7 Scrolls

The Ten Commandments, Explained

The Ten Commandments are given in Exodus 20:1–17 and repeated in Deuteronomy 5:6–21, when God speaks to Israel at Mount Sinai after freeing them from Egypt. They cover loyalty to God alone, no idols, honoring God's name and the Sabbath, respect for parents, and bans on murder, adultery, theft, false testimony and coveting.

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The story in 6 steps

  1. Camped at Mount Sinai

    Exodus 19:1–8

    In the third month after leaving Egypt, Israel camps in front of Mount Sinai. God tells Moses to remind the people how he carried them out of slavery and to offer them a covenant: if they keep it, they will be his treasured people and a kingdom of priests. The people answer that they will do everything the LORD has said.

  2. Preparing to meet God

    Exodus 19:9–25

    The people wash their clothes and prepare for three days. A boundary is set around the mountain. On the third day there is thunder, lightning, a thick cloud and a very loud trumpet blast; the mountain smokes and shakes as the LORD comes down on it, and the people tremble.

  3. God speaks the ten words

    Exodus 20:1–17

    God speaks the commandments, starting not with a rule but with a reminder: he is the LORD their God who brought them out of slavery in Egypt. Then come ten short commands about loyalty to God, worship, rest, family and how to treat neighbors.

  4. The people keep their distance

    Exodus 20:18–21

    Frightened by the thunder and smoke, the people stand far off and ask Moses to speak to them instead of God. Moses tells them not to be afraid; the experience is meant to test them and keep them from sin. Then he approaches the thick darkness where God is.

  5. Tablets of stone

    Exodus 31:18

    After further instructions and a covenant ceremony (Exodus 24), Moses goes up the mountain for forty days. God gives him two stone tablets of the covenant law, described as written by the finger of God.

  6. Broken tablets and a renewed covenant

    Exodus 34:1–28

    While Moses is away, the people make a golden calf, and Moses breaks the tablets in anger (Exodus 32). After Moses intercedes, God tells him to cut two new tablets, renews the covenant and reveals himself as compassionate and gracious. The Hebrew text calls what is written on them the ten words (BSB: the Ten Commandments).

The retelling above is our own summary, not Bible text. Read the full passage in Exodus 20:1–17.

Key verses

““I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me.”

Exodus 20:2-3BSB

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

Exodus 20:12BSB

“You 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.””

Exodus 20:17BSB

Verse text: Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain.

Who is in the story

  • Moses — Leader of Israel who goes up the mountain and brings down the tablets
  • Aaron — Moses' brother, who goes up with him and later makes the golden calf
  • The Israelites — Former slaves who hear God's voice and enter the covenant
  • God (the LORD) — Speaks the commandments and gives the tablets

What the story teaches

The commandments begin with a reminder of rescue: God first frees Israel, then gives the law. Jewish and Christian teachers alike stress that order. The commands are presented as the shape of life for a people already saved from slavery, not as a way to earn God's favor.

The list moves from God to neighbor. The first commands concern worship and loyalty to God, and the rest concern family, life, marriage, property, truth and desire. Jesus later summarizes the law as loving God with all your heart and loving your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37–40), and many readers see the two halves of the Ten Commandments in that summary.

The last commandment, against coveting, reaches beyond actions into the heart. It suggests the law cares about what people want, not only what they do.

Christian traditions differ on how the commandments apply today, especially the Sabbath. Jews observe the seventh day, most Christians gather on Sunday, the day of the resurrection, and some Christian groups keep a Saturday Sabbath. All major traditions treat the moral heart of the commandments as lasting.

Freedom comes first

The law is given to people God has already rescued.

Love of God and neighbor belong together

The list joins worship and everyday ethics in one covenant.

The heart matters

The ban on coveting shows the commandments are concerned with desire as well as action.

