Deuteronomy 5
1 And Moses called all Israel, and said to them: Hear, O Israel, the ceremonies and judgments, which I speak in your ears this day: learn them, and fulfill them in work.
Moses/I summoned all the people of Israel and said to them, “You Israeli people, listen to all the rules and regulations that I am giving to you today. Learn them and be sure to obey them.
2 The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.
When we were at Sinai [Mountain], Yahweh our God made an agreement with us.
3 He made not the covenant with our fathers, but with us, who are now present and living.
But this agreement was not only for our ancestors. He made it also for us who are alive now.
4 He spoke to us face to face in the mount out of the midst of fire.
Yahweh spoke with us face-to-face on that mountain, from the middle of the fire.
5 I was the mediator and stood between the Lord and you at that time, to shew you his words, for you feared the fire, and went not up into the mountain, and he said:
On that day, I stood between your ancestors and Yahweh to tell them what he said, because they were afraid of the fire, and they did not climb up the mountain. This is what Yahweh said:
6 I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
‘I am Yahweh your God, the one you [worship]. I am the one who brought you out of the land of Egypt. I am the one who freed you from being slaves [there].
7 Thou shalt not have strange gods in my sight.
[You must worship only] me; you must not worship any other god.
8 Thou shalt not make to thyself a graven thing, nor the likeness of any things, that are in heaven above, or that are in the earth beneath, or that abide in the waters under the earth.
You must not carve/make for yourselves any idol that represents anything in the sky or anything that is on the ground or anything that swims in the water.
9 Thou shalt not adore them, and thou shalt not serve them. For I am the Lord thy God, a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon their children unto the third and fourth generation, to them that hate me,
You must not bow down to any idol and worship it, because I am Yahweh God, and I (am very jealous/want you to worship me only). I punish those who sin and hate me. I punish not only them, but I will punish (their descendants, down to the third and fourth generation/their children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren).
10 And shewing mercy unto many thousands, to them that love me, and keep my commandments.
But I will steadfastly love (thousands of generations/all the descendants) of those who love me and obey my commandments (OR, I will love for thousands of generations).
11 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: for he shall not be unpunished that taketh his name upon a vain thing.
Do not use/speak my name carelessly (OR, for wrong/evil purposes), because I am Yahweh God, the one whom you [should worship], and I will certainly punish those who use/speak my name for wrong/evil purposes [LIT].
12 Observe the day of the sabbath, to sanctify it, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee.
Do not forget that the seventh day [of every week] is mine. Dedicate those days to me just like I, Yahweh your God, am commanding you.
13 Six days shalt thou labour, and shalt do all thy works.
There are six days each week for you to do all your work,
14 The seventh is the day of the sabbath, that is, the rest of the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not do any work therein, thou nor thy son nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant nor thy maidservant, nor thy ox, nor thy ass, nor any of thy beasts, nor the stranger that is within thy gates: that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest, even as thyself.
but the seventh day is a rest day, a day dedicated to me, Yahweh your God. On that day you must not do any work. You and your sons and daughters and your male and female slaves must not work. You must not even force your livestock to work, and you must not tell foreigners to work, those who are living in your country. You must allow your slaves to rest on that day just like you do.
15 Remember that thou also didst serve in Egypt, and the Lord thy God brought thee out from thence with a strong hand, and a stretched out arm. Therefore hath he commanded thee that thou shouldst observe the sabbath day.
Do not forget that you were slaves in Egypt, and that I, Yahweh your God, brought you out from there by my very great power. [DOU, MTY] That is the reason that I am commanding that [all of] you must rest on the seventh/Sabbath day [each week].
16 Honour thy father and mother, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee, that thou mayst live a long time, and it may be well with thee in the land, which the Lord thy God will give thee.
Honor/Respect your fathers and your mothers, just like I, Yahweh your God, am commanding you, in order that you may live a long time in the land that I, Yahweh your God, will give you, and in order that things will go well for you there.
17 Thou shalt not kill.
Do not murder anyone.
18 Neither shalt thou commit adultery.
Do not (commit adultery/have sex with anyone other than your spouse).
19 And thou shalt not steal.
Do not steal anything.
20 Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbour.
Do not tell lies about anyone [when you are speaking in a court].
21 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife: nor his house, nor his field, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is his.
Do not (covet/desire to have) someone else’s wife, someone else’s house, someone else’s fields, someone else’s male slave or female slave, someone else’s livestock, someone else’s donkeys, or anything else that another person owns.’
22 These words the Lord spoke to all the multitude of you in the mountain, out of the midst of the fire and the cloud, and the darkness, with a loud voice, adding nothing more: and he wrote them in two tables of stone, which he delivered unto me.
Those are the commandments that Yahweh spoke to your ancestors. When they were gathered there at [the bottom of] the mountain, he spoke with a very loud voice from the middle of the fire, and there were dark clouds surrounding the mountain. He spoke only those [ten] commandments, no more. Then he wrote them on two stone tablets and gave them to me.
23 But you, after you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, and saw the mountain burn, came to me, all the princes of the tribes and the elders, and you said:
After your ancestors heard [Yahweh’s] voice when he spoke to them out of the darkness, while there was a big fire burning on the mountain, their leaders and elders came to me,
24 Behold the Lord our God hath shewn us his majesty and his greatness, we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire, and have proved this day that God speaking with man, man hath lived.
and [one of] them said, ‘Listen to us! Yahweh our God showed us that he is very great and glorious when we heard him speak [MTY] from the fire. Today we have realized that it is possible for us humans to continue to live even though God has spoken to us.
25 Why shall we die therefore, and why shall this exceeding great Are consume us: for if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any more, we shall die.
But we are afraid that we will die [RHQ] if we hear Yahweh our God speak [MTY] to us again; his terrible fire will destroy/kill us.
26 What is all flesh, that it should hear the voice of the living God, who speaketh out of the midst of the fire, as we have heard, and be able to live?
(Who has/Certainly no human has) remained alive after hearing the all-powerful God speak [MTY] to them from a fire.
27 Approach thou rather: and hear all things that the Lord our God shall say to thee, and thou shalt speak to us, and we will hear and will do them.
[So Moses], you go [up the mountain] and listen to everything that Yahweh our God will say. Then [come back and] tell us everything that he has said, and we will listen to what he has said and obey it.’
28 And when the Lord had heard this, he said to me: I have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they spoke to thee: they have spoken all things well.
Yahweh heard your leaders say that, so [when I went back up the mountain], Yahweh said to me, ‘I have heard what your leaders have said, and what they have said is right/correct.
29 Who shall give them to have such a mind, to fear me, and to keep all my commandments at all times, that it may be well with them and with their children for ever?
I surely wish that they would always think like that and revere me and obey all my commandments, in order that things may go well for them and for their descendants forever.
30 Go and say to them: Return into your tents.
So go [down] and tell them to return to their tents.
31 But stand thou here with me, and I will speak to thee all my commandments, and ceremonies and judgments: which thou shalt teach them, that they may do them in the land, which I will give them for a possession.
But [then] you [come back up here and] stand near me, and I will give to you all the rules and regulations that I [want them to obey]. Then you can teach them to the people, in order that they will obey them when they are in the land that I am giving to them.’
32 Keep therefore and do the things which the Lord God hath commanded you: you shall not go aside neither to the right hand, nor to the left.
[So I went back down to the people, and I said to them], ‘Be sure that you do everything that Yahweh our God has commanded us to do. Do not disobey any of his laws.
33 But you shall walk in the way that the Lord your God hath commanded, that you may live, and it may be well with you, and your days may be long in the land of your possession.
Conduct your lives as Yahweh our God has commanded us to do, in order that you may live a long time, and in order that things will go well for you [when you are living] in the land that you will occupy.’”
