Ten Commandments

These 10 beneficial laws were given by the Creator God to show us how to live a better life now and please God forever.

God gave the 10 Commandments from Mount Sinai, accompanied by smoke, earthquakes and the blast of a trumpet to emphasize the importance of these laws. Moses recorded God’s words in Exodus 20 and recounted the event again in Deuteronomy 5. There are only slight differences of emphasis in the accounts. Both versions are listed below

The 10 Commandments List in Exodus 20:2-17

1.       “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me.

2.      “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

3.      “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.

4.      “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

5.      “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you.

6.      “You shall not murder.

7.      “You shall not commit adultery.

8.      “You shall not steal.

9.      “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

10.   “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”

The 10 Commandments List in Deuteronomy 5:6-21

1.       “I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me.

2.      “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

3.      “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.

4.      “Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

5.      “Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may be well with you in the land which the LORD your God is giving you.

6.      “You shall not murder.

7.      “You shall not commit adultery.

8.      “You shall not steal.

9.      “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

10.   “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife; and you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field, his male servant, his female servant, his ox, his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”

Learn more about the 10 Commandments by studying each commandment and committing to strive to obey them.