Deuteronomy · Bible in Basic English
Deuteronomy 5 Bible in Basic English
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 And Moses sent for all Israel, and said to them, Give ear, O Israel, to the laws and the decisions which I give you today, and give attention to them so that you may keep and do them.
1 Moses called to all Israel, and said to them, “Hear, Israel, the statutes and the ordinances which I speak in your ears today, that you may learn them, and observe to do them.”
2 The Lord our God made an agreement with us in Horeb.
2 Yahweh our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.
3 The Lord did not make this agreement with our fathers but with us, who are all living and present here today.
3 Yahweh didn’t make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive today.
4 The word of the Lord came to you face to face on the mountain, out of the heart of the fire,
4 Yahweh spoke with you face to face on the mountain out of the middle of the fire,
5 (I was between the Lord and you at that time, to make clear to you the word of the Lord: because, through fear of the fire, you did not go up the mountain;) saying,
5 (I stood between Yahweh and you at that time, to show you Yahweh’s word; for you were afraid because of the fire, and didn’t go up onto the mountain) saying,
6 I am the Lord your God, who took you out of the land of Egypt, out of the prison-house.
6 “I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
7 You are to have no other gods but me.
7 “You shall have no other gods before me.
8 You may not make for yourselves an image in the form of anything in heaven or on earth or in the waters under the earth:
8 “You shall not make a carved image for yourself—any likeness of what is in heaven above, or what is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
9 You may not go down on your faces before them or give them worship: for I, the Lord your God, am a God who will not give his honour to another; and I will send punishment on the children for the wrongdoing of their fathers, to the third and fourth generation of my haters;
9 You shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me
10 And I will have mercy through a thousand generations on those who have love for me and keep my laws.
10 and showing loving kindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
11 You are not to make use of the name of the Lord your God for an evil purpose; whoever takes the Lord's name on his lips for an evil purpose will be judged as a sinner by the Lord.
11 “You shall not misuse the name of Yahweh your God; for Yahweh will not hold him guiltless who misuses his name.
12 Keep the Sabbath day as a holy day, as you have been ordered by the Lord your God.
12 “Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as Yahweh your God commanded you.
13 On six days do all your work:
13 You shall labor six days, and do all your work;
14 But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; on that day do no work, you or your son or your daughter, or your man-servant or your woman-servant, or your ox or your ass or any of your cattle, or the man from a strange country who is living among you; so that your man-servant and your woman-servant may have rest as well as you.
14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your God, in which you shall not do any work—neither you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your livestock, nor your stranger who is within your gates; that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you.
15 And keep in mind that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord your God took you out of that land by his strong hand and his stretched-out arm: for this reason the Lord has given you orders to keep the Sabbath day.
15 You shall remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and Yahweh your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm. Therefore Yahweh your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
16 Give honour to your father and your mother, as you have been ordered by the Lord your God; so that your life may be long and all may be well for you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
16 “Honor your father and your mother, as Yahweh your God commanded you, that your days may be long and that it may go well with you in the land which Yahweh your God gives you.
17 Do not put anyone to death without cause.
17 “You shall not murder.
18 Do not be false to the married relation.
18 “You shall not commit adultery.
19 Do not take the property of another.
19 “You shall not steal.
20 Do not give false witness against your neighbour;
20 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
21 Or let your desire be turned to your neighbour's wife, or his house or his field or his man-servant or his woman-servant or his ox or his ass or anything which is your neighbour's.
21 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. Neither shall you desire your neighbor’s house, his field, or his male servant, or his female servant, his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”
22 These words the Lord said to all of you together on the mountain, out of the heart of the fire, out of the cloud and the dark, with a great voice: and he said no more; he put them in writing on the two stones of the law and gave them to me.
22 Yahweh spoke these words to all your assembly on the mountain out of the middle of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice. He added no more. He wrote them on two stone tablets, and gave them to me.
23 And after hearing the voice which came out of the dark while the mountain was burning with fire, all the heads of your tribes and your chiefs came to me,
23 When you heard the voice out of the middle of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your elders;
24 And said, The Lord has let us see his glory and his power, and his voice has come to us out of the fire: today we have seen that a man may go on living even after hearing the voice of God.
24 and you said, “Behold, Yahweh our God has shown us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the middle of the fire. We have seen today that God does speak with man, and he lives.
25 Why then is death to be our fate? For if the voice of the Lord our God comes to us any more, death will overtake us, and we will be burned up in this great fire.
25 Now therefore, why should we die? For this great fire will consume us. If we hear Yahweh our God’s voice any more, then we shall die.
26 For what man is there in all the earth, who, hearing the voice of the living God as we have, out of the heart of the fire, has been kept from death?
26 For who is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the middle of the fire, as we have, and lived?
27 Do you go near: and after hearing everything which the Lord our God has to say, give us an account of all he has said to you, and we will give ear, and do it.
27 Go near, and hear all that Yahweh our God shall say, and tell us all that Yahweh our God tells you; and we will hear it, and do it.”
28 Then the Lord, hearing your words to me, said to me, The words which this people have said to you have come to my ears: what they have said is well said.
28 Yahweh heard the voice of your words when you spoke to me; and Yahweh said to me, “I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken to you. They have well said all that they have spoken.
29 If only they had such a heart in them at all times, so that they might go in fear of me and keep my orders and that it might be well for them and for their children for ever!
29 Oh that there were such a heart in them that they would fear me and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!
30 Now say to them, Go back to your tents.
30 “Go tell them, ‘Return to your tents.’
31 But as for you, keep your place here by me, and I will give you all the orders and the laws and the decisions which you are to make clear to them, so that they may do them in the land which I am giving them for their heritage.
31 But as for you, stand here by me, and I will tell you all the commandments, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which you shall teach them, that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess.”
