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Exodus · JPS Tanakh (1917)

Exodus 20 JPS Tanakh (1917)

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About JPS
  • Jewish
  • OT: Masoretic Hebrew
  • Hebrew Bible (Tanakh)
  • Formal (word for word)
  • 1917
  • Public domain

Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings

Notes on this text (1)

1 And God spoke all these words, saying: 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 have no other gods before Me. 4 Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, nor any manner of likeness, of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 5 thou shalt not bow down unto them, nor serve them; for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me; 6 and showing mercy unto the thousandth generation of 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 taketh His name in vain. 8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work; 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath unto the LORD thy God, in it thou shalt not do any manner of work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; 11 for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested on the seventh day; wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. 12 Honour thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. 13 Thou shalt not murder. 14 (20-13) Thou shalt not commit adultery. 15 (20-13) Thou shalt not steal. 16 (20-13) Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. 17 (20-14) Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house; thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's. 18 (20-15) And all the people perceived the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the voice of the horn, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled, and stood afar off. 19 (20-16) And they said unto Moses: 'Speak thou with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.' 20 (20-17) And Moses said unto the people: 'Fear not; for God is come to prove you, and that His fear may be before you, that ye sin not.' 21 (20-18) And the people stood afar off; but Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was. 22 (20-19) And the LORD said unto Moses: Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel: Ye yourselves have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. 23 (20-20) Ye shall not make with Me — gods of silver, or gods of gold, ye shall not make unto you. 24 (20-21) An altar of earth thou shalt make unto Me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt-offerings, and thy peace-offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen; in every place where I cause My name to be mentioned I will come unto thee and bless thee. 25 (20-22) And if thou make Me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stones; for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast profaned it. 26 (20-23) Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto Mine altar, that thy nakedness be not uncovered thereon.

People & places in this chapter

From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.

People

  • Moses

    Deliverer and lawgiver

    Drawn from the Nile, he led Israel out of Egypt and received God's Law.

    Cited in the guide: Exodus 2–Deuteronomy 34

    See in the family tree

Cross references (26)

Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.

  1. 1 Deuteronomy 5:22; Deuteronomy 5:4; Deuteronomy 4:36; Deuteronomy 4:33; Acts 7:38
  2. 2 Deuteronomy 5:6; Hosea 13:4; Leviticus 26:13; Psalm 81:10; Exodus 13:3
  3. 3 Deuteronomy 5:7; Matthew 4:10; Psalm 81:9; Isaiah 46:9; Deuteronomy 6:14
  4. 4 Deuteronomy 5:8; Leviticus 26:1; Deuteronomy 4:15–19; Psalm 97:7; Leviticus 19:4
  5. 5 Deuteronomy 5:9; Numbers 14:18; Deuteronomy 4:24; Exodus 34:14; Deuteronomy 6:15
  6. 6 Deuteronomy 7:9; 1 John 5:3; John 14:21; Jeremiah 32:39–40; Deuteronomy 5:29
  7. 7 Deuteronomy 5:11; Leviticus 19:12; James 5:12; Matthew 5:33–37; Psalm 50:14–16
  8. 8 Leviticus 26:2; Leviticus 19:3; Exodus 31:13–16; Genesis 2:3; Leviticus 23:3
  9. 9 Luke 13:14; Exodus 23:12; Exodus 34:21; Leviticus 23:3; Exodus 35:2
  10. 10 Deuteronomy 5:14–15; Exodus 34:21; Exodus 16:27–28; Numbers 15:32–36; Deuteronomy 24:14–22
  11. 11 Genesis 1:1–2; Genesis 2:2–3; Exodus 31:17; Mark 2:27–28; Psalm 95:4–7
  12. 12 Ephesians 6:1–3; Colossians 3:20; Deuteronomy 5:16; Mark 7:10; Proverbs 23:22–25
  13. 13 Romans 13:9; Deuteronomy 5:17; Genesis 9:5–6; Matthew 5:21–22; Exodus 21:14
  14. 14 Hebrews 13:4; Deuteronomy 5:18; Romans 7:2–3; Romans 13:9; Leviticus 20:10
  15. 15 Romans 13:9; Ephesians 4:28; Leviticus 19:11; Leviticus 19:13; Matthew 19:18
  16. 16 Proverbs 19:5; Matthew 19:18; Psalm 15:3; Exodus 23:1; Deuteronomy 19:15–21
  17. 17 Romans 13:9; Luke 12:15; Hebrews 13:5; Ephesians 5:5; Colossians 3:5
  18. 18 Exodus 19:16–18; Jeremiah 23:23; Hebrews 12:18–19; Psalm 139:7–8
  19. 19 Deuteronomy 18:16; Acts 7:38; Deuteronomy 5:23–27; Exodus 33:20; Galatians 3:19
  20. 20 Deuteronomy 13:3; Proverbs 3:7; Isaiah 8:13; 1 Samuel 12:20; Proverbs 16:6
  21. 21 1 Kings 8:12; Psalm 97:2; Psalm 18:9; 1 Timothy 6:16; 2 Chronicles 6:1
  22. 22 Nehemiah 9:13; Deuteronomy 4:36
  23. 23 Ezekiel 20:39; Zephaniah 1:5; 2 Kings 17:33; Revelation 22:15; Exodus 20:3–5
  24. 24 Deuteronomy 12:5; Psalm 132:13–14; 2 Chronicles 6:6; 1 Kings 9:3; Deuteronomy 12:11
  25. 25 Joshua 8:31; Deuteronomy 27:5–6
  26. 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

Articles and answers on this site that cite Exodus 20.

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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).

  1. Quotes verse 20:12 Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies (Book IV, Chapter IX)

    … 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 …

    Read in context · Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1 (1885)

  2. Quotes verse 20:13–15 Augustine of Hippo, The City of God (Book XVIII, Chapters 40–41)

    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)

  3. Quotes verse 20:12 John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew (Homily LI)

    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)

  4. Quotes verse 20:19 Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures (Lecture XII)

    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)

  5. Quotes verse 20:19 Basil of Caesarea, On the Holy Spirit (Chapter XIV)

    … 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)