Deuteronomy 5

Living Bible

5 Moses continued speaking to the people of Israel and said, “Listen carefully now to all these laws God has given you; learn them, and be sure to obey them!

^2-3 “The Lord our God made a contract with you at Mount Horeb—not with your ancestors, but with you who are here alive today. ⁴ He spoke with you face to face from the center of the fire, there at the mountain. ⁵ I stood as an intermediary between you and Jehovah, for you were afraid of the fire and did not go up to him on the mountain. He spoke to me and I passed on his laws to you. This is what he said:

⁶ “‘I am Jehovah your God who rescued you from slavery in Egypt.

⁷ “‘Never worship any god but me.

⁸ “‘Never make idols; don’t worship images, whether of birds, animals, or fish. ^9-10 You shall not bow down to any images nor worship them in any way, for I am the Lord your God. I am a jealous God, and I will bring the curse of a father’s sins upon even the third and fourth generation of the children of those who hate me; but I will show kindness to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

¹¹ “‘You must never use my name to make a vow you don’t intend to keep.^[a] I will not overlook that.

¹² “‘Keep the Sabbath day holy. This is my command. ¹³ Work the other six days, ¹⁴ but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God; no work shall be done that day by you or by any of your household—your sons, daughters, servants, oxen, donkeys, or cattle; even foreigners living among you must obey this law. Everybody must rest as you do. ¹⁵ Why should you keep the Sabbath? It is because you were slaves in Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out with a great display of miracles.

¹⁶ “‘Honor your father and mother (remember, this is a commandment of the Lord your God); if you do so, you shall have a long, prosperous life in the land he is giving you.

¹⁷ “‘You must not murder.

¹⁸ “‘You must not commit adultery.

¹⁹ “‘You must not steal.

²⁰ “‘You must not tell lies.

²¹ “‘You must not burn with desire for another man’s wife, nor envy him for his home, land, servants, oxen, donkeys, nor anything else he owns.’

²² “The Lord has given these laws to each one of you from the heart of the fire, surrounded by the clouds and thick darkness that engulfed Mount Sinai. Those were the only commandments he gave you at that time,^[b] and he wrote them out on two stone tablets and gave them to me. ²³ But when you heard the loud voice from the darkness and saw the terrible fire at the top of the mountain, all your tribal leaders came to me ²⁴ and pleaded, ‘Today the Lord our God has shown us his glory and greatness; we have even heard his voice from the heart of the fire. Now we know that a man may speak to God and not die; ²⁵ but we will surely die if he speaks to us again. This awesome fire will consume us. ^26-27 What man can hear, as we have, the voice of the living God speaking from the heart of the fire, and live? You go and listen to all that God says, then come and tell us, and we will listen and obey.’

²⁸ “And the Lord agreed to your request and said to me, ‘I have heard what the people have said to you, and I agree. ²⁹ Oh, that they would always have such a heart for me, wanting to obey my commandments. Then all would go well with them in the future, and with their children throughout all generations! ³⁰ Go and tell them to return to their tents. ³¹ Then you come back and stand here beside me, and I will give you all my commandments, and you shall teach them to the people; and they will obey them in the land I am giving to them.’”

³² So Moses told the people, “You must obey all the commandments of the Lord your God, following his directions in every detail, going the whole way he has laid out for you; ³³ only then will you live long and prosperous lives in the land you are to enter and possess.