The Ten Commandments

1 And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, “Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the rules that I speak in your hearing today, and you shall learn them and be careful to do them. 2 ^xThe Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. 3 ^yNot with our fathers did the Lord make this covenant, but with us, who are all of us here alive today. 4 The Lord spoke with you ^zface to face at the mountain, out of the midst of the fire, 5 ^awhile I stood between the Lord and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the Lord. For ^byou were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up into the mountain. He said:

6 ^c“‘I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

7 “‘You shall have no other gods before¹ me.

8 “‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 9 You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 10 but showing steadfast love to ^dthousands² of those who love me and keep my commandments.

11 “‘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.

12 “‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 but ^ethe seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it 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 sojourner who is within your gates, ^fthat your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. 15 ^gYou shall remember that you were a slave³ in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there ^hwith a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

16 “‘Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God commanded you, ⁱthat your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

17 ^j“‘You shall not murder.⁴

18 ^j“‘And you shall not commit adultery.

19 “‘And you shall not steal.

20 “‘And you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

21 “‘And you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. And you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field, or his male servant, or his female servant, his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.’

22 “These words the Lord spoke to all your assembly ^kat the mountain out of the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a loud voice; and he added no more. And ^lhe wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me. 23 And ^mas soon as you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes, and your elders. 24 And you said, ‘Behold, the Lord our God has shown us his glory and ⁿgreatness, and ^owe have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire. This day we have seen God speak with man, and man ^pstill live. 25 Now therefore why should we die? For this great fire will consume us. ^qIf we hear the voice of the Lord our God any more, we shall die. 26 ^pFor who is there of all flesh, that has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of fire as we have, and has still lived? 27 Go near and hear all that the Lord our God will say, and ^rspeak to us all that the Lord our God will speak to you, and we will hear and do it.’

28 “And the Lord heard your words, when you spoke to me. And the Lord said to me, ‘I have heard the words of this people, which they have spoken to you. ^sThey are right in all that they have spoken. 29 ^tOh that they had such a heart as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, ^uthat it might go well with them and with their descendants⁵ forever! 30 Go and say to them, “Return to your tents.” 31 But you, stand here by me, and ^vI will tell you the whole commandment and the statutes and the rules that you shall teach them, that they may do them in the land that I am giving them to possess.’ 32 You shall be careful therefore to do as the Lord your God has commanded you. ^wYou shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. 33 ^xYou shall walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live, and ^ythat it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess.

The Greatest Commandment

1 “Now this is ^zthe commandment—the statutes and the rules⁶—that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, 2 that ^ayou may fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son’s son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and ^bthat your days may be long. 3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, ^cas the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.

4 “Hear, O Israel: ^dThe Lord our God, the Lord is one.⁷ 5 You ^eshall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And ^fthese words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 ^gYou shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 ^hYou shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 ⁱYou shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

10 “And when the Lord your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—with great and good cities ^jthat you did not build, 11 and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant—and when you eat and are full, 12 ^kthen take care lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 13 It is ^lthe Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and ^mby his name you shall swear. 14 You shall not ⁿgo after other gods, ^othe gods of the peoples who are around you— 15 for ^pthe Lord your God in your midst ^qis a jealous God—^rlest the anger of the Lord your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth.

16 ^s“You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, ^tas you tested him at Massah. 17 You shall ^udiligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and his testimonies and his statutes, which he has commanded you. 18 ^vAnd you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, that it may go well with you, and that you may go in and take possession of the good land that the Lord swore to give to your fathers 19 ^wby thrusting out all your enemies from before you, as the Lord has promised.

20 ^x“When your son asks you in time to come, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the Lord our God has commanded you?’ 21 then you shall say to your son, ^y‘We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. And the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 22 And ^zthe Lord showed signs and wonders, great and grievous, against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all his household, before our eyes. 23 And he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in and give us the land that he swore to give to our fathers. 24 And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, ^ato fear the Lord our God, ^bfor our good always, that ^che might preserve us alive, as we are this day. 25 And ^dit will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us.’

A Chosen People

1 “When the ^eLord your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you, ^fthe Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations ^gmore numerous and mightier than you, 2 ^hand when the Lord your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must ⁱdevote them to complete destruction.^{8 j}You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them. 3 ^kYou shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, 4 for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods. ^lThen the anger of the Lord would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you ^mquickly. 5 But thus shall you deal with them: ⁿyou shall break down their altars and dash in pieces their ⁿpillars and chop down their ⁿAsherim and ^oburn their carved images with fire.

6 “For ^pyou are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be ^pa people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. 7 It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but ^qit is because the Lord loves you and is keeping ^rthe oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9 Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, ^sthe faithful God ^twho keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, 10 and ^urepays to their face those who hate him, by destroying them. ^vHe will not be slack with one who hates him. He will repay him to his face. 11 ^wYou shall therefore be careful to do the commandment and the statutes and the rules that I command you today.

