Exodus 20.1-6 [This version is embedded in the E source but probably
older]
1 Then God spoke all these words:
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, whether in the form of anything
that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in
the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship
them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the
iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who
reject me, 6 but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of
those who love me and keep my commandments.
Exodus 20.22-26
23 You shall not make gods of silver alongside me, nor shall you make for
yourselves gods of gold. 24 You need make for me only an altar of earth
and
sacrifice on it your burnt-offerings and your offerings of well-being,
your sheep and your oxen; in every place where I cause my name to be
remembered I will come to you and bless you. 25 But if you make for me an
altar of stone, do not build it of hewn stones; for if you use a chisel
upon it you profane it. 26 You shall not go up by steps to my altar, so
that your nakedness may not be exposed on it.’
Exodus 34.1-17 [From the J source?]
The Lord said to Moses, ‘Cut two tablets of stone like the former
ones, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the former
tablets, which you broke. 2Be ready in the morning, and come up in the
morning to Mount Sinai and present yourself there to me, on the top of the
mountain. 3No one shall come up with you, and do not let anyone be seen
throughout all the mountain; and do not let flocks or herds graze in front
of that mountain.’ 4So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the former
ones; and he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the
Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tablets of stone.
5The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed
6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed
‘The Lord, the Lord,
a God merciful and gracious,
slow to anger,
and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,
7keeping steadfast love for the thousandth generation,
forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin,
yet by no means clearing the guilty,
but visiting the iniquity of the parents
upon the children
and the children’s children,
to the third and the fourth generation.’
8And Moses quickly bowed his head towards the earth, and worshipped. 9He
said, ‘If now I have found favour in your sight, O Lord, I pray, let the
Lord go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, pardon our
iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.’
10 He said: I hereby make a covenant. Before all your people I will
perform marvels, such as have not been performed in all the earth or in
any nation; and all the people among whom you live shall see the work of
the Lord; for it is an awesome thing that I will do with you.
11 Observe what I command you today. See, I will drive out before you the
Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and
the Jebusites. 12 Take care not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of
the land to which you are going, or it will become a snare among you.
13 You shall tear down their altars, break their pillars, and cut down
their sacred poles 14 (for you shall worship no other god,
because the
Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God). 15 You shall not make a
covenant with the inhabitants of the land, for when they prostitute
themselves to their gods and sacrifice to their gods, someone among them
will invite you, and you will eat of the sacrifice. 16 And you will take
wives from among their daughters for your sons, and their daughters who
prostitute themselves to their gods will make your sons also prostitute
themselves to their gods.
17 You shall not make cast idols.
Leviticus 19.1-4 [Leviticus 17-26 comprise the "Holiness Code," a
distinct source within the book, which is generally from P. H used to be regarded as
earlier material, but some now treat it as later, though still pre-exilic]
1 Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them:
You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. 3You shall each revere
your mother and father, and you shall keep my sabbaths: I am the Lord your
God. 4Do not turn to idols or make cast images for yourselves: I am the
Lord your God.
Deut 5.5-10 [The Decalogue may be older than most of D, perhaps
having been used for liturgical purposes]
5(At that time I was standing between the Lord and you to declare to you
the words of the Lord; for you were afraid because of the fire and did
not go up the mountain.) And he said:
6 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of
the house of slavery; 7you shall have no other gods before me.
8 You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form 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 worship
them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the
iniquity of parents, to the third and fourth generation of those who
reject me, 10 but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of
those who love me and keep my commandments.
3, THE NAME OF THE LORD
Exodus 20.7
7 You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for
the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.
Leviticus 19.12 12And you shall not swear falsely by my name, profaning the name of your God: I am the Lord.
Deut 5.11
11 You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for
the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.
4, THE SABBATH
Exodus 20.8
8 Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. 9For six days you shall
labour and do all your work. 10But the seventh day is a sabbath to the
Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter,
your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your
towns. 11For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all
that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed
the sabbath day and consecrated it.
