Deuteronomy 5
1 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.
And Moses summoned all of Israel, and he said to them: “Listen, O Israel, to the ceremonies and judgments, which I am speaking to your ears on this day. Learn them, and fulfill them in deed.
2 When we were at Sinai [Mountain], Yahweh our God made an agreement with us.
The Lord our God formed a covenant with us at Horeb.
3 But this agreement was not only for our ancestors. He made it also for us who are alive now.
He did not make the covenant with our fathers, but with us, who are alive and in the present time.
4 Yahweh spoke with us face-to-face on that mountain, from the middle of the fire.
He spoke to us face to face on the mountain, from the midst of fire.
5 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:
I was the mediator, for I was in the middle between the Lord and you, at that time, to announce his words to you. For you were afraid of the fire, and so you did not ascend to the mountain. And he said:
6 ‘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].
‘I am the Lord your God, who led you away from the land of Egypt, from the house of servitude.
7 [You must worship only] me; you must not worship any other god.
You shall not have strange gods in my sight.
8 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.
You shall not make for yourself a graven image, nor the likeness of anything, which is in heaven above, or on earth below, or which abides in the waters under the earth.
9 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).
You shall not adore and you shall not worship these things. For I am the Lord your God, a jealous God, repaying the iniquity of the fathers upon the sons to the third and fourth generation to those who hate me,
10 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).
and acting with mercy in thousands of ways to those who love me and keep my precepts.
11 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].
You shall not use the name of the Lord your God in vain. For he will not go unpunished who takes up his name over an unimportant matter.
12 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.
Observe the day of the Sabbath, so that you may sanctify it, just as the Lord your God has instructed you.
13 There are six days each week for you to do all your work,
For six days, you shall labor and do all your work.
14 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.
The seventh is the day of the Sabbath, that is, the rest of the Lord your God. You shall not do any work in it, nor shall your son, nor daughter, nor man servant, nor woman servant, nor ox, nor donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor the sojourner who is within your gates, so that your men and woman servants may rest, just as you do.
15 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].
Remember that you also were servants in Egypt, and the Lord your God led you away from that place with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. Because of this, he has instructed you so that you would observe the Sabbath day.
16 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.
Honor your father and mother, just as the Lord your God has instructed you, so that you may live a long time, and so that it may be well with you in the land, which the Lord your God will give to you.
17 Do not murder anyone.
You shall not murder.
18 Do not (commit adultery/have sex with anyone other than your spouse).
And you shall not commit adultery.
19 Do not steal anything.
And you shall not commit theft.
20 Do not tell lies about anyone [when you are speaking in a court].
Neither shall you speak false testimony against your neighbor.
21 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.’
You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his house, nor his field, nor his man servant, nor his woman servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything out of all that is his.’
22 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.
The Lord spoke these words to the entire multitude of you on the mountain, from the midst of the fire and the cloud and the darkness, with a loud voice, adding nothing more. And he wrote them on two tablets of stone, which he delivered to me.
23 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,
Then, after you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness, and you saw the mountain burning, you approached me, all you leaders of the tribes and those greater by birth. And you said:
24 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.
‘Behold, the Lord our God has revealed to us his majesty and his greatness. We have heard his voice from the midst of fire, and we have proven today that, though God is speaking with man, man has lived.
25 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.
Therefore, why should we die, and why should this very great fire devour us? For if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any longer, we will die.
26 (Who has/Certainly no human has) remained alive after hearing the all-powerful God speak [MTY] to them from a fire.
What is all flesh, that it would hear the voice of the living God, who speaks from the midst of fire, just as we have heard it, and be able to live?
27 [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.’
Instead, you should approach and listen to all the things that the Lord our God will say to you. And you will speak to us, and we will listen and do these things.’
28 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.
But 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 you. All this, they have spoken well.
29 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.
Who will grant to them to have such a mind, so that they may fear me, and may keep all my commandments at all times, so that it may be well with them and with their sons forever?
30 So go [down] and tell them to return to their tents.
Go and say to them: Return to your tents.
31 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.’
But as for you, stand here with me, and I will speak to you all my commandments and ceremonies, as well as judgments. These, you shall teach them, so that they may do them in the land, which I will give to them as a possession.
32 [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.
And so, keep and do the things which the Lord God has commanded you. You shall not turn aside, neither to the right, nor to the left.
33 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.’”
For you shall walk in the way that the Lord your God has instructed, so that you may live, and it may be well with you, and your days may be extended in the land of your possession.’”
