Exodus 20-23
The Ten Commandments and the ordinances and statutes of the Law as given by God to Moses.

Exodus 20 - God spoke all these words, saying, (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 yourselves an idol, nor any image of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: you shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me, and showing loving kindness to thousands of 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. You shall labor six days, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. You shall not do any work in it, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your livestock, nor your stranger who is within your gates; for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day, and made it holy. (5) "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the LORD your God gives you. (6) "You shall not murder. (7) "You shall not commit adultery. (8) "You shall not steal. (9) You shall not give false testimony 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."
All the people perceived the thunderings, the lightnings, the sound of the shofar, and the mountain smoking. When the people saw it, they trembled, and stayed at a distance. They said to Moses, "Speak with us yourself, and we will listen; but don't let God speak with us, lest we die." Moses said to the people, "Don't be afraid, for God has come to test you, and that his fear may be before you, that you won't sin." The people stayed at a distance, and Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was. The LORD said to Moses, "This is what you shall tell the children of Israel: 'You yourselves have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. You shall most certainly not make alongside of me gods of silver, or gods of gold for yourselves. You shall make an altar of earth for me, and shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your cattle. In every place where I record my name I will come to you and I will bless you. If you make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of cut stones; for if you lift up your tool on it, you have polluted it. Neither shall you go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness may not be exposed to it.'

Chapter 21 - "Now these are the ordinances which you shall set before them. "If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years and in the seventh he shall go out free without paying anything. If he comes in by himself, he shall go out by himself. If he is married, then his wife shall go out with him. 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 by himself. But if the servant shall plainly say, 'I love my master, my wife, and my children. I will not go out free;' then his master shall bring him to God, and shall bring him to the door or to the doorpost, and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall serve him for ever. "If a man sells his daughter to be a female servant, she shall not go out as the male servants do. If she doesn't please her master, who has married her to himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, seeing he has dealt deceitfully with her. If he marries her to his son, he shall deal with her after the manner of daughters. If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, and her marital rights. If he doesn't do these three things for her, she may go free without paying any money. "One who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death, but not if it is unintentional, but God allows it to happen: then I will appoint you a place where he shall flee. If a man schemes and comes presumptuously on his neighbor to kill him, you shall take him from my altar, that he may die. "Anyone who attacks his father or his mother shall be surely put to death. "Anyone who kidnaps someone and sells him, or if he is found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death. "Anyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. "If men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone, or with his fist, and he doesn't die, but is confined to bed; if he rises again and walks around with his staff, then he who struck him shall be cleared: only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall provide for his healing until he is thoroughly healed. "If a man strikes his servant or his maid with a rod, and he dies under his hand, he shall surely be punished. Notwithstanding, if he gets up after a day or two, he shall not be punished, for he is his property. "If men fight and hurt a pregnant woman so that she gives birth prematurely, and yet no harm follows, he shall be surely fined as much as the woman's husband demands and the judges allow. But if any harm follows, then you must take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burning for burning, wound for wound, and bruise for bruise. "If a man strikes his servant's eye, or his maid's eye, and destroys it, he shall let him go free for his eye's sake. If he strikes out his male servant's tooth, or his female servant's tooth, he shall let him go free for his tooth's sake. "If a bull gores a man or a woman to death, the bull shall surely be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the bull shall not be held responsible. But if the bull had a habit of goring in the past, and it has been testified to its owner, and he has not kept it in, but it has killed a man or a woman, the bull shall be stoned, and its owner shall also be put to death. If a ransom is laid on him, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is laid on him. Whether it has gored a son or has gored a daughter, according to this judgment it shall be done to him. If the bull gores a male servant or a female servant, thirty shekels of silver shall be given to their master, and the ox shall be stoned. "If a man opens a pit, or if a man digs a pit and doesn't cover it, and a bull or a donkey falls into it, the owner of the pit shall make it good. He shall give money to its owner, and the dead animal shall be his. "If one man's bull injures another's, so that it dies, then they shall sell the live bull, and divide its price; and they shall also divide the dead animal. Or if it is known that the bull was in the habit of goring in the past, and its owner has not kept it in, he shall surely pay bull for bull, and the dead animal shall be his own.

Chapter 22 - "If a man steals an ox or a sheep, and kills it, or sells it; he shall pay five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep. If the thief is found breaking in, and is struck so that he dies, there shall be no guilt of bloodshed for him. If the sun has risen on him, there shall be guilt of bloodshed for him; he shall make restitution. If he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft. If the stolen property is found in his hand alive, whether it is ox, donkey, or sheep, he shall pay double. "If a man causes a field or vineyard to be eaten, and lets his animal loose, and it grazes in another man's field, he shall make restitution from the best of his own field, and from the best of his own vineyard. "If fire breaks out, and catches in thorns so that the shocks of grain, or the standing grain, or the field are consumed; he who kindled the fire shall surely make restitution. "If a man delivers to his neighbor money or stuff to keep, and it is stolen out of the man's house; if the thief is found, he shall pay double. If the thief isn't found, then the master of the house shall come near to God, to find out if he hasn't put his hand to his neighbor's goods. For every matter of trespass, whether it be for ox, for donkey, for sheep, for clothing, or for any kind of lost thing, about which one says, 'This is mine,' the cause of both parties shall come before God. He whom God condemns shall pay double to his neighbor. "If a man delivers to his neighbor a donkey, an ox, a sheep, or any animal to keep, and it dies or is injured, or driven away, no man seeing it; the oath of the LORD shall be between them both, whether he hasn't put his hand to his neighbor's goods; and its owner shall accept it, and he shall not make restitution. But if it is stolen from him, he shall make restitution to its owner. If it is torn in pieces, let him bring it for evidence. He shall not make good that which was torn. "If a man borrows anything of his neighbor's, and it is injured, or dies, its owner not being with it, he shall surely make restitution. If its owner is with it, he shall not make it good. If it is a leased thing, it came for its lease. "If a man entices a virgin who isn't pledged to be married, and lies with her, he shall surely pay a dowry for her to be his wife. If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins. "You shall not allow a sorceress to live. "Whoever has sex with an animal shall surely be put to death. "He who sacrifices to any god, except to the LORD only, shall be utterly destroyed. "You shall not wrong an alien, neither shall you oppress him, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt. "You shall not take advantage of any widow or fatherless child. If you take advantage of them at all, and they cry at all to me, I will surely hear their cry; and my wrath will grow hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless. "If you lend money to any of my people with you who is poor, you shall not be to him as a creditor; neither shall you charge him interest. If you take your neighbor's garment as collateral, you shall restore it to him before the sun goes down, for that is his only covering, it is his garment for his skin. What would he sleep in? It will happen, when he cries to me, that I will hear, for I am gracious. "You shall not blaspheme God, nor curse a ruler of your people. "You shall not delay to offer from your harvest and from the outflow of your presses. "You shall give the firstborn of your sons to me. You shall do likewise with your cattle and with your sheep. Seven days it shall be with its mother, then on the eighth day you shall give it to me. "You shall be holy men to me, therefore you shall not eat any flesh that is torn by animals in the field. You shall cast it to the dogs.

Chapter 23 - "You shall not spread a false report. Don't join your hand with the wicked to be a malicious witness. "You shall not follow a crowd to do evil; neither shall you testify in court to side with a multitude to pervert justice; neither shall you favor a poor man in his cause. "If you meet your enemy's ox or his donkey going astray, you shall surely bring it back to him again. If you see the donkey of him who hates you fallen down under his burden, don't leave him, you shall surely help him with it. "You shall not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits. "Keep far from a false charge, and don't kill the innocent and righteous: for I will not justify the wicked. "You shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds those who have sight and perverts the words of the righteous. "You shall not oppress an alien, for you know the heart of an alien, seeing you were aliens in the land of Egypt. "For six years you shall sow your land, and shall gather in its increase, but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave the animal of the field shall eat. In like manner you shall deal with your vineyard and with your olive grove. "Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest, that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and the son of your handmaid, and the alien may be refreshed. "Be careful to do all things that I have said to you; and don't invoke the name of other gods, neither let them be heard out ofyour mouth. "You shall observe a feast to me three times a year. You shall observe the feast of unleavened bread. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month Abib (for in it you came out from Egypt), and no one shall appear before me empty. 16 And the feast of harvest, the first fruits of your labors, which you sow in the field: and the feast of harvest, at the end of the year, when you gather in your labors out of the field. 17 Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord GOD. "You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread, neither shall the fat of my feast remain all night until the morning. The first of the first fruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the LORD your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk. "Behold, I send an angel before you, to keep you by the way, and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. Pay attention to him, and listen to his voice. Don't provoke him, for he will not pardon your disobedience, for my name is in him. But if you indeed listen to his voice, and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies, and an adversary to your adversaries. For my angel shall go before you, and bring you in to the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Canaanite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; and I will cut them off. You shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor follow their practices, but you shall utterly overthrow them and demolish their pillars. You shall serve the LORD your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from your midst. No one will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will fulfill the number of your days. I will send my terror before you, and will confuse all the people to whom you come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. I will send the hornet before you, which will drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before you. I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate, and the animals of the field multiply against you. Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and inherit the land. I will set your border from the Sea of Suf even to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the River; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you. You shall make no covenant with them, nor with their gods. They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against me, for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you."


The versions of the Holy Bible, quoted in the passages on this page, are in the public domain.

Christians are to be like Christ.
Jesus was a messenger of love, peace, forgiveness, grace and mercy.
Yeshua, the hebrew spelling of Jesus, said if you love me keep my commandments - He said to love God with all your heart, soul and mind and to love your neighbor as yourself.
The ten commandments are:
- have no other gods above or before the One True God, the LORD, the Most High Elohim, Yahweh
- do not make or worship idols - an idol can be anything valued more than God himself
- do not take the name of God in vain (don't use God's name in a casual or profane manner)
- remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy (God rested on the seventh day of the week after creating the earth, the Sabbath or Shabbat is to be set aside for rest and kept holy, dedicated to God)
- respect and honor your father and mother
- do not murder either in deed or in thought - Jesus said that if you hate someone you have murdered them in your heart
- do not commit adultery - Jesus taught that to lust after a woman in your imagination or thoughts was the same as actually committing adultery with them in the flesh
- do not steal - theft can take many forms
- do not lie - exaggeration or telling part-truths is lying
- do not covet (want or desire) what does not belong to you.

Jesus spoke in anger to evil people serving the cause of evil only a few times. He confronted the corrupt religious leaders of his day. Jesus rebuked those who were selling animals for sacrifice and making profit in the courtyard of the temple.
Jesus was not a violent man. Have you heard the phrase - those that live by the sword, die by the sword? That is what Jesus said to Peter when he cut off the ear of a Roman soldier who came to arrest Jesus in the garden. Jesus told Peter to put away his sword and He healed the Roman soldier. Jesus did not kill anyone and he did not advocate killing - Yeshua Jesus was killed by those who caused him to be nailed to the cross. But it was part of God's plan that Jesus would die as a sacrifice for the sins of the world so that we might be saved - Jesus said that no man caused him to lose his life because he gave himself up freely - He was doing the will of the Father in Heaven.

Throughout history there have been those who murdered, tortured and persecuted in the name of God - this is not the message of the New Covenant or New Testament and it is not the message or example of Jesus of Nazareth, Yeshua ha Mashiach. In the Old Testament, God judged pagans by destroying them and driving them out of their land - the Hebrews were part of that judgment when they fought and drove the infidels out of the land that God prepared for and gave to the Hebrews.

This passage from the Old Testament or the Torah (law) from the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible,) are the words of God to his chosen people, the Hebrews, and to all who would follow Him according to His ways. A complete reading and study of this short passage from scripture brings a much clearer understanding of God, the Jewish people and of the entire history of the world. These are the ten commandments that were taken down from the walls of school classrooms and removed from monuments and other displays in public places. Our nation and our world is a far less happy, safe and secure place now that the reminders and memories of these commandments from God are disappearing from public view - but God has written these commandments on the hearts of those who believe and trust in Him.


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