| Exodus 20 (RSV) | Deuteronomy 5 (RSV) |
| 2 "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. | 6 "'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. | 7 "'You shall have no other gods before me. |
| 4 "You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; | 8 "'You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; |
| 5 you shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, | 9 you shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, |
| 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. | 10 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. |
| 7 "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. | 11 "'You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. |
| 8 "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. | 12 "'Observe the sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you. |
| 9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work; | 13 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work; |
| 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your manservant, or your maidservant, or your cattle, or the sojourner who is within your gates; | 14 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, or your manservant, or your maidservant, or your ox, or your ass, or any of your cattle, or the sojourner who is within your gates; that your manservant and your maidservant may rest as well as you. |
| 11 for 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 hallowed it. | 15 You shall remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out thence with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the sabbath day. |
| 12 "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the LORD your God gives you. | 16 "'Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God commanded you; that your days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with you, in the land which the LORD your God gives you. |
| 13 "You shall not kill. | 17 "'You shall not kill. |
| 14 "You shall not commit adultery. | 18 "'Neither shall you commit adultery. |
| 15 "You shall not steal. | 19 "'Neither shall you steal. |
| 16 "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. | 20 "'Neither shall you bear false witness against your neighbor. |
| 17 "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant, or his maidservant, or his ox, or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor's." | 21 "'Neither shall you covet your neighbor's wife; and you shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor's.' |
| 3 | "Observe" and "recall" in a single utterance, | Shamor v'zakhor b'dibur eḥad | שמור וזכור בדבור אחד |
| 4 | We were made to hear by the unified God, | hishmiʿanu El hameyuḥad | השמיענו אל המיחד |
| 5 | God is one and God’s Name is one, | Adonai eḥad ushemo eḥad | יי אחד ושמו אחד |
| 6 | In fame and splendor and praiseful song. | L'Sheim ulitiferet v'lit'hilah | לשם ולתפארת ולתהלה |
The philosopher Abraham ben Chiyya, after placing the first commandment apart as comprising all the others, divided the other nine according to the commandments of thought, speech, and action, and according to relations between human and God, human and his family, and human and human, reaching the following classification:
| Relations between: | Man & God | Human & Family | Human & Human |
| Thought | Second Command:
“Thou shalt have no other God”–fear of God. |
Fifth Command:
“Honor thy father and thy mother.” |
Tenth Command:
“Thou shalt not covet.” |
| Speech | Third Command:
“Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord in vain.” |
Sixth Command:
“Thou shalt not murder,” especially one’s family. |
Ninth Command:
“Thou shalt not bear false witness.” |
| Action | Fourth Command:
“Remember the Sabbath Day.” |
Seventh Command:
“Thou shalt not commit adultery.” |
Eighth Command:
“Thou shalt not steal.” |
The Ten Commandments were said daily as part of daily prayers it was included right before the shema. But was taken out later
(א) אמר להם הממונה. ברכו ברכה אחת והן ברכו. קראו עשרת הדברים. שמע. והיה אם שמוע. ויאמר. ברכו את העם שלש ברכות אמת ויציב. ועבודה. וברכות כהנים. ובשבת מוסיפין ברכה אחת למשמר היוצא:
(1) The appointed [priest] said to them: “Say one blessing” [one right before the Shema], and they blessed. They then recited the Ten Commandments, 'Shema', 'Vehaya im Shamoa' and 'Vayomer' [the three paragraphs of the Shema]. They also blessed the people with these three blessings: Emet Veyatsiv [the blessing that follows the Shema in the morning prayer], Avodah [the blessing in Shemoneh Esreh calling for G-D to accept the Temple service], and the Birkat Kohanim [the Priestly Blessing]. On Shabbat, they added a blessing for the watch that was leaving.
(ז) וידבר ה' אל משה במדבר סיני למה במדבר סיני? מכאן שנו חכמים, בג' דברים ניתנה התורה: באש ובמים ובמדבר באש מנין? (שמות יט) והר סיני עשן כולו וגו'. ובמים מנין? שנאמר (שופטים ה) גם שמים נטפו גם עבים נטפו מים. ובמדבר מנין? וידבר ה' אל משה במדבר סיני ולמה ניתנה בג' דברים הללו? אלא, מה אלו חנם לכל באי העולם, כך דברי תורה חנם הם, שנאמר (ישעיה נה): הוי כל צמא לכו למים. דבר אחר: וידבר ה' אל משה במדבר סיני אלא כל מי שאינו עושה עצמו כמדבר הפקר, אינו יכול לקנות את החכמה והתורה, לכך נאמר: במדבר סיני:
(7) ...And God spoke to Moses in the desert of Sinai. Why in the desert of Sinai? From here our sages taught [that] through three things Torah is given: fire, and water and desert. How do we know [Torah is given] through fire? 'and the mountain of Sinai was all full of smoke' (Exodus 19:18). And through water? '...also the Heavens, also the clouds dropped water' (Judges 5:4) And through the desert? 'And God spoke to Moses in the desert of Sinai'. And why was it given through those three things? To point out that, just as these are free for all the inhabitants of the world, so too the words of Torah are free, as it is written 'Hey, everyone who is thirsty, go to water' (Isaiah 55:1). Another interpretation of 'And God spoke to Moses in the desert of Sinai' - whoever does not make him/herself open to all [lit. ownerless], like a desert is not able to acquire wisdom and Torah, therefore it is written 'in the desert of Sinai'...
(שמות יט, יז) ויתיצבו בתחתית ההר א"ר אבדימי בר חמא בר חסא מלמד שכפה הקב"ה עליהם את ההר כגיגית ואמר להם אם אתם מקבלים התורה מוטב ואם לאו שם תהא קבורתכם א"ר אחא בר יעקב מכאן מודעא רבה לאורייתא אמר רבא אעפ"כ הדור קבלוה בימי אחשורוש דכתיב (אסתר ט, כז) קימו וקבלו היהודים קיימו מה שקיבלו כבר
“And they stood under the mountain” (Ex. 19:17)
Rav Avdimi bar Chama bar Chasa said: This teaches that the Holy One Blessed is He covered them with the mountain as though it were an upturned vat, and said to them: “If you accept the Torah, fine. But if not, your burial will be there!” Rav Acha bar Yakov said: This is a great refutation against the Torah.” Rava said, “Nevertheless, they accepted the Torah again in the days of Achashverosh, as it says The Jews established and accepted (Esther 9:27). [That is to say,] they established [in the days of Achashverosh] that which they had already accepted [in the days of Moses].
- Do not deny God.
- Do not blaspheme God.
- Do not murder.
- Do not engage in illicit sexual relations.
- Do not steal.
- Do not eat from a live animal.
- Establish courts/legal system to ensure obedience to said laws.