The ten commandments are given twice in Scripture: first at Sinai in Exodus 20:1-17, and again by Moses on the plains of Moab forty years later in Deuteronomy 5:6-21. The Bible itself calls them “the ten commandments” (Exodus 34:28; Deuteronomy 4:13).
They open with who God is and what he has done: “I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage” (Exodus 20:2). The first four concern our love for God; the last six concern our love for our neighbor.
First commandment: No other gods
“You shall have no other gods before me.”
Exodus 20:3
Also given in: Deuteronomy 5:7. Jesus answered the tempter with this commandment: “You shall worship the Lord your God, and you shall serve him only” (Matthew 4:10).
Second commandment: No idols
“You shall not make for yourselves an idol, nor any image of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: you shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them…”
Exodus 20:4-6
Also given in: Deuteronomy 5:8-10. John closes his first letter with it: “Little children, keep yourselves from idols” (1 John 5:21). Paul even names covetousness as idolatry (Colossians 3:5).
Third commandment: Do not misuse God’s name
“You shall not misuse the name of Yahweh your God, for Yahweh will not hold him guiltless who misuses his name.”
Exodus 20:7
Also given in: Deuteronomy 5:11. The law applies it directly to false oaths: “You shall not swear by my name falsely, and profane the name of your God” (Leviticus 19:12).
Fourth commandment: Keep the Sabbath holy
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. You shall labor six days, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your God.”
Exodus 20:8-11
Also given in: Deuteronomy 5:12-15. Exodus grounds the Sabbath in creation; Deuteronomy grounds it in the rescue from Egypt (Deuteronomy 5:15). Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27), and Hebrews 4:9 speaks of a Sabbath rest that remains for the people of God.
Fifth commandment: Honor your father and mother
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which Yahweh your God gives you.”
Exodus 20:12
Also given in: Deuteronomy 5:16. Paul calls it “the first commandment with a promise” (Ephesians 6:2-3).
Sixth commandment: Do not murder
“You shall not murder.”
Exodus 20:13
Also given in: Deuteronomy 5:17. Jesus traced it back to the heart: anger and contempt toward a brother already stand under judgment (Matthew 5:21-22).
Seventh commandment: Do not commit adultery
“You shall not commit adultery.”
Exodus 20:14
Also given in: Deuteronomy 5:18. Jesus again went beneath the act to the desire: “everyone who gazes at a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart” (Matthew 5:27-28).
Eighth commandment: Do not steal
“You shall not steal.”
Exodus 20:15
Also given in: Deuteronomy 5:19. Paul turns the prohibition into a calling: “Let him who stole steal no more; but rather let him labor… that he may have something to give to him who has need” (Ephesians 4:28).
Ninth commandment: Do not give false testimony
“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.”
Exodus 20:16
Also given in: Deuteronomy 5:20. Among the seven things Yahweh hates is “a false witness who utters lies” (Proverbs 6:16-19).
Tenth commandment: Do not covet
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”
Exodus 20:17
Also given in: Deuteronomy 5:21. This was the commandment that exposed Paul: “I wouldn’t have known coveting unless the law had said, ‘You shall not covet’” (Romans 7:7).
A note on numbering
Scripture says there are ten commandments but does not number them. This site follows the division used by Jewish tradition (apart from the opening statement), the Orthodox churches, and most Protestants. Catholic and Lutheran traditions combine the first two and divide the last into two. The words of the text are the same either way; only the counting differs.