Israel at Mount Sinai

19 In the third month after the children of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on the same day, ^(A)they came to the Wilderness of Sinai. ² For they had departed from ^(B)Rephidim, had come to the Wilderness of Sinai, and camped in the wilderness. So Israel camped there before ^(C)the mountain.

³ And ^(D)Moses went up to God, and the Lord ^(E)called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel: ^4 (F)‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how ^(G)I ^[a]bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. ⁵ Now ^(H)therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and ^(I)keep My covenant, then ^(J)you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is ^(K)Mine. ⁶ And you shall be to Me a ^(L)kingdom of priests and a ^(M)holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”

⁷ So Moses came and called for the ^(N)elders of the people, and ^[b]laid before them all these words which the Lord commanded him. ⁸ Then ^(O)all the people answered together and said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.” So Moses brought back the words of the people to the Lord. ⁹ And the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I come to you ^(P)in the thick cloud, ^(Q)that the people may hear when I speak with you, and believe you forever.”

So Moses told the words of the people to the Lord.

¹⁰ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and ^(R)consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes. ¹¹ And let them be ready for the third day. For on the third day the Lord will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. ¹² You shall set bounds for the people all around, saying, ‘Take heed to yourselves that you do not go up to the mountain or touch its base. ^(S)Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death. ¹³ Not a hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot with an arrow; whether man or beast, he shall not live.’ When the trumpet sounds long, they shall come near the mountain.”

¹⁴ So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and sanctified the people, and they washed their clothes. ¹⁵ And he said to the people, “Be ready for the third day; ^(T)do not come near your wives.”

¹⁶ Then it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that there were ^(U)thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp ^(V)trembled. ¹⁷ And ^(W)Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. ¹⁸ Now ^(X)Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the Lord descended upon ^(Y)it in fire. ^(Z)Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and ^[c]the ^(AA)whole mountain quaked greatly. ¹⁹ And when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder, ^(AB)Moses spoke, and ^(AC)God answered him by voice. ²⁰ Then the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

²¹ And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people, lest they break through ^(AD)to gaze at the Lord, and many of them perish. ²² Also let the ^(AE)priests who come near the Lord ^(AF)consecrate themselves, lest the Lord ^(AG)break out against them.”

²³ But Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai; for You warned us, saying, ^(AH)‘Set bounds around the mountain and consecrate it.’ ”

²⁴ Then the Lord said to him, “Away! Get down and then come up, you and Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the Lord, lest He break out against them.” ²⁵ So Moses went down to the people and spoke to them.

The Ten Commandments^(AI)

20 And God spoke ^(AJ)all these words, saying:

The People Afraid of God’s Presence

¹⁸ Now ^(BI)all the people ^(BJ)witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain ^(BK)smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. ¹⁹ Then they said to Moses, ^(BL)“You speak with us, and we will hear; but ^(BM)let not God speak with us, lest we die.”

²⁰ And Moses said to the people, ^(BN)“Do not fear; ^(BO)for God has come to test you, and ^(BP)that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin.” ²¹ So the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near ^(BQ)the thick darkness where God was.

The Law of the Altar

²² Then the Lord said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘You have seen that I have talked with you ^(BR)from heaven. ²³ You shall not make anything to be ^(BS)with Me—gods of silver or gods of gold you shall not make for yourselves. ²⁴ An altar of ^(BT)earth you shall make for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, ^(BU)your sheep and your oxen. In every ^(BV)place where I ^[g]record My name I will come to you, and I will ^(BW)bless you. ²⁵ And ^(BX)if you make Me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stone; for if you ^(BY)use your tool on it, you have profaned it. ²⁶ Nor shall you go up by steps to My altar, that your ^(BZ)nakedness may not be exposed on it.’

The Law Concerning Servants^(CA)

21 “Now these are the ^[h]judgments which you shall ^(CB)set before them: ^2 (CC)If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years; and in the seventh he shall go out free and pay nothing. ³ If he comes in by himself, he shall go out by himself; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him. ⁴ If his master has given him a wife, and she has borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself. ^5 (CD)But if the servant plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’ ⁶ then his master shall bring him to the ^(CE)judges. He shall also bring him to the door, or to the doorpost, and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him forever.

⁷ “And if a man ^(CF)sells his daughter to be a female slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do. ⁸ If she ^[i]does not please her master, who has betrothed her to himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has dealt deceitfully with her. ⁹ And if he has betrothed her to his son, he shall deal with her according to the custom of daughters. ¹⁰ If he takes another wife, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, ^(CG)and her marriage rights. ¹¹ And if he does not do these three for her, then she shall go out free, without paying money.

The Law Concerning Violence

^12 (CH)“He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death. ¹³ However, ^(CI)if he did not lie in wait, but God ^(CJ)delivered him into his hand, then ^(CK)I will appoint for you a place where he may flee.

¹⁴ “But if a man acts with ^(CL)premeditation against his neighbor, to kill him by treachery, ^(CM)you shall take him from My altar, that he may die.

¹⁵ “And he who strikes his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.

^16 (CN)“He who kidnaps a man and ^(CO)sells him, or if he is ^(CP)found in his hand, shall surely be put to death.

¹⁷ “And ^(CQ)he who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.

¹⁸ “If men contend with each other, and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist, and he does not die but is confined to his bed, ¹⁹ if he rises again and walks about outside ^(CR)with his staff, then he who struck him shall be ^[j]acquitted. He shall only pay for the loss of his time, and shall provide for him to be thoroughly healed.

²⁰ “And if a man beats his male or female servant with a rod, so that he dies under his hand, he shall surely be punished. ²¹ Notwithstanding, if he remains alive a day or two, he shall not be punished; for he is his ^(CS)property.

²² “If men ^[k]fight, and hurt a woman with child, so that ^[l]she gives birth prematurely, yet no harm follows, he shall surely be punished accordingly as the woman’s husband imposes on him; and he shall ^(CT)pay as the judges determine. ²³ But if any harm follows, then you shall give life for life, ^24 (CU)eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, ²⁵ burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

²⁶ “If a man strikes the eye of his male or female servant, and destroys it, he shall let him go free for the sake of his eye. ²⁷ And if he knocks out the tooth of his male or female servant, he shall let him go free for the sake of his tooth.

Animal Control Laws

²⁸ “If an ox gores a man or a woman to death, then ^(CV)the ox shall surely be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be ^[m]acquitted. ²⁹ But if the ox ^[n]tended to thrust with its horn in times past, and it has been made known to his owner, and he has not kept it confined, so that it has killed a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned and its owner also shall be put to death. ³⁰ If there is imposed on him a sum of money, then he shall pay ^(CW)to redeem his life, whatever is imposed on him. ³¹ Whether it has gored a son or gored a daughter, according to this judgment it shall be done to him. ³² If the ox gores a male or female servant, he shall give to their master ^(CX)thirty shekels of silver, and the ^(CY)ox shall be stoned.

³³ “And if a man opens a pit, or if a man digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls in it, ³⁴ the owner of the pit shall make it good; he shall give money to their owner, but the dead animal shall be his.

³⁵ “If one man’s ox hurts another’s, so that it dies, then they shall sell the live ox and divide the money from it; and the dead ox they shall also divide. ³⁶ Or if it was known that the ox tended to thrust in time past, and its owner has not kept it confined, he shall surely pay ox for ox, and the dead animal shall be his own.