"And God spake all these words, saying, I am the LORD thy God." — Exodus 20:1-2 (KJV)
The short answer
The Ten Commandments are God's ten foundational laws, given to Moses at Mount Sinai and recorded in Exodus 20:3-17. The first four govern our love for God; the last six govern our love for neighbour. Jesus later gathered them into two great commandments — love God, and love your neighbour as yourself (Matthew 22:37-40).
After rescuing Israel out of slavery in Egypt, God gave them the Ten Commandments — not as a ladder to earn His favour, but as the shape of a life lived with a holy God and among neighbours. They are sometimes called the Decalogue, meaning "ten words." Below they are quoted exactly from the King James Version, in order, followed by the way Jesus Himself summed them all up.
What are the Ten Commandments?
Here are all ten, word-for-word from Exodus 20. The first four turn our hearts upward toward God; the remaining six turn our hands outward toward the people around us.
First commandment
"Thou shalt have no other gods before me." — Exodus 20:3 (KJV)
Second commandment
"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any 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: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to 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; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments." — Exodus 20:4-6 (KJV)
Third commandment
"Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain." — Exodus 20:7 (KJV)
Fourth commandment
"Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it." — Exodus 20:8-11 (KJV)
Fifth commandment
"Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee." — Exodus 20:12 (KJV)
Sixth commandment
"Thou shalt not kill." — Exodus 20:13 (KJV)
Seventh commandment
"Thou shalt not commit adultery." — Exodus 20:14 (KJV)
Eighth commandment
"Thou shalt not steal." — Exodus 20:15 (KJV)
Ninth commandment
"Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour." — Exodus 20:16 (KJV)
Tenth commandment
"Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's." — Exodus 20:17 (KJV)
Read together, the commandments are strikingly ordered: worship, reverence, and rest come first, because everything else grows from a right relationship with God. Then come honour, life, faithfulness, honesty, and a contented heart — a whole society held together by love that refuses to harm.
Why did God give the Ten Commandments?
The commandments open not with a demand but with a rescue. God reminds Israel who He is and what He has already done before He asks anything of them.
"I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." — Exodus 20:2 (KJV)
Grace comes first, then the commands. God did not give the law so a people could earn their freedom; He gave it to a people He had already freed, showing them how to live as those who belong to Him. The law is the grateful shape of a redeemed life, not the price of redemption.
How did Jesus summarize the commandments?
When a lawyer asked Jesus which command was greatest, He did not pick one of the ten and set the rest aside. He named the love that holds them all together.
"Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." — Matthew 22:37-40 (KJV)
Here is the key to the whole tablet of stone: love for God is the root of the first four commandments, and love for neighbour is the root of the last six. Jesus does not lower the standard; He shows its heart. Every command is love wearing specific clothes.
Do the Ten Commandments still matter today?
Jesus was clear that He came to honour God's law, not to discard it, and that love for one another is the enduring fruit it was always reaching toward.
"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil." — Matthew 5:17 (KJV)
The commandments still expose our need — none of us keeps them perfectly — and still describe the good life God intends. They act like a mirror, showing us where we fall short and driving us to grace.
"He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" — Micah 6:8 (KJV)
The commandments are not a burden to fear but a path to walk — justice, mercy, and humble nearness to God, lived out one ordinary day at a time.
Frequently asked questions
What are the Ten Commandments in order?
As recorded in Exodus 20:3-17 (KJV), they are: (1) Thou shalt have no other gods before me; (2) Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image; (3) Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; (4) Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy; (5) Honour thy father and thy mother; (6) Thou shalt not kill; (7) Thou shalt not commit adultery; (8) Thou shalt not steal; (9) Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour; (10) Thou shalt not covet. The first four concern love for God, and the last six concern love for neighbour.
Did Jesus abolish the Ten Commandments?
No. Jesus said He came not to destroy the law, but to fulfil it (Matthew 5:17). Rather than abolishing the commandments, He gathered them into their heart. When asked for the greatest commandment, He answered, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, adding, On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets (Matthew 22:37-40, KJV). The commands still point us to love.
"O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day." — Psalm 119:97 (KJV)
Take it deeper
These ten words are a doorway into the whole story of God's covenant with His people. FlickerFaith is a Scripture-first study companion — open it to read Exodus 20 in full context, trace how Jesus fulfils the law, search related passages, and ask honest questions about what it means to love God and neighbour today. It keeps you close to the Word, not away from it.
Keep reading
The commandments flow straight into Jesus's teaching — read what the Bible says about the Beatitudes, the Lord's Prayer, and the Golden Rule. To see how God speaks through Scripture itself, read what the Bible says about the Word of God. You can also browse all Bible topics, explore AI Bible study, or return home.