16 On the morning of the kthird day there were mthunders and lightnings and na thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud otrumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp ptrembled. 17 Then qMoses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. 18 Now rMount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and sthe whole mountain trembled greatly. 19 And as the osound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and tGod answered him in thunder. 20 The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.
21 And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to the Lord uto look and many of them perish. 22 Also let the priests who come near to the Lord vconsecrate themselves, lest the Lord wbreak out against them.” 23 And Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for you yourself warned us, saying, x‘Set limits around the mountain and consecrate it.’” 24 And the Lord said to him, “Go down, and come up bringing Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people ybreak through to come up to the Lord, lest he break out against them.” 25 So Moses went down to the people and told them.
The Ten Commandments
1 zAnd aGod spoke all these words, saying,
2 b“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
3 c“You shall have no other gods before1 me.
4 d“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or 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. 5 eYou shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am fa jealous God, gvisiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands2 of those who love me and keep my commandments.
7 h“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.
8 i“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 jSix days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 but the kseventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the lsojourner who is within your gates. 11 For min six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
12 n“Honor your father and your mother, othat your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
14 q“You shall not commit adultery.
15 r“You shall not steal.
16 s“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
17 t“You shall not covet uyour neighbor’s house; vyou shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”
18 Now when all the people saw wthe thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid4 and trembled, and they stood far off 19 and said to Moses, x“You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” 20 yMoses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to ztest you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” 21 The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the athick darkness where God was.
Laws About Altars
22 And the Lord said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the people of Israel: ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have btalked with you from heaven. 23 cYou shall not make gods of silver to be with me, nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold. 24 An altar of earth you shall make for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. dIn every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and ebless you. 25 fIf you make me an altar of stone, gyou shall not build it of hewn stones, for if you wield your tool on it you profane it. 26 And you shall not go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness be not exposed on it.’
Laws About Slaves
1 “Now these are the hrules that you shall set before them. 2 iWhen you buy a Hebrew slave,5 he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing. 3 If he comes in single, he shall go out single; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him. 4 If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out alone. 5 But jif the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’ 6 then his master shall bring him to kGod, and he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall be his slave forever.
7 “When a man lsells his daughter as a slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do. 8 If she does not please her master, who has designated her6 for himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has broken faith with her. 9 If he designates her for his son, he shall deal with her as with a daughter. 10 If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, or mher marital rights. 11 And if he does not do these three things for her, she shall go out for nothing, without payment of money.
12 n“Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death. 13 oBut if he did not lie in wait for him, but God let him fall into his hand, then pI will appoint for you a place to which he may flee. 14 But if a man willfully attacks another to kill him by cunning, qyou shall take him from my altar, that he may die.
15 “Whoever strikes his father or his mother shall be put to death.
16 r“Whoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found sin possession of him, shall be put to death.
17 t“Whoever curses7 his father or his mother shall be put to death.
18 “When men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist and the man does not die but takes to his bed, 19 then if the man rises again and walks outdoors with his staff, he who struck him shall be clear; only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall have him thoroughly healed.
20 “When a man strikes his slave, male or female, with a rod and the slave dies under his hand, he shall be avenged. 21 But if the slave survives a day or two, he is not to be avenged, for the uslave is his money.
13 “But woe nto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you oshut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you pneither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.1 15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single qproselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a rchild of shell2 as yourselves.
16 “Woe to tyou, ublind guides, who say, v‘If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ 17 You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or wthe temple that has made the gold sacred? 18 And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by xthe gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.’ 19 You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or ythe altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21 And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by zhim who dwells in it. 22 And whoever swears by aheaven swears by bthe throne of God and by chim who sits upon it.
23 d“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For eyou tithe mint and dill and fcumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: gjustice and mercy and faithfulness. hThese you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. 24 You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing ia camel!
25 j“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For kyou clean the outside of lthe cup and the plate, but inside they are full of mgreed and self-indulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of lthe cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.
27 n“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like owhitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and pall uncleanness. 28 So you also qoutwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of rhypocrisy and lawlessness.
29 s“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, 30 saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 Thus you witness against yourselves that you are tsons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 uFill up, then, the measure of your fathers. 33 You serpents, vyou brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to whell? 34 xTherefore yI send you zprophets and wise men and ascribes, bsome of whom you will kill and crucify, and bsome you will cflog in your synagogues and dpersecute from town to town, 35 so that on you may come all ethe righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous fAbel to the blood of gZechariah the son of Barachiah,3 whom you murdered between hthe sanctuary and ithe altar. 36 Truly, I say to you, jall these things will come upon this generation.
Lament over Jerusalem
37 k“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that lkills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have mgathered nyour children together oas a hen gathers her brood punder her wings, and qyou were not willing! 38 See, ryour house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, s‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”
The Lord Is My Strength and My Shield
Of David.
1 To you, O Lord, I call;
jmy rock, be not deaf to me,
lest, if you kbe silent to me,
I become like those who lgo down to the pit.
2 mHear the voice of my pleas for mercy,
when I cry to you for help,
when I nlift up my hands
3 Do not pdrag me off with the wicked,
with the workers of evil,
qwho speak peace with their neighbors
while evil is in their hearts.
4 rGive to them according to their work
and according to the evil of their deeds;
give to them according to the work of their hands;
srender them their due reward.
5 Because they tdo not regard the works of the Lord
or the work of his hands,
he will tear them down and build them up no more.
6 Blessed be the Lord!
For he has uheard the voice of my pleas for mercy.
7 The Lord is my strength and vmy shield;
in him my heart wtrusts, and I am helped;
my heart exults,
and with my xsong I give thanks to him.
8 The Lord is the strength of his people;2
he is ythe saving refuge of his anointed.
9 Oh, save your people and bless zyour heritage!
Warning Against the Adulteress
1 hMy son, keep my words
and htreasure up my commandments with you;
2 ikeep my commandments and live;
keep my teaching as jthe apple of your eye;
3 kbind them on your fingers;
kwrite them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
and call insight your intimate friend,
