must not bow down to them or worship them, because I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the fathers' sin to the third and fourth [generations] of those who hate Me,

10 but showing faithful love to a thousand [generations] of those who love Me and keep My commands.

11 Do not misuse the name of the Lord your God, because the Lord will punish anyone who misuses His name.

12 Be careful to dedicate the Sabbath day, as the Lord your God has commanded you.

13 You are to labor six days and do all your work,

14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. You must not do any work-you, your son or daughter, your male or female slave, your ox or donkey, any of your livestock, or the foreigner who lives within your gates, so that your male and female slaves may rest as you do.

15 Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out of there with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. That is why the Lord your God has commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

16 Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and so that you may prosper in the land the Lord your God is giving you.^[c]

17 Do not murder.^[d]

18 Do not commit adultery.^[e]

19 Do not steal.

20 Do not give dishonest testimony against your neighbor.^[f]

21 Do not desire your neighbor's wife or covet your neighbor's house, his field, his male or female slave, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.^{[g] [h]}

Deuteronomy 5:1-21 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 5

In this chapter Moses, after a short preface, De 5:1-5, repeats the law of the decalogue, or ten commands, with some little variation, De 5:6-21, and then reminds the Israelites of the terrible manner in which it was delivered to them, De 5:22,23 which put them upon making a request that Moses might be a mediator between God and them, and hear what the Lord had to say, and report it to them; to which they promised obedience, De 5:24-27 and which being agreeable to the Lord was granted, De 5:28-31, and this laid them under a greater obligation to observe the commands of God, and keep them, De 5:32,33.

Footnotes

• [a]. One Hb ms, DSS, Sam, LXX, Syr, Vg read words
• [b]. Ex 20:2-17
• [c]. Mt 15:4; Mk 7:10; Eph 6:2-3
• [d]. Mt 5:21
• [e]. Mt 5:27; Jms 2:11
• [f]. Pr 25:18
• [g]. Rm 7:7
• [h]. Mt 19:18-19; Mk 10:19; Lk 18:20; Rm 13:9