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.’

My Soul Longs for the Courts of the Lord

To the choirmaster: according to ^pThe Gittith.¹ A Psalm of ^qthe Sons of Korah.

Stephen’s Speech

1 And the high priest said, “Are these things so?” 2 And Stephen said:

^j“Brothers and fathers, hear me. ^kThe God ^lof glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, ^mbefore he lived in Haran, 3 and said to him, ⁿ‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’ 4 ^mThen he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And ^oafter his father died, ^pGod removed him from there into this land in which you are now living. 5 Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot’s length, but promised ^qto give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, ^rthough he had no child. 6 And God spoke to this effect—that ^shis offspring would ^tbe sojourners in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and afflict them ^ufour hundred years. 7 ‘But ^vI will judge the nation that they serve,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out ^wand worship me in this place.’ 8 And ^xhe gave him the covenant of circumcision. And ^yso Abraham became the father of Isaac, and ^zcircumcised him on the eighth day, and ^aIsaac became the father of Jacob, and ^bJacob of the twelve patriarchs.

9 “And the patriarchs, ^cjealous of Joseph, ^dsold him into Egypt; but ^eGod was with him 10 and rescued him out of all his afflictions and ^fgave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, ^gwho made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household. 11 Now ^hthere came a famine throughout all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction, and our fathers could find no food. 12 ⁱBut when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers on their first visit. 13 And ^jon the second visit ^kJoseph made himself known to his brothers, and ^lJoseph’s family became known to Pharaoh. 14 And ^mJoseph sent and summoned Jacob his father and all his kindred, ⁿseventy-five persons in all. 15 And ^oJacob went down into Egypt, and ^phe died, he ^qand our fathers, 16 and ^rthey were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that ^sAbraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

17 “But ^tas the time of the promise drew near, which God had granted to Abraham, ^uthe people increased and multiplied in Egypt 18 until there arose over Egypt another king ^vwho did not know Joseph. 19 ^wHe dealt shrewdly with our race and forced our fathers to expose their infants, ^xso that they would not be kept alive. 20 ^yAt this time Moses was born; and he was beautiful in God’s sight. And he was brought up for three months in his father’s house, 21 and ^zwhen he was exposed, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. 22 And Moses ^awas instructed in ^ball the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was ^cmighty in his words and deeds.

23 “When he was forty years old, it came into his heart ^dto visit his brothers, the children of Israel. 24 And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian. 25 He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand. 26 ^eAnd on the following day he appeared to them as they were quarreling and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why do you wrong each other?’ 27 But the man who was wronging his neighbor thrust him aside, saying, ^f‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? 28 Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ 29 At this retort ^gMoses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, ^hwhere he became the father of two sons.

30 “Now when forty years had passed, ⁱan angel appeared to him ^jin the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush. 31 When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and as he drew near to look, there came the voice of the Lord: 32 ^k‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and did not dare to look. 33 Then the Lord said to him, ^l‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. 34 ^mI have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and ⁿhave heard their groaning, and ^oI have come down to deliver them. ^pAnd now come, I will send you to Egypt.’

35 “This Moses, whom they rejected, ^qsaying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’—this man God sent as both ruler and redeemer ^rby the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 ^sThis man led them out, performing ^twonders and signs ^uin Egypt and ^vat the Red Sea and ^win the wilderness for ^xforty years. 37 This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you ^ya prophet like me from your brothers.’ 38 This is the one ^zwho was in the congregation in the wilderness with ^athe angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. ^bHe received ^cliving ^doracles to give to us. 39 Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and ^ein their hearts they turned to Egypt, 40 saying to Aaron, ^f‘Make for us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ 41 And ^gthey made a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to the idol and ^hwere rejoicing in ⁱthe works of their hands. 42 But ^jGod turned away and ^kgave them over to worship ^lthe host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets:

44 “Our fathers had ^pthe tent of witness in the wilderness, just as he who spoke to Moses ^qdirected him to make it, according to the pattern that he had seen. 45 Our fathers in turn ^rbrought it in with Joshua when they ^sdispossessed the nations ^tthat God drove out before our fathers. So it was ^uuntil the days of David, 46 ^vwho found favor in the sight of God and ^wasked to find a dwelling place for ^xthe God of Jacob.¹ 47 But it was ^ySolomon who built a house for him. 48 ^zYet the Most High does not dwell ^ain houses made by hands, as the prophet says,

51 ^d“You stiff-necked people, ^euncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. ^fAs your fathers did, so do you. 52 ^gWhich of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of ^hthe Righteous One, ⁱwhom you have now betrayed and murdered, 53 you who received the law ^jas delivered by angels and ^kdid not keep it.”

The Stoning of Stephen

54 Now when they heard these things ^lthey were enraged, and they ^mground their teeth at him. 55 But he, ⁿfull of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw ^othe glory of God, and Jesus standing ^pat the right hand of God. 56 And he said, “Behold, I see ^qthe heavens opened, and ^rthe Son of Man standing ^pat the right hand of God.” 57 But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together² at him. 58 Then ^sthey cast him out of the city and ^tstoned him. And ^uthe witnesses laid down their garments ^vat the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And as they were stoning Stephen, ^whe called out, “Lord Jesus, ^xreceive my spirit.” 60 And ^yfalling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, ^z“Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, ^ahe fell asleep.