Exodus 31.12-17
12 The Lord said to Moses: 13You yourself are to speak to the Israelites:
‘You shall keep my sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you
throughout your generations, given in order that you may know that I, the
Lord, sanctify you. 14You shall keep the sabbath, because it is holy for
you; everyone who profanes it shall be put to death; whoever does any work
on it shall be cut off from among the people. 15For six days shall work be
done, but the seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord;
whoever does any work on the sabbath day shall be put to death.
16Therefore the Israelites shall keep the sabbath, observing the sabbath
throughout their generations, as a perpetual covenant. 17It is a sign for
ever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the Lord made
heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.’
Exodus 34.18-35
18 You shall keep the festival of unleavened bread. For seven days
you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time appointed
in the month of Abib; for in the month of Abib you came out from Egypt.
19 All that first opens the womb is mine, all your male livestock, the
firstborn of cow and sheep. 20The firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem
with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. All
the firstborn of your sons you shall redeem.
No one shall appear before me empty-handed.
21 For six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest;
even in ploughing time and in harvest time you shall rest.
22You shall
observe the festival of weeks, the first fruits of wheat harvest, and the
festival of ingathering at the turn of the year. 23Three times in the year
all your males shall appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel. 24For
I will cast out nations before you, and enlarge your borders; no one shall
covet your land when you go up to appear before the Lord your God three
times in the year.
25 You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven, and the
sacrifice of the festival of the passover shall not be left until the
morning.
26 The best of the first fruits of your ground you shall bring to the
house of the Lord your God.
You shall not boil a kid in its mother’s milk.
27 The Lord said to Moses: Write these words; in accordance with these
words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel. 28He was there with
the Lord for forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank
water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten
commandments.
29 Moses came down from Mount Sinai. As he came down from the mountain
with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand, Moses did not know that
the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. 30When
Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face was shining,
and they were afraid to come near him. 31But Moses called to them; and
Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses
spoke with them. 32Afterwards all the Israelites came near, and he gave
them in commandment all that the Lord had spoken with him on Mount Sinai.
33When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face;
34but whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would
take the veil off, until he came out; and when he came out, and told the
Israelites what he had been commanded, 35the Israelites would see the face
of Moses, that the skin of his face was shining; and Moses would put the
veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with him.
Deuteronymy 5.12-15
12 Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy, as the Lord your God
commanded you. 13For six days you shall labour and do all your work. 14But
the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any
work—you, or your son or your daughter, or your male or female slave, or
your ox or your donkey, or any of your livestock, or the resident alien in
your towns, so that your male and female slave may rest as well as you.
15Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your
God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm;
therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the sabbath day.
5,6 FATHER AND MOTHER; MURDER
Exodus 20.12
12 Honour your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in
the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
13 You shall not murder.
Exodus 21.1-22.2
21.1 These are the
ordinances that you shall set before them:
2 When you buy a male Hebrew slave, he shall serve for six years, but in
the seventh he shall go out a free person, without debt. 3If he comes in
single, he shall go out single; if he comes in married, then his wife
shall go out with him. 4If 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. 5But if the slave declares, ‘I love my master, my
wife, and my children; I will not go out a free person’, 6then his master
shall bring him before God. He shall be brought to the door or the
doorpost; and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall
serve him for life.
7 When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she shall not go out as the
male slaves do. 8If she does not please her master, who designated her for
himself, then he shall let her be redeemed; he shall have no right to sell
her to a foreign people, since he has dealt unfairly with her. 9If he
designates her for his son, he shall deal with her as with a daughter.
10If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish the food,
clothing, or marital rights of the first wife. 11 And if he does not do
these three things for her, she shall go out without debt, without payment
of money.
12 Whoever strikes a person mortally shall be put to death. 13If it was
not premeditated, but came about by an act of God, then I will appoint for
you a place to which the killer may flee. 14But if someone wilfully
attacks and kills another by treachery, you shall take the killer from my
altar for execution.
15 Whoever strikes father or mother shall be put to death.
16 Whoever kidnaps a person, whether that person has been sold or is still
held in possession, shall be put to death.
17 Whoever curses father or mother shall be put to death.
18 When individuals quarrel and one strikes the other with a
stone or fist
so that the injured party, though not dead, is confined to bed, 19but
recovers and walks around outside with the help of a staff, then the
assailant shall be free of liability, except to pay for the loss of time,
and to arrange for full recovery.
20 When a slave-owner strikes a male or female slave with a rod and the
slave dies immediately, the owner shall be punished. 21But if the slave
survives for a day or two, there is no punishment; for the slave is the
owner’s property.
22 When people who are fighting injure a pregnant woman so that there is a
miscarriage, and yet no further harm follows, the one responsible shall be
fined what the woman’s husband demands, paying as much as the judges
determine. 23If any harm follows, then you shall give life for life, 24eye
for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25burn for burn,
wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
26 When a slave-owner strikes the eye of a male or female slave,
destroying it, the owner shall let the slave go, a free person, to
compensate for the eye. 27If the owner knocks out a tooth of a male or
female slave, the slave shall be let go, a free person, to compensate for
the tooth.
28 When an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox shall be stoned, and
its flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall not be liable.
29If the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past, and its owner has
been warned but has not restrained 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 imposed on the owner, then the owner shall pay whatever is
imposed for the redemption of the victim’s life. 31If it gores a boy or a
girl, the owner shall be dealt with according to this same rule. 32If the
ox gores a male or female slave, the owner shall pay to the slave-owner
thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.
33 If someone leaves a pit open, 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, giving money to its owner, but keeping the dead animal.
35 If someone’s ox hurts the ox of another, so that it dies, then they
shall sell the live ox and divide the price of it; and the dead animal
they shall also divide. 36But if it was known that the ox was accustomed
to gore in the past, and its owner has not restrained it, the owner shall
restore ox for ox, but keep the dead animal.
22.1 When someone steals an ox or a sheep, and slaughters it or sells it,
the thief shall pay five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep. The
thief shall make restitution, but if unable to do so, shall be sold for
the theft. 4When the animal, whether ox or donkey or sheep, is found alive
in the thief’s possession, the thief shall pay double.
2 If a thief is found breaking in, and is beaten to death, no blood-guilt
is incurred; 3but if it happens after sunrise, blood-guilt is incurred.
Leviticus 20.9
9 All who curse father or mother shall be put to death; having cursed
father or mother, their blood is upon them.
Deut 5.16-17
16 Honour your father and your mother, as the Lord your God commanded you,
so that 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 You shall not murder.
7, ADULTERY
Exodus 20.14
14 You shall not commit adultery.
Exodus 21.16-17
16 When a man seduces a virgin who is not engaged to be married, and lies
with her, he shall give the bride-price for her and make her his wife.
17But if her father refuses to give her to him, he shall pay an amount
equal to the bride-price for virgins.
Leviticus 20.10-21
10 If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbour, both the
adulterer and the adulteress shall be put to death. 11 The man who lies
with his father’s wife has uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them
shall be put to death; their blood is upon them. 12 If a man lies with his
daughter-in-law, both of them shall be put to death; they have committed
perversion; their blood is upon them. 13 If a man lies with a male as with
a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to
death; their blood is upon them. 14 If a man takes a wife and her mother
also, it is depravity; they shall be burned to death, both he and they,
that there may be no depravity among you. 15 If a man has sexual relations
with an animal, he shall be put to death; and you shall kill the animal.
16If a woman approaches any animal and has sexual relations with it, you
shall kill the woman and the animal; they shall be put to death, their
blood is upon them.
