Chronological Plan

¹In the third month after the sons of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that very day they came into the wilderness of Sinai.

²When they set out from Rephidim, they came to the wilderness of Sinai and camped in the wilderness; and there Israel camped in front of the mountain.

³And Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain, saying, “This is what you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the sons of Israel:

⁴‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to Myself.

⁵Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine;

⁶and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.”

⁷So Moses came and called the elders of the people, and set before them all these words which the LORD had commanded him.

⁸Then all the people answered together and said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do!” And Moses brought back the words of the people to the LORD.

⁹Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will come to you in a thick cloud, so that the people may hear when I speak with you and may also trust in you forever.” Then Moses told the words of the people to the LORD.

¹⁰The LORD also said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and have them wash their garments;

¹¹and have them ready for the third day, for on the third day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.

¹²But you shall set boundaries for the people all around, saying, ‘Beware that you do not go up on the mountain or touch the border of it; whoever touches the mountain shall certainly be put to death.

¹³No hand shall touch him, but he shall certainly be stoned or shot through; whether animal or person, the violator shall not live.’ When the ram’s horn sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.”

¹⁴So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated the people, and they washed their garments.

¹⁵He also said to the people, “Be ready for the third day; do not go near a woman.”

¹⁶So it came about on the third day, when it was morning, that there were thunder and lightning flashes and a thick cloud over the mountain and a very loud trumpet sound, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.

¹⁷And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.

¹⁸Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the LORD descended upon it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the entire mountain quaked violently.

¹⁹When the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him with thunder.

²⁰Then 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.

²¹Then the LORD spoke to Moses: “Go down, warn the people, so that they do not break through to the LORD to stare, and many of them perish.

²²Also have the priests who approach the LORD consecrate themselves, or else the LORD will break out against them.”

²³And Moses said to the LORD, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for You warned us, saying, ‘Set boundaries around the mountain and consecrate it.’ ”

²⁴Then the LORD said to him, “Go down and come up again, you and Aaron with you; but do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the LORD, or He will break out against them.”

²⁵So Moses went down to the people and told them.

¹Then God spoke all these words, saying,

²“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

³“You shall have no other gods before Me.

⁴“You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath, or in the water under the earth.

⁵You shall not worship them nor serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, inflicting the punishment of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,

⁶but showing favor to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

⁷“You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.

⁸“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

⁹For six days you shall labor and do all your work,

¹⁰but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the LORD your God; on it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male slave or your female slave, or your cattle, or your resident who stays with you.

¹¹For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and everything that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day; for that reason the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

¹²“Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be prolonged on the land which the LORD your God gives you.

¹³“You shall not murder.

¹⁴“You shall not commit adultery.

¹⁵“You shall not steal.

¹⁶“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

¹⁷“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male slave, or his female slave, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

¹⁸And all the people were watching and hearing the thunder and the lightning flashes, and the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it all, they trembled and stood at a distance.

¹⁹Then they said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen; but do not have God speak to us, or we will die!”

²⁰However, Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid; for God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may remain with you, so that you will not sin.”

²¹So the people stood at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.

²²Then the LORD said to Moses, “This is what you shall say to the sons of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen that I have spoken to you from heaven.

²³You shall not make other gods besides Me; gods of silver or gods of gold, you shall not make for yourselves.

²⁴You shall make an altar of earth for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen; in every place where I cause My name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you.

²⁵And if you make an altar of stone for Me, you shall not build it of cut stones, for if you wield your chisel on it, you will profane it.

²⁶And you shall not go up by steps to My altar, so that your nakedness will not be exposed on it.’

¹“Now these are the ordinances which you are to set before them:

²“If you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve for six years; but on the seventh he shall leave as a free man without a payment to you.

³If he comes alone, he shall leave alone; if he is the husband of a wife, then his wife shall leave with him.

⁴If his master gives him a wife, and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall belong to her master, and he shall leave alone.

⁵But if the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not leave as a free man,’

⁶then his master shall bring him to God, then he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him permanently.

⁷“Now if a man sells his daughter as a female slave, she is not to go free as the male slaves do.

⁸If she is displeasing in the eyes of her master who designated her for himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He does not have authority to sell her to a foreign people, because of his unfairness to her.

⁹And if he designates her for his son, he shall deal with her according to the custom of daughters.

¹⁰If he takes to himself another woman, he may not reduce her food, her clothing, or her conjugal rights.

¹¹But if he will not do these three things for her, then she shall go free for nothing, without payment of money.

¹²“He who strikes someone so that he dies shall certainly be put to death.

¹³Yet if he did not lie in wait for him, but God caused him to fall into his hand, then I will appoint you a place to which he may flee.

¹⁴If, however, someone is enraged against his neighbor, so as to kill him in a cunning way, you are to take him even from My altar, to be put to death.

¹⁵“And one who strikes his father or his mother shall certainly be put to death.

¹⁶“Now one who kidnaps someone, whether he sells him or he is found in his possession, shall certainly be put to death.

¹⁷“And one who curses his father or his mother shall certainly be put to death.

¹⁸“Now if people have a quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or with a fist, and he does not die but is confined to bed,

¹⁹if he gets up and walks around outside on his staff, then he who struck him shall go unpunished; he shall only pay for his loss of time, and shall pay for his care until he is completely healed.

²⁰“And if someone strikes his male or female slave with a rod and the slave dies at his hand, he shall be punished.

²¹If, however, the slave survives a day or two, no vengeance shall be taken; for the slave is his property.

²²“Now if people struggle with each other and strike a pregnant woman so that she gives birth prematurely, but there is no injury, the guilty person shall certainly be fined as the woman’s husband may demand of him, and he shall pay as the judges decide.

²³But if there is any further injury, then you shall appoint as a penalty life for life,

²⁴eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,

²⁵burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.

²⁶“And if someone strikes the eye of his male or female slave and destroys it, he shall let the slave go free on account of the eye.

²⁷And if he knocks out a tooth of his male or female slave, he shall let the slave go free on account of the tooth.

²⁸“Now if an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox shall certainly be stoned and its flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall go unpunished.

²⁹If, however, an ox was previously in the habit of goring and its owner has been warned, yet he does not confine it and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned and its owner also shall be put to death.

³⁰If a ransom is demanded of him, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is demanded of him.

³¹Whether it gores a son or a daughter, it shall be done to him according to the same rule.

³²If the ox gores a male or female slave, the owner shall give his or her master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.

³³“Now if someone opens a pit, or digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it,

³⁴the owner of the pit shall make restitution; he shall give money to its owner, and the dead animal shall become his.

³⁵“And if someone’s ox injures another’s ox so that it dies, then they shall sell the live ox and divide its proceeds equally; and they shall also divide the dead ox.

³⁶Or if it is known that the ox was previously in the habit of goring, yet its owner has not confined it, he must make restitution of ox for ox, and the dead animal shall become his.