Skip to content
mannafest.faith
Read
Exodus

Exoduschapter 20

26 verses · BSBExodus book hub →

The Giving of the Law on Mount Sinai — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

A.The First Four Commandmentsvv. 1-11

1 And God spoke all these words: 2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 3 You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing loving devotion to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments. 7 You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave anyone unpunished who takes His name in vain. 8 Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God, on which you must not do any work—neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant or livestock, nor the foreigner within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, but on the seventh day He rested. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.

B.Duties Toward Parents and Neighborsvv. 12-17

12 Honor your father and mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. 13 You shall not murder. 14 You shall not commit adultery. 15 You shall not steal. 16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 17 You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, or his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

C.The People Stand Far Offvv. 18-21

18 When all the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sounding of the ram’s horn, and the mountain enveloped in smoke, they trembled and stood at a distance. 19 “Speak to us yourself and we will listen,” they said to Moses. “But do not let God speak to us, or we will die.” 20 “Do not be afraid,” Moses replied. “For God has come to test you, so that the fear of Him may be before you, to keep you from sinning.” 21 And the people stood at a distance as Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.

D.An Altar of Earth and Unhewn Stonevv. 22-26

22 Then the LORD said to Moses, “This is what you are to tell the Israelites: ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from heaven. 23 You are not to make any gods alongside Me; you are not to make for yourselves gods of silver or gold. 24 You are to make for Me an altar of earth, and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and peace offerings, your sheep and goats and cattle. In every place where I cause My name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you. 25 Now if you make an altar of stones for Me, you must not build it with stones shaped by tools; for if you use a chisel on it, you will defile it. 26 And you must not go up to My altar on steps, lest your nakedness be exposed on it.’

Commentary on this chapter: read the Exposition
← Back: Exodus 19Continue: Exodus 21 →

Chapter summary

The Ten Commandments.

Read the rest, the context and the outline ▾

The Ten Commandments. ‘I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.’ No other gods; no graven image; the Name unused in vain; the Sabbath kept; father and mother honoured; life, marriage, property, truth, and desire guarded. The preamble is grace. Deliverance precedes command. Ten words, spoken by the voice of God himself. The people stand afar off and say to Moses, ‘speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die’. The covenant centre-line for all that follows. Calvin called this chapter the summary of the whole moral law.

Drawn from Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory, Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary, John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and John Calvin, Commentaries.

Context

Law · Moses — Exodus overview

  • A. 1–11 The First Four Commandments
  • B. 12–17 Duties Toward Parents and Neighbors
  • C. 18–21 The People Stand Far Off
  • D. 22–26 An Altar of Earth and Unhewn Stone
Top cross-references8 chapters ▾
  • Deuteronomy 511 verses
    • Deuteronomy 5:4The LORD spoke with you face to face out of the fire on the mountain.
    • Deuteronomy 5:6“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
    • Deuteronomy 5:7You shall have no other gods before Me.
    • Deuteronomy 5:8You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath.
    • Deuteronomy 5:9You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,
    • Deuteronomy 5:11You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave anyone unpunished who takes His name in vain.
    • Read Deuteronomy 5: 5 more there →
  • Leviticus 193 verses
  • Psalms 812 verses
    • Psalms 81:9There must be no strange god among you, nor shall you bow to a foreign god.
    • Psalms 81:10I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth, and I will fill it.
    • Read Psalms 81 →
  • Leviticus 262 verses
    • Leviticus 26:1“You must not make idols for yourselves or set up a carved image or sacred pillar; you must not place a sculpted stone in your land to bow down to it. For I am the LORD your God.
    • Leviticus 26:2You must keep My Sabbaths and have reverence for My sanctuary. I am the LORD.
    • Read Leviticus 26 →
4 more chapters this one speaks with
  • Deuteronomy 42 verses
  • Genesis 22 verses
    • Genesis 2:2And by the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on that day He rested from all His work.
    • Genesis 2:3Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on that day He rested from all the work of creation that He had accomplished.
    • Read Genesis 2 →
  • Hebrews 132 verses
    • Hebrews 13:4Marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed kept undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.
    • Hebrews 13:5Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, for God has said: “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.”
    • Read Hebrews 13 →
  • Romans 131 verse
    • Romans 13:9The commandments “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and any other commandments, are summed up in this one decree: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
    • Read Romans 13 →

Cross-references from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and OpenBible.info.