17 If a man takes his sister, a daughter of his father or a daughter of
his mother, and sees her nakedness, and she sees his nakedness, it is a
disgrace, and they shall be cut off in the sight of their people; he has
uncovered his sister’s nakedness, he shall be subject to punishment. 18If
a man lies with a woman having her sickness and uncovers her nakedness, he
has laid bare her flow and she has laid bare her flow of blood; both of
them shall be cut off from their people. 19You shall not uncover the
nakedness of your mother’s sister or of your father’s sister, for that is
to lay bare one’s own flesh; they shall be subject to punishment. 20If a
man lies with his uncle’s wife, he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness;
they shall be subject to punishment; they shall die childless. 21If a man
takes his brother’s wife, it is impurity; he has uncovered his brother’s
nakedness; they shall be childless.
Deuteronymy 5.18
18 Neither shall you commit adultery.
8,9 STEALING: FALSE WITNESS
Exodus 20.15-16
15 You shall not steal.
16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.
Exodus 23.1-9
23.1 You shall not spread a false report. You shall not join hands with
the
wicked to act as a malicious witness. 2You shall not follow a majority in
wrongdoing; when you bear witness in a lawsuit, you shall not side with
the majority so as to pervert justice; 3nor shall you be partial to the
poor in a lawsuit.
4 When you come upon your enemy’s ox or donkey going astray, you shall
bring it back.
5 When you see the donkey of one who hates you lying under its burden and
you would hold back from setting it free, you must help to set it free.
6 You shall not pervert the justice due to your poor in their lawsuits.
7Keep far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent or those in
the right, for I will not acquit the guilty. 8You shall take no bribe, for
a bribe blinds the officials, and subverts the cause of those who are in
the right.
9 You shall not oppress a resident alien; you know the heart of an alien,
for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.
Leviticus 19.11
11 You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; and you shall not lie
to one another.
Deuteronymy 5.19-20
19 Neither shall you steal.
20 Neither shall you bear false witness against your neighbour.
10, COVETING
Exodus 20.17
17 You shall not covet your neighbour’s house; you shall not covet your
neighbour’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything
that belongs to your neighbour.
Deuteronymy 5.21
21 Neither shall you covet your neighbour’s wife.
Neither shall you desire your neighbour’s house, or field, or male or
female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your
neighbour.
?Leviticus 19.15-34 [Some argue that 20-22 here are an
interpolation]
15 You shall not render an unjust judgement; you shall not be
partial to
the poor or defer to the great: with justice you shall judge your
neighbour. 16 You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people,
and you shall not profit by the blood of your neighbour: I am the Lord.
17 You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin; you shall reprove
your neighbour, or you will incur guilt yourself. 18You shall
not take
vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love
your neighbour as yourself: I am the Lord.
19 You shall keep my statutes. You shall not let your animals breed with a
different kind; you shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed; nor
shall you put on a garment made of two different materials.
20 If a man has sexual relations with a woman who is a slave, designated
for another man but not ransomed or given her freedom, an inquiry shall be
held. They shall not be put to death, since she has not been freed; 21 but
he shall bring a guilt-offering for himself to the Lord, at the entrance
of the tent of meeting, a ram as guilt-offering. 22 And the priest shall
make atonement for him with the ram of guilt-offering before the Lord for
his sin that he committed; and the sin he committed shall be forgiven him.
23 When you come into the land and plant all kinds of trees for food, then
you shall regard their fruit as forbidden; for three years it shall be
forbidden to you; it must not be eaten. 24 In the fourth year all their
fruit shall be set apart for rejoicing in the Lord. 25 But in the fifth
year you may eat of their fruit, that their yield may be increased for
you: I am the Lord your God.
26 You shall not eat anything with its blood. You shall not practise
augury or witchcraft. 27 You shall not round off the hair on your temples
or mar the edges of your beard. 28 You shall not make any gashes in your
flesh for the dead or tattoo any marks upon you: I am the Lord.
29 Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, so that the
land may not become prostituted and full of depravity. 30 You shall keep my
sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord.
31 Do not turn to mediums or wizards; do not seek them out, to be defiled
by them: I am the Lord your God.
32 You shall rise before the aged, and defer to the old; and you shall
fear your God: I am the Lord.
33 When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the
alien. 34 The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen
among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in
the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.