Deuteronomy 5

1 And Moses calls to all Israel and says to them, “Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the judgments which I am speaking in your ears today, and you have learned them and have observed to do them.

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 Our God YHWH made a covenant with us in Horeb;

When we were at Sinai [Mountain], Yahweh our God made an agreement with us.

3 YHWH has not made this covenant with our fathers, but with us, we—these here—all of us living today.

But this agreement was not only for our ancestors. He made it also for us who are alive now.

4 YHWH has spoken with you face to face on the mountain, out of the midst of the fire;

Yahweh spoke with us face-to-face on that mountain, from the middle of the fire.

5 I am standing between YHWH and you, at that time, to declare the word of YHWH to you, for you have been afraid from the presence of the fire, and you have not gone up into the mountain; for [He] says:

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, YHWH, [am] your God who has brought you out from the land of Egypt, from a house of servants.

‘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 You have no other gods in My presence.

[You must worship only] me; you must not worship any other god.

8 You do not make a carved image for yourself, any likeness which [is] in the heavens above, or which [is] in the earth beneath, or which [is] 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 You do not bow yourself to them, nor serve them: for I, your God YHWH, [am] a zealous God, charging iniquity of fathers on sons, and on a third and on a fourth [generation] of those hating 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 doing kindness to thousands, of those loving Me and of those keeping My commands.

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 You do not take up the Name of your God YHWH for a vain thing, for YHWH does not acquit him who takes up His Name for 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 Sabbath day to sanctify it, as your God YHWH has commanded you;

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 you labor and have done all your work,

There are six days each week for you to do all your work,

14 and the seventh day [is] a Sabbath to your God YHWH; you do not do any work, you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your handmaid, and your ox, and your donkey, and all your livestock, and your sojourner who [is] within your gates, so that your manservant and your handmaid rest like yourself.

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 And you have remembered that you have been a servant in the land of Egypt, and your God YHWH brings you out from there by a strong hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore your God YHWH has commanded you to keep 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 Honor your father and your mother, as your God YHWH has commanded you, so that your days are prolonged, and so that it is well with you on the ground which your God YHWH is giving to you.

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 You do not murder.

Do not murder anyone.

18 You do not commit adultery.

Do not (commit adultery/have sex with anyone other than your spouse).

19 You do not steal.

Do not steal anything.

20 You do not answer [with] a false testimony against your neighbor.

Do not tell lies about anyone [when you are speaking in a court].

21 You do not desire your neighbor’s wife, nor do you covet your neighbor’s house, his field, and his manservant, and his handmaid, his ox, and his donkey, and anything which [is] your neighbor’s.

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 YHWH has spoken these words to all your assembly in the mountain, out of the midst of the fire, [and] of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, [with] a great voice; and He has not added; and He writes them on two tablets of stone and gives them to 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 And it comes to pass, as you hear the voice out of the midst of the darkness and of the mountain burning with fire, that you come near to me, all [the] heads of your tribes and your elderly,

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 and say, Behold, our God YHWH has showed us His glory and His greatness; and we have heard His voice out of the midst of the fire; this day we have seen that God speaks with man—and he has 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 And now, why do we die? For this great fire consumes us if we add to hear the voice of our God YHWH anymore—then we have died.

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 For who of all flesh [is] he who has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire like us, and lives?

(Who has/Certainly no human has) remained alive after hearing the all-powerful God speak [MTY] to them from a fire.

27 Draw near and hear all that which our God YHWH says, and you, you speak to us all that which our God YHWH speaks to you, and we have listened and done it.

[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 YHWH hears the voice of your words in your speaking to me, and YHWH says to me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken to you; they have done well [in] all that they have spoken.

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 O that their heart had been thus to them, to fear Me and to keep My commands [for] all the days, that it may be well with them and with their sons for all time!

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, say to them, Return for yourselves, to your tents;

So go [down] and tell them to return to their tents.

31 and you, stand here with Me, and let Me speak to you all the command, and the statutes, and the judgments which you teach them, and they have done [them] in the land which I am giving to them to possess it.

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 And you have observed to do as your God YHWH has commanded you, you do not turn aside [to] the right or 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 in all the way which your God YHWH has commanded you—walk, so that you live, and [it is] well with you, and you have prolonged days in the land which you possess.”

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.’”