The Ten Commandments listed

Below is a short label for each commandment with its verse in Exodus 20. The full BSB wording of each is shown in the verses on this page and in the chapter. This list follows the numbering used by most Protestant and Orthodox churches; see the next section for other systems.

  • 1. Worship the LORD alone, with no rival gods (Exodus 20:3)
  • 2. Do not make or worship idols (Exodus 20:4–6)
  • 3. Do not misuse the LORD's name (Exodus 20:7)
  • 4. Set apart the Sabbath as a holy day of rest (Exodus 20:8–11)
  • 5. Honor your parents (Exodus 20:12)
  • 6. Do not murder (Exodus 20:13)
  • 7. Do not commit adultery (Exodus 20:14)
  • 8. Do not steal (Exodus 20:15)
  • 9. Do not lie about your neighbor (Exodus 20:16)
  • 10. Do not crave what belongs to someone else (Exodus 20:17)

How traditions number them

The Hebrew text calls them the ten words (Exodus 34:28; Deuteronomy 4:13; the BSB translates the phrase as the Ten Commandments) but does not number them, so traditions divide the same verses differently. The content is the same in every system.

Deuteronomy 5:6–21 repeats the commandments with small differences. The main ones are the reason for the Sabbath, which there recalls slavery in Egypt rather than creation, and the coveting command, which puts the neighbor's wife before his house.

  • Jewish tradition: the first word is God's opening statement that he brought Israel out of Egypt (20:2); the second combines no other gods and no idols (20:3–6). The rest follow as above, with coveting as the tenth.
  • Catholic and Lutheran: no other gods and no idols form the first commandment (20:3–6). The Sabbath is third, honoring parents fourth, and coveting is split into the ninth and tenth. Catholics follow the order of Deuteronomy 5:21, so the ninth concerns a neighbor's wife and the tenth his goods; Lutherans traditionally follow Exodus 20:17, with the neighbor's house ninth and his wife and other possessions tenth.
  • Reformed, most other Protestant and Eastern Orthodox churches: no other gods is first (20:3), no idols is second (20:4–6), and all coveting together is tenth (20:17). This is the numbering used in the list above.

The Ten Commandments for kids

Questions for discussion

  1. Why do you think the commandments begin by reminding Israel of their rescue from Egypt?
  2. Which commandment do you think is most ignored today, and why?
  3. How is coveting different from the other commandments in the second half?
  4. What do you make of the different reasons for the Sabbath in Exodus and Deuteronomy?
  5. Jesus summed up the law as love for God and neighbor. How do the ten fit that summary?

Test yourself

Read the story first, then check what you remember: Moses Quiz.

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Frequently asked questions

Where are the Ten Commandments in the Bible?

In Exodus 20:1–17, with a second listing in Deuteronomy 5:6–21. Exodus 34:28 and Deuteronomy 4:13 refer to them as the ten words in Hebrew, translated Ten Commandments in the BSB.

Why are there different numberings of the Ten Commandments?

The text says there are ten but does not number them. Jewish, Catholic and Lutheran, and Reformed and Orthodox traditions divide the same verses differently, especially the opening verses on other gods and idols and the closing verse on coveting.

Who wrote the Ten Commandments?

Exodus says God spoke them to the people at Sinai and wrote them on stone tablets given to Moses. When the tablets were renewed, God told Moses to write down the words (Exodus 34:27–28), and Deuteronomy 10:4 says the LORD wrote the second tablets.

What happened to the stone tablets?

Moses broke the first tablets after the golden calf, and God gave a second set. The Bible says they were kept in the ark of the covenant; their later fate is not recorded.

Do Christians still follow the Ten Commandments?

Christian traditions widely teach the moral content of the commandments. They differ on the Sabbath: most Christians worship on Sunday, while some groups keep Saturday, as Jewish tradition does.

Bible text is quoted from the Berean Standard Bible (public domain); retellings and notes are our own. How we write: editorial policy. Spotted an error? Report a mistake.