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16 (A)So it came about on the third day, when it was morning, that there were [a]thunder and lightning flashes and a thick cloud upon the mountain and a very loud trumpet sound, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. 17 And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the [b]foot of the mountain.
The Lord Visits Sinai
18 (B)Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the Lord descended upon it (C)in fire; and its smoke ascended like (D)the smoke of a furnace, and (E)the whole mountain [c]quaked violently. 19 When the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and (F)God answered him with [d]thunder. 20 (G)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 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Go down, [e]warn the people, so that (H)they do not break through to the Lord to gaze, and many of them [f]perish. 22 Also let the (I)priests who come near to the Lord consecrate themselves, or else the Lord will break out against them.” 23 Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for You [g]warned us, saying, ‘(J)Set bounds about the mountain and consecrate it.’” 24 Then the Lord said to him, “[h]Go down and come up again, (K)you and Aaron with you; but do not let the (L)priests and the people break through to come up to the Lord, or He will break forth upon them.” 25 So Moses went down to the people and told them.
The Ten Commandments
20 Then God spoke all these words, saying,
2 “(M)I am the Lord your God, (N)who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of [i]slavery.
3 “(O)You shall have no other (P)gods [j]before Me.
4 “(Q)You shall not make for yourself [k]an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. 5 (R)You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a (S)jealous God, (T)visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing lovingkindness to (U)thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
7 “(V)You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not [l]leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.
8 “Remember (W)the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 (X)Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it (Y)you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who [m]stays with you. 11 (Z)For in 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 “(AA)Honor your father and your mother, that your (AB)days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you.
13 “(AC)You shall not murder.
14 “(AD)You shall not commit adultery.
15 “(AE)You shall not steal.
16 “(AF)You shall not bear false witness against your (AG)neighbor.
17 “(AH)You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; (AI)you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
18 (AJ)All the people perceived the [n]thunder and the lightning flashes and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance. 19 (AK)Then they said to Moses, “Speak [o]to us yourself and we will listen; but let not God speak [p]to us, or we will die.” 20 Moses said to the people, “(AL)Do not be afraid; for God has come in order (AM)to test you, and in order that (AN)the fear of Him may [q]remain with you, so that you may not sin.” 21 So the people stood at a distance, while Moses approached (AO)the thick cloud where God was.
22 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘You yourselves have seen that (AP)I have spoken [r]to you from heaven. 23 (AQ)You shall not make other gods besides Me; (AR)gods of silver or gods of gold, you shall not make for yourselves. 24 You shall make (AS)an altar of earth for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your (AT)burnt offerings and your (AU)peace offerings, (AV)your sheep and your oxen; in every place (AW)where I cause My name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you. 25 If you make an altar of stone for Me, (AX)you shall not build it of cut stones, for if you wield your tool on it, you will profane it. 26 And you shall not go up by steps to My altar, so that (AY)your nakedness will not be exposed on it.’
Ordinances for the People
21 “Now these are the (AZ)ordinances which you are to set before them:
2 “If you buy (BA)a Hebrew slave, he shall serve for six years; but on the seventh he shall go out as a free man without payment. 3 If he comes [s]alone, he shall go out [t]alone; if he is the husband of a wife, 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 belong to her master, and he shall go out [u]alone. 5 But (BB)if the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife and my children; I will not go out as a free man,’ 6 then his master shall bring him to [v]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 “(BC)If a man sells his daughter as a female slave, she is not to [w]go free (BD)as the male slaves [x]do. 8 If she is [y]displeasing in the eyes of her master [z]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 [aa]unfairness to her. 9 If he designates her for his son, he shall deal with her according to the custom of daughters. 10 If he takes to himself another woman, he may not reduce her [ab]food, her clothing, or (BE)her conjugal rights. 11 If he will not do these three things for her, then she shall go out for nothing, without payment of money.
Personal Injuries
12 “(BF)He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death. 13 (BG)But [ac]if he did not lie in wait for him, but (BH)God let him fall into his hand, then I will appoint you a place to which he may flee. 14 (BI)If, however, a man acts presumptuously toward his neighbor, so as to kill him craftily, you are to take him even from My altar, that he may die.