32 Take care, then, to do whatever the Lord your God has given you orders to do; let there be no turning away to the right hand or to the left.
32 You shall observe to do therefore as Yahweh your God has commanded you. You shall not turn away to the right hand or to the left.
33 Go on walking in the way ordered for you by the Lord your God, so that life may be yours and it may be well for you, and your days may be long in the land of your heritage.
33 You shall walk in all the way which Yahweh your God has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess.
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Moses
Drawn from the Nile, he led Israel out of Egypt and received God's Law.
Cited in the guide: Exodus 2–Deuteronomy 34
Cross references (32)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Deuteronomy 4:1; Matthew 23:3; Deuteronomy 29:10; Deuteronomy 1:1; Deuteronomy 29:2
- 2 Deuteronomy 4:23; Exodus 19:5–8; Exodus 24:8; Hebrews 9:19–23; Hebrews 8:6–13
- 3 Deuteronomy 29:10–15; Hebrews 8:8–9; Psalm 105:8–10; Genesis 17:7; Jeremiah 32:38–40
- 4 Exodus 19:18–19; Deuteronomy 34:10; Exodus 19:9; Deuteronomy 4:36; Deuteronomy 4:33
- 5 Galatians 3:19; Exodus 20:18–21; Exodus 19:16; Hebrews 12:18–24; Numbers 16:48
- 6 Exodus 20:2–17; Psalm 81:5–10; Leviticus 26:1–2; Deuteronomy 4:4
- 7 Exodus 20:3; Matthew 4:10; 1 John 5:21; John 5:23
- 8 Exodus 20:4; Deuteronomy 4:15–19
- 9 Exodus 20:4–6; Exodus 34:7; Daniel 9:4–9; Numbers 14:18; Exodus 34:14
- 10 Romans 8:28; 1 John 1:7; Jeremiah 32:18; John 15:14; Daniel 9:4
- 11 Exodus 20:7; Leviticus 19:12; Deuteronomy 6:13; Matthew 5:33–34; James 5:12
- 12 Exodus 20:8–11; Isaiah 58:13; Isaiah 56:6
- 13 Ezekiel 20:12; Luke 13:14–16; Exodus 35:2–3; Exodus 23:12; Luke 23:56
- 14 Hebrews 4:4; Genesis 2:2; Exodus 16:29–30; Exodus 23:12; Nehemiah 13:21
- 15 Deuteronomy 5:6; Deuteronomy 15:15; Deuteronomy 16:12; Ephesians 2:11–12; Deuteronomy 24:18–22
- 16 Exodus 20:12; Ephesians 6:1–3; Colossians 3:20; Deuteronomy 4:40; Deuteronomy 27:16
- 17 Exodus 20:13; Romans 13:9; Matthew 5:21–22; Genesis 9:6; James 2:11
- 18 Exodus 20:14; Luke 18:20; Matthew 5:27–28; Leviticus 20:10; Proverbs 6:32–33
- 19 Exodus 20:15; Romans 13:9; Ephesians 4:28
- 20 Exodus 20:16; Exodus 23:1; Proverbs 19:9; Proverbs 19:5; Malachi 3:5
- 21 Exodus 20:17; Romans 13:9; Luke 12:15; 1 Kings 21:1–4; 1 Timothy 6:9–10
- 22 Exodus 24:12; Exodus 31:18; Deuteronomy 4:12–15; Deuteronomy 4:36; Deuteronomy 5:4
- 23 Exodus 20:18–19; Hebrews 12:18–21
- 24 Deuteronomy 4:33; Exodus 19:19; Exodus 33:20; Genesis 32:30; Judges 13:22
- 25 Deuteronomy 18:16; Hebrews 12:29; 2 Corinthians 3:7–9; Galatians 3:21–22; Deuteronomy 33:2
- 26 Deuteronomy 4:33; Romans 3:20; Matthew 26:63; 2 Corinthians 6:16; Psalm 84:2
- 27 Exodus 20:19; Hebrews 12:19
- 28 Deuteronomy 18:17; Numbers 36:5; Numbers 27:7
- 29 Isaiah 48:18; Ezekiel 33:31–32; Deuteronomy 11:1; Matthew 23:37; Luke 19:42
- 31 Galatians 3:19; Deuteronomy 12:1; Ezekiel 20:11; Exodus 24:12; Deuteronomy 4:45
- 32 Proverbs 4:27; Joshua 23:6; Joshua 1:7; Deuteronomy 17:20; Deuteronomy 28:14
- 33 Jeremiah 7:23; Deuteronomy 4:40; Luke 1:6; 1 Timothy 4:8; Deuteronomy 10:12
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
… expound it; but his meaning is similar to that of Moses, when it is said, "Thou shalt not make to thyself any image for God, of whatsoever things are in heaven above, whatsoever in the earth beneath, and whatsoever in the waters under the earth." And he does thus explain what are meant by the things in heaven: "Lest when," …
For if we attribute them to ourselves, they shall be servile; for it is said of the Sabbath, "Ye shall do no servile work in it." Wherefore also it is said by Ezekiel the prophet, "And I gave them my Sabbaths to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctify …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)
… us honour also the fathers of our flesh: since the Lord Himself hath evidently so appointed in the Law and the Prophets, saying, Honour thy father and thy mother, that it may be well with thee, and thy days shall be long in the land.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)
As Moses says in Deuteronomy, "These are all the words which the Lord spake to the whole assembly of the sons of Israel on the mount, and He added no more; and He wrote them on two tables of stone, and gave them to me." For this reason [He did so], that they who are willing to follow Him might …
For it is written in the Law, "Thou shalt not bear false witness;" and it is written in the Law, "All men are liars." Recur then to that which I just lately suggested, when I defined in words as best I could the "meek" man.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 6 (1888)