Skip to main content
Psalmlog Logo

Exodus 20

God grounds Israel’s obedience in his deliverance from Egypt and commands reverence for himself and faithfulness toward neighbors.

God speaks to Israel at the mountain, identifying himself as YHWH who brought them out of slavery in Egypt. He commands exclusive worship and sets boundaries for work, family life, and dealings with neighbors. Thunder, lightning, and the smoking mountain frighten the people, who ask Moses to speak to them in God’s place. Moses approaches the thick darkness, and God gives further instructions against idols and for building altars.

sermon or Bible study notesguilt and confessionpraise and worship
Read
1God spoke all these words, saying,
2“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
3“You shall have no other gods before me.
4“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:
5you shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me,
6and showing loving kindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
7“You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who misuses his name.
8“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9You shall labor six days, and do all your work,
10but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. You shall not do any work in it, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your livestock, nor your stranger who is within your gates;
11for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day, and made it holy.
12“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the LORD your God gives you.
13“You shall not murder.
14“You shall not commit adultery.
15“You shall not steal.
16“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
17“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.”
18All the people perceived the thunderings, the lightnings, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking. When the people saw it, they trembled, and stayed at a distance.
19They said to Moses, “Speak with us yourself, and we will listen; but don’t let God speak with us, lest we die.”
20Moses said to the people, “Don’t be afraid, for God has come to test you, and that his fear may be before you, that you won’t sin.”
21The people stayed at a distance, and Moses came near to the thick darkness where God was.
22The LORD said to Moses, “This is what you shall tell the children of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen that I have talked with you from heaven.
23You shall most certainly not make gods of silver or gods of gold for yourselves to be alongside me.
24You shall make an altar of earth for me, and shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your cattle. In every place where I record my name I will come to you and I will bless you.
25If you make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of cut stones; for if you lift up your tool on it, you have polluted it.
26You shall not go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness may not be exposed to it.’
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Exodus 20:12The command to honor parents connects family obligations with Israel’s continued life in the land God gives.
Exodus 20:11God’s creation and seventh-day rest establish the pattern behind Israel’s Sabbath, which extends rest across the whole household.
Exodus 20:6Within the warning against idols, God declares his loving kindness toward those who love him and keep his commandments.
Where this chapter reaches

Deuteronomy repeats these commandments, while Genesis supplies the creation account behind the Sabbath command, including God’s rest on the seventh day. Ephesians repeats the command to honor parents with its promise, and Romans cites several commands concerning neighbors in its teaching about love.

Exodus 20's chapter linksAll strongest linksHover or tap a book
Notice

After reading the whole chapter

How does God’s opening statement about rescue from Egypt shape your reading of the commands that follow?

Write on this

What do you notice about the fear Moses discourages and the fear he says should remain?

Write on this

Questions people ask about Exodus 20

Why does Moses say both to fear God and not to be afraid in Exodus 20?

The people fear that hearing God’s voice will kill them, so they ask Moses to speak instead. Moses tells them not to be afraid, then describes a fear that restrains sin. His words distinguish terror of death from reverence for God’s authority, though the encounter remains frightening.

What does Exodus 20 mean by visiting the fathers’ iniquity on their children?

The warning occurs within the prohibition against idols. It describes God’s judgment reaching across generations of those who hate him, alongside loving kindness to thousands who love him and keep his commands. The verse treats idolatry as having consequences beyond one generation; it does not explain each descendant’s circumstances or responsibility.

Read it. Now write it.

Start an entry on Exodus 20. Your words go beside the text, and you get one next step for the week.

Exodus · 40 chapters
12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031323334353637383940
What the Bible says about guilt →What the Bible says about worship →

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).