The Ten Commandments

[Shin]

I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt not have strange gods in my sight. Thou shalt not make to thyself a graven thing, nor the likeness of any things, that are in heaven above, or that are in the earth beneath, or that abide in the waters under the earth. Thou shalt not adore them, and thou shalt not serve them. For I am the Lord thy God, a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon their children unto the third and fourth generation, to them that hate me, and shewing mercy unto many thousands, to them that love me, and keep my commandments.

Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: for he shall not be unpunished that taketh his name upon a vain thing.

Observe the day of the sabbath, to sanctify it, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee. Six days shalt thou labour, and shalt do all thy works. The seventh is the day of the sabbath, that is, the rest of the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not do any work therein, thou nor thy son nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant nor thy maidservant, nor thy ox, nor thy ass, nor any of thy beasts, nor the stranger that is within thy gates: that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest, even as thyself. Remember that thou also didst serve in Egypt, and the Lord thy God brought thee out from thence with a strong hand, and a stretched out arm. Therefore hath he commanded thee that thou shouldst observe the sabbath day.

Honour thy father and mother, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee, that thou mayst live a long time, and it may be well with thee in the land, which the Lord thy God will give thee.

Thou shalt not kill.

Neither shalt thou commit adultery.

And thou shalt not steal.

Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbour.

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife:

Nor his house, nor his field, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is his.

These words the Lord spoke to all the multitude of you in the mountain, out of the midst of the fire and the cloud, and the darkness, with a loud voice, adding nothing more: and he wrote them in two tables of stone, which he delivered unto me.

But you, after you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, and saw the mountain burn, came to me, all the princes of the tribes and the elders, and you said: Behold the Lord our God hath shewn us his majesty and his greatness, we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire, and have proved this day that God speaking with man, man hath lived.

Why shall we die therefore, and why shall this exceeding great fire consume us: for if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any more, we shall die. What is all flesh, that it should hear the voice of the living God, who speaketh out of the midst of the fire, as we have heard, and be able to live?

- from Deuteronomy 5


And the Lord spoke all these words:

I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt not have strange gods before me. Thou shalt not make to thyself a graven thing, nor the likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, nor of those things that are in the waters under the earth. Thou shalt not adore them, nor serve them: I am the Lord thy God, mighty, jealous, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me: And shewing mercy unto thousands to them that love me, and keep my commandments.

Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that shall take the name of the Lord his God in vain.

Remember that thou keep holy the sabbath day. Six days shalt thou labour, and shalt do all thy works. But on the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: thou shalt do no work on it, thou nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy beast, nor the stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and the sea, and all things that are in them, and rested on the seventh day: therefore the Lord blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it.

Honour thy father and thy mother, that thou mayest be longlived upon the land which the Lord thy God will give thee.

Thou shalt not kill.

Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Thou shalt not steal.

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house: neither shalt thou desire his wife, nor his servant, nor his handmaid, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is his.

And all the people saw the voices and the flames, and the sound of the trumpet, and the mount smoking: and being terrified and struck with fear, they stood afar off, saying to Moses: Speak thou to us, and we will hear: let not the Lord speak to us, lest we die. And Moses said to the people: Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that the dread of him might be in you, and you should not sin.

And the people stood afar off. But Moses went to the dark cloud wherein God was.

- from Exodus 20

[Shin]

I am thinking of how the ten commandments of our basis for determining what is mortal sin.

We have to learn to live up to the ten commandments!

 

[martin]

Thou shalt not steal.

Thinking about what Brigid said in another post if everyone lived like this what a different world we could have.
If every single person were to obey this one commandment imagine how life would change.
You could walk out of your home without locking the door.
You could leave your car with the keys in knowing it would be safe.
You could go to any dealer and know that the price he was charging was fair and honest.
An employer could leave his employees to get on with the job, knowing that each one would be giving a fair days work and in return the employer would be giving a just wage.
If you lost your wallet it would be returned intact by whoever found it.

I could go on with other examples and that's just the result of obeying one commandment.
Think what things would be like if all the commandments were obeyed by everyone.

So much for the commandments being oppressive as some would have us believe.

[Patricia]

You could walk out of your home without locking the door.

I watched a documentary on Canada once where the people there talked about never having to lock their doors. Crime was low, there was no fear. I'm not sure what is the case like now.


I remember also as a child visiting my grandparents in my village ( Mangalore) and the house was designed with no front door and open windows .  It was like a verandah where you just walked in and sat and talked.   Years later when I visited as a teenager, doors were put in and the open windows had bars.     Times had changed. Sigh.

[Brigid]

I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt not have strange gods in my sight. Thou shalt not make to thyself a graven thing, nor the likeness of any things, that are in heaven above, or that are in the earth beneath, or that abide in the waters under the earth. Thou shalt not adore them, and thou shalt not serve them. For I am the Lord thy God, a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon their children unto the third and fourth generation, to them that hate me, and shewing mercy unto many thousands, to them that love me, and keep my commandments.

And how 'bout this, Martin? Talk about a change in the world!