Deuteronomy 5

Hear, Israel, the Statutes and Judgments

1Moses called all Israel and said to them, “Hear, Israel, the statutes and judgments that I speak in your hearing today. Learn them and be careful to do them. 2The LORD our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. 3Not with our ancestors alone did the LORD make this covenant, but with us, all of us who are alive here today. 4Face to face the LORD spoke with you on the mountain from the midst of the fire— 5I was standing between the LORD and you at that time to declare to you the word of the LORD, for you were afraid because of the fire and did not go up the mountain—saying:

The Ten Words

6“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery. 7You shall have no other gods before me. 8You shall not make for yourself a carved image, any form of what is in the heavens above, on the earth beneath, or in the waters under the earth. 9You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, attending to the guilt of fathers upon children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 10but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. 11You shall not carry the name of the LORD your God for emptiness, for the LORD will not hold innocent anyone who carries his name for emptiness. 12Keep the Sabbath day to consecrate it, as the LORD your God commanded you. 13Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. You shall not do any work—you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, your ox, your donkey, any of your livestock, or the resident alien who is within your gates—so that your male servant and female servant may rest as you do. 15You shall remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day. 16Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God commanded you, so that your days may be long and so that it may go well with you upon the land that the LORD your God is giving you. 17You shall not murder. 18You shall not commit adultery. 19You shall not steal. 20You shall not answer against your neighbor as a false witness. 21You shall not desire your neighbor’s wife. You shall not crave your neighbor’s house, his field, his male servant, his female servant, his ox, his donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

The People Fear the Voice from the Fire

22“These words the LORD spoke to all your assembly on the mountain from the midst of the fire, cloud, and thick darkness, with a great voice, and he added no more. He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me. 23When you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness while the mountain burned with fire, you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes and your elders. 24You said, ‘Look, the LORD our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice from the midst of the fire. This day we have seen that God speaks with humanity and a person lives. 25And now why should we die? For this great fire will consume us. If we continue to hear the voice of the LORD our God any longer, we will die. 26For who is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire as we have and lived? 27You go near and hear all that the LORD our God says. Then you speak to us all that the LORD our God speaks to you, and we will hear and do it.’

The LORD Approves Their Request for a Mediator

28“The LORD heard the sound of your words when you spoke to me, and the LORD said to me, ‘I have heard the sound of the words of this people that they spoke to you. All that they have spoken is good. 29If only they had such a heart in them to fear me and keep all my commandments all the days, so that it might go well with them and with their children forever! 30Go, say to them, “Return to your tents.” 31But you, stand here with me, and I will speak to you all the commandment, the statutes, and the judgments that you shall teach them, so that they may do them in the land that I am giving them to possess.’ 32So you shall be careful to do just as the LORD your God commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right or to the left. 33In all the way that the LORD your God commanded you, you shall walk, so that you may live, and it may go well with you, and you may prolong your days in the land that you will possess.