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Exodus 20:5-6
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Exodus 20:5-6
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
5 you shall not bow down before them or serve them.(A) For I, the Lord, your God, am a jealous God, inflicting punishment for their ancestors’ wickedness on the children of those who hate me, down to the third and fourth generation[a]; 6 but showing love down to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.
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- 20:5 Jealous: demanding exclusive allegiance. Inflicting punishment…the third and fourth generation: the intended emphasis is on God’s mercy by the contrast between punishment and mercy (“to the thousandth generation”—v. 6). Other Old Testament texts repudiate the idea of punishment devolving on later generations (cf. Dt 24:16; Jer 31:29–30; Ez 18:2–4). Yet it is known that later generations may suffer the punishing effects of sins of earlier generations, but not the guilt.
Exodus 20:5-6
New International Version
Exodus 20:5-6
New International Version
5 You shall not bow down to them or worship(A) them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God,(B) punishing the children for the sin of the parents(C) to the third and fourth generation(D) of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand(E) generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
Numbers 14:18
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Numbers 14:18
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
18 (A)‘The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in kindness, forgiving iniquity and rebellion; yet certainly not declaring the guilty guiltless, but punishing children to the third and fourth generation for their parents’ iniquity.’
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Numbers 14:18
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Numbers 14:18
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18 ‘The Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion.(A) Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.’(B)
Deuteronomy 5:9-10
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Deuteronomy 5:9-10
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
9 [a]you shall not bow down before them or serve them. For I, the Lord, your God, am a jealous[b] God, bringing punishment for their parents’ wickedness on the children of those who hate me, down to the third and fourth generation, 10 but showing love down to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.
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- 5:9–10 Israel is confronted with a choice, to “love” or to “hate” the Lord, and with the consequences of each choice. “Wickedness” works destruction not only on those who do it but also down the generations, in a sort of ripple effect. Yet, if Israel keeps the commandments, they will experience the Lord’s hesed (“love”) down to the thousandth generation. Thus the Lord’s merciful love is disproportionate to the evil results of iniquity (“down to the third and fourth generation”). To the thousandth generation: lit., “to thousands”; cf. 7:9.
- 5:9 Jealous: see note on 4:24.
Deuteronomy 5:9-10
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Deuteronomy 5:9-10
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9 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents(A) to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,(B) 10 but showing love to a thousand(C) generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.(D)
Jeremiah 32:18
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Jeremiah 32:18
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
18 You continue your kindness through a thousand generations; but you repay the ancestors’ guilt upon their children who follow them. Great and mighty God, whose name is Lord of hosts,(A)
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New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
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