Exodus – Chapter 20

1 And God spake all these words, saying,

2 I am the Lord thy God, which have 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 any graven image (*), or any 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.

(*) “Pecel” in Hebrew, or “idol” in English, denoting anything that receive the homage of man: idols, money, family… anything that sieze the position of the Lord in the mind and heart of man. Things that do not receive homange, like the two golden cherubim on the Mercy Seat in [02] Exodus 25:18, or the embroideries of cherubim on the Tabernacle in [02] Exodus 26:1, or the bronze serpent in [04] Numbers 21:8-9, all are NOT violation of this commandment, because they obviously were commanded to be made by the Lord. Only when they started to be used as objects of worship, do they become idols, like the bronze serpent was offered incense to and became an idol, and thus was destroyed by king Hezekiah in [12] II Kings 18:4.

5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to 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 shewing mercy unto thousands 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 (*).

(*) Taking the name of the Lord in vain include: lying in His name, using His name as a curse word or a slang, or claiming to be a Christian but live ungodly, and other forms of irreverence, profanation and insult.

8 Remember the sabbath (*) day, to keep it holy.

(*) This Hebrew word means “rest”. It is the combination of 3 words: shalom (peace) – abba (father) – bath/beth (house), or “peace in the Father’s house”. It is a day used for resting and worshiping.

9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:

10 But the seventh day (*) is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:

(*) See note in [01] Genesis 1:5. The Sabbath therefore starts at sunset friday and ends at sunset saturday every week.

11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested 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 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, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.

18 And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off.

19 And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.

20 And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.

21 And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness (*) where God was.

(*) Note: throughout the Bible, every time God Himself appeared (like when He gave the ten commandment, or when He appeared to talk with Job in [18] Job), He usually would use a huge dark cloud to cover Himself, so that 1) sinners won’t be destroyed by the terrible glory emanating from Him, and 2) no one can set up an idol of His to worship it.

22 And the Lord said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven.

23 Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold.

24 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 all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee.

25 And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.

26 Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon.