Bible Glide

Exodus 20

Exodus 20 Summary, Context, and Full Chapter

Exodus 20 gives Israel the Ten Commandments at Sinai, showing how God calls His redeemed people to live. The chapter also describes the people's fear at the mountain and closes with instructions about worship that guard against idols and human pride.

Read in ReaderShare Passage

What happens in Exodus 20?

God speaks the Ten Commandments to Israel, beginning with His saving identity as the Lord who brought them out of slavery. The commands address worship, speech, holy time, family honor, and relationships with others, including truthfulness and contentment. The people react to the thunder, fire, and smoke with fear and ask Moses to speak for God instead. Moses tells them that God is testing them so that reverence will keep them from sin. The chapter ends with further commands against idols and with simple rules for altars and sacrifice.

Exodus 20 comes after the covenant scene at Mount Sinai in chapter 19, where Israel prepared to meet God. This chapter is the heart of the law section that shapes Israel's life as God's people. It also leads into later laws in Exodus 21-23, which apply these covenant commands in daily life.

Themes to notice

  • God's authorityThe commandments begin with God identifying Himself as the one who rescued Israel and has the right to direct their worship and conduct.
  • Holy livingThe law covers worship, rest, family, truth, and contentment, showing that obedience includes both outward actions and inward desires.
  • Reverence and worshipSinai's fear, Moses' mediation, and the altar instructions all point to the need for humble, careful approach to God.

Questions for Exodus 20

  • What does the opening of the Ten Commandments teach about who God is before it tells Israel what to do?
  • Why do you think the people were afraid to hear God directly at Sinai?
  • Which command in this chapter speaks most directly to the heart as well as outward behavior?

Read the full text of Exodus 20 below, then open it in the reader to highlight, take notes, or ask follow-up Bible questions. No account is required to read.

Exodus 20

The Ten Commandments

1And 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.

3You shall have no other gods before Me.

4You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath.

5You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,6but showing loving devotion to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.

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

8Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.

9Six days you shall labor and do all your work,10but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God, on which you must not do any work—neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant or livestock, nor the foreigner within your gates.11For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, but on the seventh day He rested. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.

12Honor your father and mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

13You shall not murder.

14You shall not commit adultery.

15You shall not steal.

16You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

17You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, or his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

Moses Comforts the People

18When all the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sounding of the ram’s horn, and the mountain enveloped in smoke, they trembled and stood at a distance.19“Speak to us yourself and we will listen,” they said to Moses. “But do not let God speak to us, or we will die.”

20“Do not be afraid,” Moses replied. “For God has come to test you, so that the fear of Him may be before you, to keep you from sinning.”21And the people stood at a distance as Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.

Idolatry Forbidden

22Then the LORD said to Moses, “This is what you are to tell the Israelites: ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from heaven.23You are not to make any gods alongside Me; you are not to make for yourselves gods of silver or gold.24You are to make for Me an altar of earth, and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and peace offerings, your sheep and goats and cattle. In every place where I cause My name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you.25Now if you make an altar of stones for Me, you must not build it with stones shaped by tools; for if you use a chisel on it, you will defile it.26And you must not go up to My altar on steps, lest your nakedness be exposed on it.’

Keep studying

Save notes and ask about Exodus 20

Create a free account to keep highlights and notes across devices, or open Bible Glide Chat with this passage already attached.

Create Free AccountAsk About This Passage