1 And the Lord spoke all these words: 2 I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3 Thou shalt not have strange gods before me. 4 Thou shalt not make to thyself a graven thing, nor the likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, nor of those things that are in the waters under the earth. 5 Thou shalt not adore them, nor serve them: I am the Lord thy God, mighty, jealous, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me: 6 And shewing mercy unto thousands to them that love me, and keep my commandments. 7 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that shall take the name of the Lord his God in vain. 8 Remember that thou keep holy the sabbath day. 9 Six days shalt thou labour, and shalt do all thy works. 10 But on the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: thou shalt do no work on it, thou nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy beast, nor the stranger that is within thy gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and the sea, and all things that are in them, and rested on the seventh day: therefore the Lord blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it. 12 Honour thy father and thy mother, that thou mayest be longlived upon the land which the Lord thy God will give thee. 13 Thou shalt not kill. 14 Thou shalt not commit adultery. 15 Thou shalt not steal. 16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. 17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house: neither shalt thou desire his wife, nor his servant, nor his handmaid, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is his. 18 And all the people saw the voices and the flames, and the sound of the trumpet, and the mount smoking: and being terrified and struck with fear, they stood afar off, 19 Saying to Moses: Speak thou to us, and we will hear: let not the Lord speak to us, lest we die. 20 And Moses said to the people: Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that the dread of him might be in you, and you should not sin. 21 And the people stood afar off. But Moses went to the dark cloud wherein God was. 22 And the Lord said to Moses: Thus shalt thou say to the children of Israel: You have seen that I have spoken to you from heaven. 23 You shall not make gods of silver, nor shall you make to yourselves gods of gold. 24 You shall make an altar of earth unto me, and you shall offer upon it your holocausts and peace offerings, your sheep and oxen, in every place where the memory of my name shall be: I will come to thee, and will bless thee. 25 And if thou make an altar of stone unto me, thou shalt not build it of hewn stones: for if thou lift up a tool upon it, it shall be defiled. 26 Thou shalt not go up by steps unto my altar, lest thy nakedness be discovered.
Exodus · Douay-Rheims (Challoner), American Edition 1899
Exodus 20 Douay-Rheims (Challoner), American Edition 1899
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
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 (26)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Deuteronomy 5:22; Deuteronomy 5:4; Deuteronomy 4:36; Deuteronomy 4:33; Acts 7:38
- 2 Deuteronomy 5:6; Hosea 13:4; Leviticus 26:13; Psalm 81:10; Exodus 13:3
- 3 Deuteronomy 5:7; Matthew 4:10; Psalm 81:9; Isaiah 46:9; Deuteronomy 6:14
- 4 Deuteronomy 5:8; Leviticus 26:1; Deuteronomy 4:15–19; Psalm 97:7; Leviticus 19:4
- 5 Deuteronomy 5:9; Numbers 14:18; Deuteronomy 4:24; Exodus 34:14; Deuteronomy 6:15
- 6 Deuteronomy 7:9; 1 John 5:3; John 14:21; Jeremiah 32:39–40; Deuteronomy 5:29
- 7 Deuteronomy 5:11; Leviticus 19:12; James 5:12; Matthew 5:33–37; Psalm 50:14–16
- 8 Leviticus 26:2; Leviticus 19:3; Exodus 31:13–16; Genesis 2:3; Leviticus 23:3
- 9 Luke 13:14; Exodus 23:12; Exodus 34:21; Leviticus 23:3; Exodus 35:2
- 10 Deuteronomy 5:14–15; Exodus 34:21; Exodus 16:27–28; Numbers 15:32–36; Deuteronomy 24:14–22
- 11 Genesis 1:1–2; Genesis 2:2–3; Exodus 31:17; Mark 2:27–28; Psalm 95:4–7
- 12 Ephesians 6:1–3; Colossians 3:20; Deuteronomy 5:16; Mark 7:10; Proverbs 23:22–25
- 13 Romans 13:9; Deuteronomy 5:17; Genesis 9:5–6; Matthew 5:21–22; Exodus 21:14
- 14 Hebrews 13:4; Deuteronomy 5:18; Romans 7:2–3; Romans 13:9; Leviticus 20:10
- 15 Romans 13:9; Ephesians 4:28; Leviticus 19:11; Leviticus 19:13; Matthew 19:18
- 16 Proverbs 19:5; Matthew 19:18; Psalm 15:3; Exodus 23:1; Deuteronomy 19:15–21
- 17 Romans 13:9; Luke 12:15; Hebrews 13:5; Ephesians 5:5; Colossians 3:5
- 18 Exodus 19:16–18; Jeremiah 23:23; Hebrews 12:18–19; Psalm 139:7–8
- 19 Deuteronomy 18:16; Acts 7:38; Deuteronomy 5:23–27; Exodus 33:20; Galatians 3:19
- 20 Deuteronomy 13:3; Proverbs 3:7; Isaiah 8:13; 1 Samuel 12:20; Proverbs 16:6
- 21 1 Kings 8:12; Psalm 97:2; Psalm 18:9; 1 Timothy 6:16; 2 Chronicles 6:1
- 22 Nehemiah 9:13; Deuteronomy 4:36
- 23 Ezekiel 20:39; Zephaniah 1:5; 2 Kings 17:33; Revelation 22:15; Exodus 20:3–5
- 24 Deuteronomy 12:5; Psalm 132:13–14; 2 Chronicles 6:6; 1 Kings 9:3; Deuteronomy 12:11
- 25 Joshua 8:31; Deuteronomy 27:5–6
- 26 1 Peter 1:16; Ecclesiastes 5:1; Psalm 89:7; Leviticus 10:3; Hebrews 12:28–29
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).
… second time: "And ye have made void the word of God by reason of your tradition;" Christ confessing in the plainest manner Him to be Father and God, who said in the law, "Honour thy father and mother; that it may be well with thee." For the true God did confess the commandment of the law as the word of …
If it is said, "Thou shall not commit adultery, Thou shall not kill, Thou shall not steal," and other similar commandments, not human lips but the divine oracles have enounced them.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)
For, "honor," saith He, "thy father and thy mother, that thou mayest live long upon the earth." And again, "He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death." But He, omitting the first, the reward appointed for them that honor their parents, states that which is more awful, the punishment, I mean, threatened to such as dishonor them; …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)
The Lord came down in fire on Mount Sinai, and the people could not bear it, but said to Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear; and let not God speak to us, lest we die: and again, For who is there of all flesh that hath heard the voice of the living God speaking out of …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)
… things pertaining to God, was not a minister of the Spirit; for the law was given, "ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator," namely Moses, in accordance with the summons of the people, "Speak thou with us,...but let not God speak with us." Thus faith in Moses is referred to the Lord, the Mediator between God and men, …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 8 (1895)