The Ten Commandments

In the Bible,

in the book of the Bible called Exodus,

there is a story about the Jews,

and the leader of the Jews, Moses.

On day, Moses went up on top of a mountain, called Mount Sinai,

and he said that God gave him ten laws, or commandments. They were written on two stone tablets.

It is also called the Decalogue. This is Hebrew, the language of the Jews.

These became the most important laws of the Jews. But Christians also follow these laws.

Here are the Ten Commandments!

Remember: thou shalt means you will,

and: thy and thyself mean your and yourself.

1. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.

Long ago, people believed in many gods. For example, the Greeks believed in many gods: Zeus, Hera, Apollo, Athena, Poseidon, Aphrodite, and others.

But the God of the Jews said: you will worship only me.

2. Thou shalt not make for thyself a carved image.

A carved image here means a statue that is worshipped, like this golden calf.

Long ago, some people who believed in old religions worshipped statues.

But the God of the Jews said: you will not worship statues.

3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.

Some people curse when they are angry: they say “gosh” and “darn”!

But the God of the Jews said: you will not say “God” when you curse!

4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

The Bible says that God created everything in six days, and he rested on the seventh day.

So Sunday (for Christians) or Saturday (for Jews) is called the Sabbath.

So the God of the Jews said: you will remember the Sabbath, and worship me and rest too.

5. Honor thy father and thy mother.

To honor someone is to treat him like he is important; don’t be mean to him.

So the God of the Jews said: you will honor your mama and papa.

6. Thou shalt not murder.

To murder is to kill a person, just because you want to.

Murder is very wrong and very bad.

So the God of the Jews said: you will not murder anyone.

7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.

When they are married, a man and a woman should love each other.

So the God of the Jews said: you will not love some other man or woman.

8. Thou shalt not steal.

To steal is just to take something that isn’t yours, without asking and without paying.

Stealing is wrong.

So the God of the Jews said: you will not steal.

9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

To bear false witness is a fancy way of saying “lie” or “say something untrue.”

Telling lies is wrong.

So the God of the Jews said: you will not lie.

10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house; thou shalt not covet thy neighbors wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is thy neighbor’s.

To covet is just to want.

Wanting something that somebody else has is called envy. That is an ugly feeling.

So the God of the Jews said: do not envy others; do not want what they have.

The End