The Ten Commandments in order

The Ten Commandments in order

1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me

   The LORD has just reminded Israel that he brought them out of the house of bondage. The first command is that he alone is their God.

   Exodus 20:3

2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image

   Israel was not to carve an image of anything in heaven, earth or water and bow down to it. This command runs through verse 6.

   Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

   Exodus 20:4-6

3. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain

   God's name was not to be used carelessly or falsely. The verse adds that the LORD will not hold such a person guiltless.

   Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

   Exodus 20:7

4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy

   Six days for work and the seventh for rest, for the whole household, servants, cattle and stranger included. The reason given is that God made the world in six days and rested on the seventh.

   Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

   Exodus 20:8-11

5. Honour thy father and thy mother

   The first command about other people, and the one that carries a promise: long days in the land God was giving them.

   Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

   Exodus 20:12

6. Thou shalt not kill

   Three words in the King James Version. Jesus later quoted it and went further, warning against anger in the heart (Matthew 5:21-22).

   Exodus 20:13

7. Thou shalt not commit adultery

   This protects marriage. Paul lists it first when he sums up the commandments in Romans 13:9.

   Exodus 20:14

8. Thou shalt not steal

   Four words that protect what belongs to someone else. Paul echoes it in Ephesians 4:28, telling the one who stole to steal no more and to work instead.

   Exodus 20:15

9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour

   Bearing false witness means telling a lie about someone, especially as a witness in a dispute or a court.

   Exodus 20:16

10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house

    The last command goes beneath actions to desire: house, wife, servants, ox, ass, or anything that is a neighbour's.

    Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.

    Exodus 20:17

Why churches number them differently

The Bible says there are ten, but it does not put numbers on them, so traditions divide the same verses in different ways.

Jewish tradition counts Exodus 20:2, "I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt", as the first word, and joins no other gods and no graven images into the second.

Catholic and Lutheran tradition, following Augustine, also joins no other gods and no graven images into one commandment, then splits coveting in two: the ninth is not coveting a neighbour's wife and the tenth is not coveting his goods. Deuteronomy 5:21 lists the wife separately first, which supports that division.

The Reformed tradition, most other Protestant churches and the Eastern Orthodox count no other gods and no graven images as two separate commandments and keep coveting as one. That is the numbering used in the list above. The words are the same in every tradition; only the numbering changes.

The Ten Commandments in Deuteronomy 5

Forty years later, Moses repeated the commandments to a new generation in Deuteronomy 5:6-21. The wording is almost the same, with a few differences.

The sabbath command begins "Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it" and gives a second reason for rest: "remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt" (Deuteronomy 5:12-15). The honour command adds "that it may go well with thee" (Deuteronomy 5:16). And the coveting command puts the neighbour's wife before his house and adds "his field" (Deuteronomy 5:21).

The two tables of stone

Moses broke the first tables when he came down the mountain and saw the golden calf (Exodus 32:19). God told him to cut two more, and Moses stayed with the LORD forty days and forty nights while the words were written again (Exodus 34:28; Deuteronomy 10:4).

And God spake all these words, saying,

Exodus 20:1 · KJV