< Deuteronomy 5 >

1 And Moses sent for all Israel, and said to them, Give ear, O Israel, to the laws and the decisions which I give you today, and give attention to them so that you may keep and do them.
Then Moses summoned all Israel and said to them: Hear, O Israel, the statutes and ordinances that I declare in your hearing this day. Learn them and observe them carefully.
2 The Lord our God made an agreement with us in Horeb.
The LORD our God made a covenant with us at Horeb.
3 The Lord did not make this agreement with our fathers but with us, who are all living and present here today.
He did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with all of us who are alive here today.
4 The word of the Lord came to you face to face on the mountain, out of the heart of the fire,
The LORD spoke with you face to face out of the fire on the mountain.
5 (I was between the Lord and you at that time, to make clear to you the word of the Lord: because, through fear of the fire, you did not go up the mountain; ) saying,
At that time I was standing between the LORD and you to declare to you the word of the LORD, because you were afraid of the fire and would not go up the mountain. And He said:
6 I am the Lord your God, who took you out of the land of Egypt, out of the prison-house.
“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
7 You are to have no other gods but me.
You shall have no other gods before Me.
8 You may not make for yourselves an image in the form of anything in heaven or on earth or in the waters under the earth:
You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath.
9 You may not go down on your faces before them or give them worship: for I, the Lord your God, am a God who will not give his honour to another; and I will send punishment on the children for the wrongdoing of their fathers, to the third and fourth generation of my haters;
You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,
10 And I will have mercy through a thousand generations on those who have love for me and keep my laws.
but showing loving devotion to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.
11 You are not to make use of the name of the Lord your God for an evil purpose; whoever takes the Lord's name on his lips for an evil purpose will be judged as a sinner by the Lord.
You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave anyone unpunished who takes His name in vain.
12 Keep the Sabbath day as a holy day, as you have been ordered by the Lord your God.
Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you.
13 On six days do all your work:
Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
14 But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; on that day do no work, you or your son or your daughter, or your man-servant or your woman-servant, or your ox or your ass or any of your cattle, or the man from a strange country who is living among you; so that your man-servant and your woman-servant may have rest as well as you.
but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God, on which you must not do any work—neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your ox or donkey or any of your livestock, nor the foreigner within your gates, so that your manservant and maidservant may rest as you do.
15 And keep in mind that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord your God took you out of that land by his strong hand and his stretched-out arm: for this reason the Lord has given you orders to keep the Sabbath day.
Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. That is why the LORD your God has commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
16 Give honour to your father and your mother, as you have been ordered by the Lord your God; so that your life may be long and all may be well for you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that your days may be long and that it may go well with you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
17 Do not put anyone to death without cause.
You shall not murder.
18 Do not be false to the married relation.
You shall not commit adultery.
19 Do not take the property of another.
You shall not steal.
20 Do not give false witness against your neighbour;
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
21 Or let your desire be turned to your neighbour's wife, or his house or his field or his man-servant or his woman-servant or his ox or his ass or anything which is your neighbour's.
You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house or field, or his manservant or maidservant, or his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
22 These words the Lord said to all of you together on the mountain, out of the heart of the fire, out of the cloud and the dark, with a great voice: and he said no more; he put them in writing on the two stones of the law and gave them to me.
The LORD spoke these commandments in a loud voice to your whole assembly out of the fire, the cloud, and the deep darkness on the mountain; He added nothing more. And He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me.
23 And after hearing the voice which came out of the dark while the mountain was burning with fire, all the heads of your tribes and your chiefs came to me,
And when you heard the voice out of the darkness while the mountain was blazing with fire, all the heads of your tribes and your elders approached me,
24 And said, The Lord has let us see his glory and his power, and his voice has come to us out of the fire: today we have seen that a man may go on living even after hearing the voice of God.
and you said, “Behold, 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 a man can live even if God speaks with him.
25 Why then is death to be our fate? For if the voice of the Lord our God comes to us any more, death will overtake us, and we will be burned up in this great fire.
But now, why should we die? For this great fire will consume us, and we will die, if we hear the voice of the LORD our God any longer.
26 For what man is there in all the earth, who, hearing the voice of the living God as we have, out of the heart of the fire, has been kept from death?
For who of all flesh has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the fire, as we have, and survived?
27 Do you go near: and after hearing everything which the Lord our God has to say, give us an account of all he has said to you, and we will give ear, and do it.
Go near and listen to all that the LORD our God says. Then you can tell us everything the LORD our God tells you; we will listen and obey.”
28 Then the Lord, hearing your words to me, said to me, The words which this people have said to you have come to my ears: what they have said is well said.
And the LORD heard the words you spoke to me, and He said to me, “I have heard the words that these people have spoken to you. They have done well in all that they have spoken.
29 If only they had such a heart in them at all times, so that they might go in fear of me and keep my orders and that it might be well for them and for their children for ever!
If only they had such a heart to fear Me and keep all My commandments always, so that it might be well with them and with their children forever.
30 Now say to them, Go back to your tents.
Go and tell them: ‘Return to your tents.’
31 But as for you, keep your place here by me, and I will give you all the orders and the laws and the decisions which you are to make clear to them, so that they may do them in the land which I am giving them for their heritage.
But you stand here with Me, that I may speak to you all the commandments and statutes and ordinances you are to teach them to follow in the land that I am giving them to possess.”
32 Take care, then, to do whatever the Lord your God has given you orders to do; let there be no turning away to the right hand or to the left.
So be careful to do as the LORD your God has commanded you; you are not to turn aside to the right or to the left.
33 Go on walking in the way ordered for you by the Lord your God, so that life may be yours and it may be well for you, and your days may be long in the land of your heritage.
You must walk in all the ways that the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess.

< Deuteronomy 5 >