Exodus 19:16-21:21

New King James Version

¹⁶Then it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that there were ^(A)thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp ^(B)trembled. ¹⁷And ^(C)Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. ¹⁸Now ^(D)Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the Lord descended upon ^(E)it in fire. ^(F)Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and ^[a]the ^(G)whole mountain quaked greatly. ¹⁹And when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder, ^(H)Moses spoke, and ^(I)God answered him by voice. ²⁰Then the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

²¹And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people, lest they break through ^(J)to gaze at the Lord, and many of them perish. ²²Also let the ^(K)priests who come near the Lord ^(L)consecrate themselves, lest the Lord ^(M)break out against them.”

²³But Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai; for You warned us, saying, ^(N)‘Set bounds around the mountain and consecrate it.’ ”

²⁴Then the Lord said to him, “Away! Get down and then come up, you and Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the Lord, lest He break out against them.” ²⁵So Moses went down to the people and spoke to them.

The Ten Commandments^(O)

20 And God spoke ^(P)all these words, saying:

²^(Q)“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, ^(R)out of the house of ^[b]bondage.

³^(S)“You shall have no other gods before Me.

⁴^(T)“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; ⁵^(U)you shall not bow down to them nor ^[c]serve them. ^(V)For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, ^(W)visiting^[d] the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, ⁶but ^(X)showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

⁷^(Y)“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord ^(Z)will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.

⁸^(AA)“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. ⁹^(AB)Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁰but the ^(AC)seventh day is the Sabbath 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 cattle, ^(AD)nor your stranger who is within your gates. ¹¹For ^(AE)in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

¹²^(AF)“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be ^(AG)long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

¹³^(AH)“You shall not murder.

¹⁴^(AI)“You shall not commit ^(AJ)adultery.

¹⁵^(AK)“You shall not steal.

¹⁶^(AL)“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

¹⁷^(AM)“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; ^(AN)you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”

The People Afraid of God’s Presence

¹⁸Now ^(AO)all the people ^(AP)witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain ^(AQ)smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. ¹⁹Then they said to Moses, ^(AR)“You speak with us, and we will hear; but ^(AS)let not God speak with us, lest we die.”

²⁰And Moses said to the people, ^(AT)“Do not fear; ^(AU)for God has come to test you, and ^(AV)that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin.” ²¹So the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near ^(AW)the thick darkness where God was.

The Law of the Altar

²²Then the Lord said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘You have seen that I have talked with you ^(AX)from heaven. ²³You shall not make anything to be ^(AY)with Me—gods of silver or gods of gold you shall not make for yourselves. ²⁴An altar of ^(AZ)earth you shall make for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, ^(BA)your sheep and your oxen. In every ^(BB)place where I ^[e]record My name I will come to you, and I will ^(BC)bless you. ²⁵And ^(BD)if you make Me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stone; for if you ^(BE)use your tool on it, you have profaned it. ²⁶Nor shall you go up by steps to My altar, that your ^(BF)nakedness may not be exposed on it.’

The Law Concerning Servants^(BG)

21 “Now these are the ^[f]judgments which you shall ^(BH)set before them: ²^(BI)If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years; and in the seventh he shall go out free and pay nothing. ³If he comes in by himself, he shall go out by himself; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him. ⁴If his master has given him a wife, and she has borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself. ⁵^(BJ)But if the servant plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’ ⁶then his master shall bring him to the ^(BK)judges. He shall also bring him to the door, or to the doorpost, and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him forever.

⁷“And if a man ^(BL)sells his daughter to be a female slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do. ⁸If she ^[g]does not please her master, who has betrothed her to himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has dealt deceitfully with her. ⁹And if he has betrothed her to his son, he shall deal with her according to the custom of daughters. ¹⁰If he takes another wife, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, ^(BM)and her marriage rights. ¹¹And if he does not do these three for her, then she shall go out free, without paying money.

The Law Concerning Violence

¹²^(BN)“He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death. ¹³However, ^(BO)if he did not lie in wait, but God ^(BP)delivered him into his hand, then ^(BQ)I will appoint for you a place where he may flee.

¹⁴“But if a man acts with ^(BR)premeditation against his neighbor, to kill him by treachery, ^(BS)you shall take him from My altar, that he may die.

¹⁵“And he who strikes his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.

¹⁶^(BT)“He who kidnaps a man and ^(BU)sells him, or if he is ^(BV)found in his hand, shall surely be put to death.

¹⁷“And ^(BW)he who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.

¹⁸“If men contend with each other, and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist, and he does not die but is confined to his bed, ¹⁹if he rises again and walks about outside ^(BX)with his staff, then he who struck him shall be ^[h]acquitted. He shall only pay for the loss of his time, and shall provide for him to be thoroughly healed.

²⁰“And if a man beats his male or female servant with a rod, so that he dies under his hand, he shall surely be punished. ²¹Notwithstanding, if he remains alive a day or two, he shall not be punished; for he is his ^(BY)property.