Deuteronomy 5:12-22

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.^[a]

17 Do not murder.^[b]

18 Do not commit adultery.^[c]

19 Do not steal.

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

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.^{[e] [f]}

The People's Response

22 "The Lord spoke these commands in a loud voice to your entire assembly from the fire, cloud, and thick darkness on the mountain; He added nothing more. He wrote them on two stone tablets and gave them to me.

Deuteronomy 5:12-22 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]. Mt 15:4; Mk 7:10; Eph 6:2-3
• [b]. Mt 5:21
• [c]. Mt 5:27; Jms 2:11
• [d]. Pr 25:18
• [e]. Rm 7:7
• [f]. Mt 19:18-19; Mk 10:19; Lk 18:20; Rm 13:9