¹⁶ Then it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that there were ^(A)thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp ^(B)trembled. ¹⁷ And ^(C)Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. ¹⁸ Now ^(D)Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the Lord descended upon ^(E)it in fire. ^(F)Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and ^[a]the ^(G)whole mountain quaked greatly. ¹⁹ And when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder, ^(H)Moses spoke, and ^(I)God answered him by voice. ²⁰ Then the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

²¹ And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people, lest they break through ^(J)to gaze at the Lord, and many of them perish. ²² Also let the ^(K)priests who come near the Lord ^(L)consecrate themselves, lest the Lord ^(M)break out against them.”

²³ But Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai; for You warned us, saying, ^(N)‘Set bounds around the mountain and consecrate it.’ ”

²⁴ Then the Lord said to him, “Away! Get down and then come up, you and Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the Lord, lest He break out against them.” ²⁵ So Moses went down to the people and spoke to them.

The Ten Commandments^(O)

20 And God spoke ^(P)all these words, saying:

The People Afraid of God’s Presence

¹⁸ Now ^(AO)all the people ^(AP)witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain ^(AQ)smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. ¹⁹ Then they said to Moses, ^(AR)“You speak with us, and we will hear; but ^(AS)let not God speak with us, lest we die.”

²⁰ And Moses said to the people, ^(AT)“Do not fear; ^(AU)for God has come to test you, and ^(AV)that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin.” ²¹ So the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near ^(AW)the thick darkness where God was.

The Law of the Altar

²² Then the Lord said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘You have seen that I have talked with you ^(AX)from heaven. ²³ You shall not make anything to be ^(AY)with Me—gods of silver or gods of gold you shall not make for yourselves. ²⁴ An altar of ^(AZ)earth you shall make for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, ^(BA)your sheep and your oxen. In every ^(BB)place where I ^[e]record My name I will come to you, and I will ^(BC)bless you. ²⁵ And ^(BD)if you make Me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stone; for if you ^(BE)use your tool on it, you have profaned it. ²⁶ Nor shall you go up by steps to My altar, that your ^(BF)nakedness may not be exposed on it.’

The Law Concerning Servants^(BG)

21 “Now these are the ^[f]judgments which you shall ^(BH)set before them: ^2 (BI)If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years; and in the seventh he shall go out free and pay nothing. ³ If he comes in by himself, he shall go out by himself; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him. ⁴ If his master has given him a wife, and she has borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself. ^5 (BJ)But if the servant plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’ ⁶ then his master shall bring him to the ^(BK)judges. He shall also bring him to the door, or to the doorpost, and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him forever.

⁷ “And if a man ^(BL)sells his daughter to be a female slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do. ⁸ If she ^[g]does not please her master, who has betrothed her to himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has dealt deceitfully with her. ⁹ And if he has betrothed her to his son, he shall deal with her according to the custom of daughters. ¹⁰ If he takes another wife, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, ^(BM)and her marriage rights. ¹¹ And if he does not do these three for her, then she shall go out free, without paying money.

The Law Concerning Violence

^12 (BN)“He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death. ¹³ However, ^(BO)if he did not lie in wait, but God ^(BP)delivered him into his hand, then ^(BQ)I will appoint for you a place where he may flee.

¹⁴ “But if a man acts with ^(BR)premeditation against his neighbor, to kill him by treachery, ^(BS)you shall take him from My altar, that he may die.

¹⁵ “And he who strikes his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.

^16 (BT)“He who kidnaps a man and ^(BU)sells him, or if he is ^(BV)found in his hand, shall surely be put to death.

¹⁷ “And ^(BW)he who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.

¹⁸ “If men contend with each other, and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist, and he does not die but is confined to his bed, ¹⁹ if he rises again and walks about outside ^(BX)with his staff, then he who struck him shall be ^[h]acquitted. He shall only pay for the loss of his time, and shall provide for him to be thoroughly healed.

²⁰ “And if a man beats his male or female servant with a rod, so that he dies under his hand, he shall surely be punished. ²¹ Notwithstanding, if he remains alive a day or two, he shall not be punished; for he is his ^(BY)property.

¹³ “But ^(A)woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. ^14 [a]Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! ^(B)For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.

¹⁵ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of ^[b]hell as yourselves.

¹⁶ “Woe to you, ^(C)blind guides, who say, ^(D)‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.’ ¹⁷ Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold ^(E)or the temple that ^[c]sanctifies the gold? ¹⁸ And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.’ ¹⁹ Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift ^(F)or the altar that sanctifies the gift? ²⁰ Therefore he who ^[d]swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it. ²¹ He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by ^(G)Him who ^[e]dwells in it. ²² And he who swears by heaven, swears by ^(H)the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.

²³ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! ^(I)For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and ^(J)have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. ²⁴ Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!

²⁵ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! ^(K)For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and ^[f]self-indulgence. ²⁶ Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.

²⁷ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! ^(L)For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. ²⁸ Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

^29 (M)“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and ^[g]adorn the monuments of the righteous, ³⁰ and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’

³¹ “Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that ^(N)you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. ^32 (O)Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ guilt. ³³ Serpents, ^(P)brood^[h] of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell? ^34 (Q)Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: ^(R)some of them you will kill and crucify, and ^(S)some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, ^35 (T)that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, ^(U)from the blood of righteous Abel to ^(V)the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. ³⁶ Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.

Jesus Laments over Jerusalem^(W)

^37 (X)“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets ^(Y)and stones those who are sent to her! How often ^(Z)I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks ^(AA)under her wings, but you were not willing! ³⁸ See! Your house is left to you desolate; ³⁹ for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ^(AB)‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ”

Rejoicing in Answered Prayer

A Psalm of David.