(ב) אָנֹכִי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר הוֹצֵאתִיךָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם מִבֵּית עֲבָדִים (ג) לֹא יִהְיֶה לְךָ אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים עַל פָּנָיַ. (ד) לֹא תַעֲשֶׂה לְךָ פֶסֶל וְכָל תְּמוּנָה אֲשֶׁר בַּשָּׁמַיִם מִמַּעַל וַאֲשֶׁר בָּאָרֶץ מִתַָּחַת וַאֲשֶׁר בַּמַּיִם מִתַּחַת לָאָרֶץ. (ה) לֹא תִשְׁתַּחְוֶה לָהֶם וְלֹא תָעָבְדֵם כִּי אָנֹכִי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ אֵל קַנָּא פֹּקֵד עֲוֹן אָבֹת עַל בָּנִים עַל שִׁלֵּשִׁים וְעַל רִבֵּעִים לְשֹׂנְאָי. (ו) וְעֹשֶׂה חֶסֶד לַאֲלָפִים לְאֹהֲבַי וּלְשֹׁמְרֵי מִצְוֹתָי.
(2) I am the LORD thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. (3) Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. (4) Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, nor any manner of likeness, of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; (5) thou shalt not bow down unto them, nor serve them; for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me; (6) and showing mercy unto the thousandth generation of them that love Me and keep My commandments.
2. Order of commandments according to different sources:
3. Jewish Study Bible, p.148:
"Although this verse lacks an imperative verb, and thus cannot be called a commandment, later Jewish tradition interpreted it as a command in itself requiring belief in G-d (Maimonedes, Hilchot Yesodei Hatorah) or belief that the Lord alone is G-d (Ibn Ezra)."
4. Mishneh Torah, Chapter 2, Halacha 1:
The essence of the commandment [forbidding] the worship of false gods is not to serve any of the creations, not an angel, a sphere, or a star, none of the four fundamental elements, nor any entity created from them.
5. Mishneh Torah, Chapter 2, Halacha 6:
"Whoever accepts a false god as true, even when he does not actually worship it, disgraces and blasphemes [God's] glorious and awesome name."
6. The Great Partnership, Jonathan Sacks, p.283:
7. 'You Shall Be As Gods', Erich Fromm:
"...One can understand the phenomenon that Judaism has not developed an effective theology only if one understands fully that Jewish "theology" was a negative one...the acknowledgment of G!d is, fundamentally, the negation of idols."
'Newish Jewish', Yaakov Wolf: "Concepts like nationalism, patriotism, personality cults, careers, religion--even the Mitzvot!-- can become idols. "