15 “He who strikes his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.
16 “(BJ)He who [ad]kidnaps a man, whether he sells him or he is found in his [ae]possession, shall surely be put to death.
17 “(BK)He who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.
18 “If men have a quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist, and he does not die but [af]remains in bed, 19 if he gets up and walks around outside on his staff, then he who struck him shall go unpunished; he shall only pay for his [ag]loss of time, and [ah]shall take care of him until he is completely healed.
20 “If a man strikes his male or female slave with a rod and he dies [ai]at his hand, he shall [aj]be punished. 21 If, however, he [ak]survives a day or two, no vengeance shall be taken; (BL)for he is his [al]property.
Eight Woes
13 “(A)But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, (B)because you shut off the kingdom of heaven [a]from [b]people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. 14 [[c]Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because (C)you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive greater condemnation.]
15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one [d](D)proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of [e](E)hell as yourselves.
16 “Woe to you, (F)blind guides, who say, ‘(G)Whoever swears by the [f]temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the [g]temple is obligated.’ 17 You fools and blind men! (H)Which is [h]more important, the gold or the [i]temple that sanctified the gold? 18 And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing, but whoever swears by the [j]offering on it, he is obligated.’ 19 You blind men, (I)which is [k]more important, the [l]offering, or the altar that sanctifies the [m]offering? 20 Therefore, [n]whoever swears by the altar, swears both by [o]the altar and by everything on it. 21 And [p]whoever swears by the [q]temple, swears both by [r]the temple and by Him who (J)dwells within it. 22 And [s]whoever swears by heaven, (K)swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it.
23 “(L)Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and [t]cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. 24 You (M)blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!
25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For (N)you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full [u]of robbery and self-indulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee, first (O)clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also.
27 “(P)Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
29 “(Q)Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, 30 and say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 So you testify against yourselves, that you (R)are [v]sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers. 33 You serpents, (S)you brood of vipers, how [w]will you escape the [x]sentence of [y](T)hell?
34 “(U)Therefore, behold, (V)I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will (W)scourge in your synagogues, and (X)persecute from city to city, 35 so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous (Y)Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the (Z)son of Berechiah, whom (AA)you murdered between the [z]temple and the altar. 36 Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon (AB)this generation.
Lament over Jerusalem
37 “(AC)Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who (AD)kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, (AE)the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. 38 Behold, (AF)your house is being left to you desolate! 39 For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘(AG)Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’”
A Prayer for Help, and Praise for Its Answer.
A Psalm of David.
28 To You, O Lord, I call;
My (A)rock, do not be deaf to me,
For if You (B)are silent to me,
I will become like those who (C)go down to the pit.
2 Hear the (D)voice of my supplications when I cry to You for help,
When I (E)lift up my hands (F)toward [a]Your holy (G)sanctuary.
3 (H)Do not drag me away with the wicked
And with those who work iniquity,
Who (I)speak peace with their neighbors,
While evil is in their hearts.
4 Requite them (J)according to their work and according to the evil of their practices;
Requite them according to the deeds of their hands;
Repay them their [b]recompense.
5 Because they (K)do not regard the works of the Lord
Nor the deeds of His hands,
He will tear them down and not build them up.
6 Blessed be the Lord,
Because He (L)has heard the voice of my supplication.
7 The Lord is my (M)strength and my (N)shield;
My heart (O)trusts in Him, and I am helped;
Therefore (P)my heart exults,
And with (Q)my song I shall thank Him.
8 The Lord is [c]their (R)strength,
And He is a [d](S)saving defense to His anointed.
9 (T)Save Your people and bless (U)Your inheritance;
Be their (V)shepherd also, and (W)carry them forever.
The Wiles of the Harlot
7 My son, (A)keep my words
And treasure my commandments within you.
2 (B)Keep my commandments and live,
And my [a]teaching (C)as the [b]apple of your eye.
3 (D)Bind them on your fingers;
(E)Write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
And call understanding your intimate friend;
5 That they may keep you from an [c]adulteress,
From the foreigner who [d]flatters with her words.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.