Deuteronomy 5:21-31

21 Neither shall you covet your neighbor's wife. Neither shall you desire your neighbor's house, or field, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
22 These words the Lord spoke with a loud voice to your whole assembly at the mountain, out of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, and he added no more. He wrote them on two stone tablets, and gave them to me.
23 When you heard the voice out of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you approached me, all the heads of your tribes and your elders;
24 and you said, "Look, the Lord our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the fire. Today we have seen that God may speak to someone and the person may still live.
25 So now why should we die? For this great fire will consume us; if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any longer, we shall die.
26 For who is there of all flesh that has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of fire, as we have, and remained alive?
27 Go near, you yourself, and hear all that the Lord our God will say. Then tell us everything that the Lord our God tells you, and we will listen and do it."
28 The Lord heard your words when you spoke to me, and the Lord said to me: "I have heard the words of this people, which they have spoken to you; they are right in all that they have spoken.
29 If only they had such a mind as this, to fear me and to keep all my commandments always, so that it might go well with them and with their children forever!
30 Go say to them, "Return to your tents.'
31 But you, stand here by me, and I will tell you all the commandments, the statutes and the ordinances, that you shall teach them, so that they may do them in the land that I am giving them to possess."

Deuteronomy 5:21-31 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.

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.