Study Desk

'You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous (impassioned) God [demanding what is rightfully and uniquely mine], visiting (avenging) the iniquity (sin, guilt) of the fathers on the children [that is, calling the children to account for the sins of their fathers], to the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,

'You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain [that is, irreverently, in false affirmations or in ways that impugn the character of God]; for the LORD will not hold guiltless nor leave unpunished the one who takes His name in vain [disregarding its reverence and its power].

'Observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy (set apart, dedicated to God), as the LORD your God commanded you.

but the seventh day is a Sabbath [a day of rest dedicated] to the LORD your God; on that day you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock or the stranger who stays inside your [city] gates, so that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you.

'You shall remember [with thoughtful concern] that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.

'Honor (respect, obey, care for) your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that your days [on the earth] may be prolonged and so that it may go well with you in the land which the LORD your God gives you.

and you said, 'Behold, the LORD our God has shown us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice from the midst of the fire; we have seen today that God speaks with man, yet he [still] lives.

'Now then why should we die? For this great fire will consume us; if we hear the voice of the LORD our God any longer, then we will die.

'For who is there of all flesh (mankind) who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?

'You, Moses, go near and listen to everything that the LORD our God says; then speak to us everything that the LORD our God speaks to you, and we will listen and do it.'

"Therefore you shall pay attention and be careful to do just as the LORD your God has commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right or to the left [deviating from My commandments].

"You shall walk [that is, live each and every day] in all the ways which the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live and so that it may be well with you, and that you may live long in the land which you will possess.

"Now this is the command; the statutes and the judgments (precepts) which the LORD your God has commanded me to teach you, so that you might do (follow, obey) them in the land which you are crossing over [the Jordan] to possess,

so that you and your son and your grandson may fear and worship the LORD your God [with awe-filled reverence and profound respect], to keep [and actively do] all His statutes and His commandments which I am commanding you, all the days of your life, so that your days may be prolonged.

"Therefore listen, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly [in numbers], as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.

"Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one [the only God]!

"You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and mind and with all your soul and with all your strength [your entire being].

"Then it shall come about when the LORD your God brings you into the land which He swore (solemnly promised) to [give] your fathers—to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—to give you, [a land with] great and splendid cities which you did not build,

"You shall fear [only] the LORD your God; and you shall serve Him [with awe-filled reverence and profound respect] and swear [oaths] by His name [alone].

for the LORD your God who is among you is a jealous (impassioned) God [demanding what is rightfully and uniquely His]—otherwise the anger of the LORD your God will be kindled and burn against you, and He will destroy you from the face of the earth.