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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>Exodus 20 CEV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /></head> <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-LR4HSKRP2H"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-LR4HSKRP2H'); </script><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/exodus/20.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/exodus/20-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">CEV</a> > Exodus 20</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../exodus/19.htm" title="Exodus 19">◄</a> Exodus 20 <a href="../exodus/21.htm" title="Exodus 21">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Contemporary English Version</div><div class="chap"><h3 class="s1">The Ten Commandments</h3><h5 class="r">(<ref loc="DEU 5:1-21">Deuteronomy 5.1-21</ref>)</h5><p class="par"><span class="v1_20_1"><span class="reftext" id="Exod.20.1" class="v1_20_1">1</span>God said to the people of Israel:</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v1_20_2"><span class="reftext" id="Exod.20.2" class="v1_20_2">2</span>I am the <span class="nd">Lord</span> your God, the one who brought you out of Egypt where you were slaves.</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v1_20_3"><span class="reftext" id="Exod.20.3" class="v1_20_3">3</span>Do not worship any god except me.</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v1_20_4"><span class="reftext" id="Exod.20.4" class="v1_20_4">4</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Exod.20.4!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> Do not make idols that look like anything in the sky or on earth or in the ocean under the earth. </span><span class="v1_20_5"><span class="reftext" id="Exod.20.5" class="v1_20_5">5</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Exod.20.5!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> Don't bow down and worship idols. I am the <span class="nd">Lord</span> your God, and I demand all your love. If you reject me, I will punish your families for three or four generations. </span><span class="v1_20_6"><span class="reftext" id="Exod.20.6" class="v1_20_6">6</span>But if you love me and obey my laws, I will be kind to your families for thousands of generations.</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v1_20_7"><span class="reftext" id="Exod.20.7" class="v1_20_7">7</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Exod.20.7!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> Do not misuse my name.<a href="#fn" id="link_Exod.20.7!f.2" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> I am the <span class="nd">Lord</span> your God, and I will punish anyone who misuses my name.</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v1_20_8"><span class="reftext" id="Exod.20.8" class="v1_20_8">8</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Exod.20.8!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> Remember that the Sabbath Day belongs to me. </span><span class="v1_20_9"><span class="reftext" id="Exod.20.9" class="v1_20_9">9</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Exod.20.9!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> You have six days when you can do your work, </span><span class="v1_20_10"><span class="reftext" id="Exod.20.10" class="v1_20_10">10</span>but the seventh day of each week belongs to me, your God. No one is to work on that day—not you, your children, your slaves, your animals, or the foreigners who live in your towns. </span><span class="v1_20_11"><span class="reftext" id="Exod.20.11" class="v1_20_11">11</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Exod.20.11!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> In six days I made the sky, the earth, the oceans, and everything in them, but on the seventh day I rested. That's why I made the Sabbath a special day that belongs to me.</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v1_20_12"><span class="reftext" id="Exod.20.12" class="v1_20_12">12</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Exod.20.12!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> Respect your father and your mother, and you will live a long time in the land I am giving you.</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v1_20_13"><span class="reftext" id="Exod.20.13" class="v1_20_13">13</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Exod.20.13!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> Do not murder.</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v1_20_14"><span class="reftext" id="Exod.20.14" class="v1_20_14">14</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Exod.20.14!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> Be faithful in marriage.</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v1_20_15"><span class="reftext" id="Exod.20.15" class="v1_20_15">15</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Exod.20.15!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> Do not steal.</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v1_20_16"><span class="reftext" id="Exod.20.16" class="v1_20_16">16</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Exod.20.16!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> Do not tell lies about others.</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v1_20_17"><span class="reftext" id="Exod.20.17" class="v1_20_17">17</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Exod.20.17!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> Do not desire to possess anything that belongs to another person—not a house, a wife, a husband, a slave, an ox, a donkey, or anything else.</span></p><h3 class="s1">The People Are Afraid</h3><h5 class="r">(<ref loc="DEU 5:23-33">Deuteronomy 5.23-33</ref>)</h5><p class="par"><span class="v1_20_18"><span class="reftext" id="Exod.20.18" class="v1_20_18">18</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Exod.20.18!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> The people trembled with fear when they heard the thunder and the trumpet and saw the lightning and the smoke coming from the mountain. They stood a long way off </span><span class="v1_20_19"><span class="reftext" id="Exod.20.19" class="v1_20_19">19</span>and said to Moses, “If you speak to us, we will listen. But don't let God speak to us, or we will die!”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v1_20_20"><span class="reftext" id="Exod.20.20" class="v1_20_20">20</span>“Don't be afraid!” Moses replied. “God has come only to test you, so that by obeying him you won't sin.” </span><span class="v1_20_21"><span class="reftext" id="Exod.20.21" class="v1_20_21">21</span>But when Moses went near the thick cloud where God was, the people stayed a long way off.</span></p><h3 class="s1">Idols and Altars</h3><p class="par"><span class="v1_20_22"><span class="reftext" id="Exod.20.22" class="v1_20_22">22</span>The <span class="nd">Lord</span> told Moses to say to the people of Israel:</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v1_20_22">With your own eyes you saw me speak to you from heaven. </span><span class="v1_20_23"><span class="reftext" id="Exod.20.23" class="v1_20_23">23</span>So you must never make idols of silver or gold to worship in place of me.<a href="#fn" id="link_Exod.20.23!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> </span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v1_20_24"><span class="reftext" id="Exod.20.24" class="v1_20_24">24</span>Build an altar out of earth, and offer on it your sacrifices<a href="#fn" id="link_Exod.20.24!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> of sheep, goats, and cattle. Wherever I choose to be worshiped, I will come down to bless you. </span><span class="v1_20_25"><span class="reftext" id="Exod.20.25" class="v1_20_25">25</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Exod.20.25!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> If you ever build an altar for me out of stones, do not use any tools to chisel the stones, because that would make the altar unfit for use in worship. </span><span class="v1_20_26"><span class="reftext" id="Exod.20.26" class="v1_20_26">26</span>And don't build an altar that requires steps; you might expose yourself when you climb up.</span></p> <a name="fn"></a><br /><br /><br /><b>Footnotes:<br /><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">20.7 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">misuse my name: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Probably includes breaking promises, telling lies after swearing to tell the truth, using the <char style="nd">Lord</char>'s name as a curse word or a magic formula, and trying to control the <char style="nd">Lord</char> by using his name.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">20.23 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">in place of me: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Or “together with me.”</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">20.24 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">sacrifices: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">The Hebrew text mentions two types of sacrifices: Sacrifices to please the <char style="nd">Lord</char> (traditionally called “whole burnt offerings”) and sacrifices to ask the <char style="nd">Lord</char>'s blessing (traditionally called “peace offerings”).</char></note></div></div><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div align="center"><p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">© 2006 American Bible Society. 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