12 ^x“And because you listen to these rules and keep and do them, the Lord your God will keep with you ^ythe covenant and the steadfast love that he swore to your fathers. 13 He will ^zlove you, bless you, and multiply you. ^aHe will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your wine and your oil, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock, in the land that he swore to your fathers to give you. 14 You shall be blessed above all peoples. ^bThere shall not be male or female barren among you or among your livestock. 15 And the Lord will take away from you all sickness, and none of the evil ^cdiseases of Egypt, which you knew, will he inflict on you, but he will lay them on all who hate you. 16 And ^dyou shall consume all the peoples that the Lord your God will give over to you. ^eYour eye shall not pity them, neither shall you serve their gods, for that would be ^fa snare to you.

17 “If you say in your heart, ‘These nations are greater than I. How can I dispossess them?’ 18 ^gyou shall not be afraid of them but you shall ^hremember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt, 19 the great trials that your eyes saw, ⁱthe signs, the wonders, the mighty hand, and the outstretched arm, by which the Lord your God brought you out. So will the Lord your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid. 20 Moreover, ^jthe Lord your God will send hornets among them, until those who are left and hide themselves from you are destroyed. 21 You shall not be in dread of them, for the Lord your God is ^kin your midst, ^la great and awesome God. 22 ^mThe Lord your God will clear away these nations before you little by little. You may not make an end of them at once,⁹ lest the wild beasts grow too numerous for you. 23 ⁿBut the Lord your God will give them over to you and throw them into great confusion, until they are destroyed. 24 And ^ohe will give their kings into your hand, and you shall ^pmake their name perish from under heaven. ^qNo one shall be able to stand against you until you have destroyed them. 25 The carved images of their gods ^ryou shall burn with fire. You ^sshall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them or take it for yourselves, lest you be ^tensnared by it, for it is an abomination to the Lord your God. 26 And you shall not bring an abominable thing into your house and become devoted to destruction¹⁰ like it. You shall utterly detest and abhor it, ^ufor it is devoted to destruction.

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of ^jTiberius Caesar, ^kPontius Pilate ^lbeing governor of Judea, and ^mHerod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, 2 during ⁿthe high priesthood of Annas and ^oCaiaphas, ^pthe word of God came to ^qJohn the son of Zechariah in ^rthe wilderness. 3 And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming ^sa baptism of repentance ^tfor the forgiveness of sins. 4 As it is written in ^uthe book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,

7 He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, ^c“You brood of ^dvipers! Who warned you to flee from ^ethe wrath to come? 8 Bear fruits ^fin keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ^g‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from ^hthese stones to raise up children for Abraham. 9 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. ⁱEvery tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

10 And the crowds asked him, ^j“What then shall we do?” 11 And he answered them, ^k“Whoever has two tunics² is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” 12 ^lTax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, ^jwhat shall we do?” 13 And he said to them, ^m“Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” 14 Soldiers also asked him, “And we, ^jwhat shall we do?” And he said to them, ^m“Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your ⁿwages.”

15 As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, ^owhether he might be ^pthe Christ, 16 ^qJohn answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but ^rhe who is mightier than I is coming, ^sthe strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you ^twith the Holy Spirit and ^ufire. 17 His ^vwinnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to ^wgather the wheat into his barn, ^xbut the chaff he will burn with ^yunquenchable fire.”

18 So ^zwith many other exhortations he preached good news to the people. 19 But ^aHerod the tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Herodias, his brother’s wife, and for all the evil things that Herod had done, 20 added this to them all, that ^bhe locked up John in prison.

21 Now when all the people were baptized, and when ^cJesus also had been baptized and was praying, ^dthe heavens were opened, 22 and ^ethe Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and ^fa voice came from heaven, ^g“You are my beloved Son;³ with you I am well pleased.”⁴

The Genealogy of Jesus Christ

23 Jesus, ^hwhen he began his ministry, was about ⁱthirty years of age, being ^jthe son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli, 24 the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph, 25 the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, 26 the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Josech, the son of Joda, 27 the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, ^kthe son of Zerubbabel, the son ^lof Shealtiel,⁵ the son of Neri, 28 the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Er, 29 the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, 30 the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim, 31 the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of ^mNathan, the son of David, 32 ⁿthe son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Sala, the son of Nahshon, 33 the son of Amminadab, the son of Admin, the son of Arni, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, 34 ^othe son of Jacob, ^pthe son of Isaac, ^qthe son of Abraham, ^rthe son of Terah, the son of Nahor, 35 the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, 36 the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, 37 the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan, 38 the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.