Exodus 20
1 Then God said this [to the Israeli people: ]
And God speaks all these words, saying,
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] your God YHWH, who has brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of a house of servants.
3 [So] you must worship [only] me; you must not worship any other god.
You have no other Gods before 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 do not make a carved image for yourself, or any likeness which [is] in the heavens above, or which [is] in the earth beneath, or which [is] in the waters under the earth.
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 do not bow yourself to them, nor serve them: for I, your God YHWH, [am] a zealous God, charging iniquity of fathers on sons, on a third and on a fourth [generation] of those hating Me,
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.)
and doing kindness to thousands, of those loving Me and keeping My commands.
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 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.
8 Do not forget that the seventh day [of every week] is mine, so dedicate those days to me.
Remember the Sabbath day to sanctify it;
9 There are six days each week for you to do all your work,
six days you labor and have done all your work,
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.
and the seventh day [is] a Sabbath to your God YHWH; you do not do any work, you, and your son, and your daughter, your manservant, and your handmaid, and your livestock, and your sojourner who is within your gates—
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 [in] six days YHWH has made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that [is] in them, and rests in the seventh day; therefore YHWH has blessed the Sabbath day and sanctifies it.
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 your mother, so that your days are prolonged on the ground which your God YHWH is giving to you.
13 Do not murder anyone.
You do not murder.
14 Do not (commit adultery/have sex with anyone other than your spouse).
You do not commit adultery.
15 Do not steal anything.
You do not steal.
16 Do not falsely accuse anyone [of committing a crime].
You do not answer [with] a false testimony against your neighbor.
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 do not desire the house of your neighbor, you do not desire the wife of your neighbor, or his manservant, or his handmaid, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything which [is] your neighbor’s.”
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,
And all the people are seeing the voices, and the flames, and the sound of the horn, and the mountain smoking; and the people see, and move, and stand far 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.”
and say to Moses, “Speak with us, and we hear, and do not let God speak with us, lest we 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.”
And Moses says to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to try you, and in order that His fear may be before your faces—that you do not sin.”
21 Then, as the people [watched from] a distance, Moses/I went close to the black cloud where God was.
And the people stand far off, and Moses has drawn near to the thick darkness where God [is].
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.
And YHWH says to Moses, “Thus you say to the sons of Israel: You have seen that I have spoken with you from the heavens;
you do not make gods of silver and gods of gold [to be] with Me—you do not make [any idol] for yourselves.
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.
You make an altar of earth for Me, and you have sacrificed on it your burnt-offerings and your peace-offerings, your flock and your herd; in every place where I cause My Name to be remembered I come to you, and have blessed 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.
And if you make an altar of stones for Me, you do not build them of hewn work; when you have waved your tool over it, then you defile it;
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.’”
neither do you go up by steps on My altar, that your nakedness is not revealed on it.
