Exodus 20
1 Then God said this [to the Israeli people: ]
God spoke all the following words:
2 “I am Yahweh God, the one you [worship]. I am the one who brought you out of Egypt. I am the one who freed you from being slaves [there].
“I am the Lord your God, who led you out of Egypt, out of the land of your slavery.
3 [So] you must worship [only] me; you must not worship any other god.
You must not have any other gods except me.
4 You must not carve/make for yourselves any idol that represents anything in the sky or that is on the ground or that is in the water under the ground/earth.
You must not make for yourself any kind of idol, whether in the form of anything in the heavens above, or on the earth beneath, or in the waters below.
5 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 will punish those who sin and hate me. I will 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 must not bow down before them or worship them; for I am the Lord your God and I am passionately exclusive. I lay the consequences of the sin of those who hate me on their sons, grandsons, and great-grandsons;
6 But I will steadfastly love thousands of generations of those who love me and obey my commandments (OR, I will love for thousands of generations.)
but I show trustworthy love to the thousands of generations who love me and keep my commandments.
7 Do not use 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 my name for wrong/evil purposes [LIT].
You must not use the name of the Lord your God in a wrong way, for the Lord will not forgive anyone who uses his name in a wrong way.
8 Do not forget that the seventh day [of every week] is mine, so dedicate those days to me.
Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.
9 There are six days each week for you to do all your work,
You have six days to work and earn your living,
10 but the seventh day is a day of rest, a day dedicated to me, Yahweh God, the one whom you [should worship]. 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 allow foreigners to work, those who are living in your country.
but the seventh day is the Sabbath to honor the Lord your God. On this day you must not do any work—not you, not your son or daughter, not your male slave or female slave or livestock, and not the foreigner who is staying with you.
11 I, Yahweh, created the sky, the earth, the ocean, and everything that is in them, in six days. Then I stopped my work of creating everything, and rested on the seventh day. That is the reason that I, Yahweh, have blessed the rest day and set it apart [to be a sacred/special day].
For the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and everything in them in six days, and then rested on the seventh day. That's why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
12 Honor/Respect your fathers and your mothers, in order that you may live a long time in the land that I, Yahweh God, will give you.
Honor your father and mother, so that you may live a long time in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
13 Do not murder anyone.
You must not murder.
14 Do not (commit adultery/have sex with anyone other than your spouse).
You must not commit adultery.
15 Do not steal anything.
You must not steal.
16 Do not falsely accuse anyone [of committing a crime].
You must not give false evidence against others.
17 Do not (covet/desire to have) someone else’s house, someone else’s wife, someone else’s male or female slave, someone else’s livestock, someone else’s donkeys, or anything else that some other person owns.”
You must not desire to have anyone else's house. You must not desire to have their wife, or their male slave or female slave, or their ox or donkey, or anything else that belongs to them.”
18 When the people heard the thunder and saw the lightning, and when they heard the sound of the trumpet and saw the smoke on the mountain, they were afraid and trembled. They stood at a distance,
When all the people heard the thunder and the sound of the trumpet, and saw the lightning and the smoke from the mountain, they trembled with fear and stood a long way off.
19 and said to Moses/me, “If you speak to us, we will listen. But do not let God speak any more to us. [We are afraid that] if he speaks [any more] to us, we will die.”
“You speak to us, and we'll listen,” they said to Moses. “But don't let God speak to us, or we'll die.”
20 Moses/I replied, “Do not be afraid! God has come to determine/test [how you will behave]. He wants you to revere him, and to not sin.”
Moses told them, “Do not be afraid, for God has only come to test you. He wants you to be in awe of him so that you don't sin.”
21 Then, as the people [watched from] a distance, Moses/I went close to the black cloud where God was.
The people stood a long way off as Moses went over to the thick, dark cloud where God was.
22 Yahweh said to Moses/me, “Say this to the Israeli people: ‘You have heard how I, Yahweh, have spoken to you from heaven. I told you that you must not make any idols of silver or gold [that you will worship instead] of me.
The Lord told Moses, “This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘You saw for yourselves that I spoke with you from heaven.
You must not make any idols of silver or gold to worship in addition to me.
24 Make for me an altar from dirt. Sacrifice on it the animals that you will burn completely. Also sacrifice on it the animals that you will not burn completely, to maintain fellowship with me. Worship me [MTY] in any place that I choose for you to honor/worship me; and if you do that, I will come to you and bless you.
Make me an altar of earth, and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and peace offerings, your sheep, goats, and cattle. Wherever I decide to be worshiped, I will come to you and bless you.
25 If you make for me an altar from stones, do not make it from stones that you have cut [to make them look nice], because you will make the altar unsuitable for [worshiping] me if you use tools to cut the stones.
Now if you make an altar out of stones for me, you must not build it with cut stones, because if you use a chisel to cut the stone, you make it unholy.
26 Do not make an altar that has steps in front of it, because if you do that, [people] could see your naked [buttocks] as you go up the steps.’”
Also, you must not go up to my altar using steps, so your private parts are not seen.’”
