Exodus 17 (New International Version)

Water From the Rock

1 The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert

of Sin, traveling from place to place as the LORD
commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no
water for the people to drink. 2 So they quarreled with
Moses and said, "Give us water to drink."
Moses replied, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do
you put the LORD to the test?"

3 But the people were thirsty for water there, and they
grumbled against Moses. They said, "Why did you bring us
up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock
die of thirst?"

4 Then Moses cried out to the LORD, "What am I to do

with these people? They are almost ready to stone me."

5 The LORD answered Moses, "Walk on ahead of the

people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and
take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile,
and go. 6 I will stand there before you by the rock at
Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the
people to drink." So Moses did this in the sight of the
elders of Israel. 7 And he called the place Massah [a] and
Meribah [b] because the Israelites quarreled and because
they tested the LORD saying, "Is the LORD among us or
not?"

The Amalekites Defeated

8 The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at

Rephidim. 9 Moses said to Joshua, "Choose some of our
men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will
stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands."
 10 So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had
ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the
hill. 11 As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites
were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the
Amalekites were winning. 12 When Moses' hands grew
tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on
it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one
on the other—so that his hands remained steady till
sunset. 13 So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with
the sword.

14 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Write this on a scroll as

something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua
hears it, because I will completely blot out the memory of
Amalek from under heaven."

15 Moses built an altar and called it The LORD is my

Banner. 16 He said, "For hands were lifted up to the
throne of the LORD. The [c] LORD will be at war against the
Amalekites from generation to generation."

Exodus 20

The Ten Commandments

1 And God spoke all these words:

2 "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of

Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

3 "You shall have no other gods before me.

4 "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of

anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in
the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or
worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God,
punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third
and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but
showing love to a thousand {generations} of those who
love me and keep my commandments.

7 "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God,
for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses
his name.

8 "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six

days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the
seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you
shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or
daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your
animals, nor the alien within your gates. 11 For in six days
the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and
all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day.
Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it
holy.

12 "Honor your father and your mother, so that you may

live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.

13 "You shall not murder.

14 "You shall not commit adultery.

15 "You shall not steal.

16 "You shall not give false testimony against your

neighbor.

17 "You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall

not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or
maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to
your neighbor."

18 When the people saw the thunder and lightning and

heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they
trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance 19 and said
to Moses, "Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do
not have God speak to us or we will die."

20 Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid. God has

come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you
to keep you from sinning."

21 The people remained at a distance, while Moses

approached the thick darkness where God was.

Idols and Altars

22 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Tell the Israelites this:

'You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you
from heaven: 23 Do not make any gods to be alongside
me; do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gods of
gold.

24 " 'Make an altar of earth for me and sacrifice on it your

burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, [b] your sheep and
goats and your cattle. Wherever I cause my name to be
honored, I will come to you and bless you. 25 If you make
an altar of stones for me, do not build it with dressed
stones, for you will defile it if you use a tool on it. 26 And
do not go up to my altar on steps, lest your nakedness be
exposed on it.'

Deuteronomy 5

The Ten Commandments

1 Moses summoned all Israel and said:

Hear, O Israel, the decrees and laws I declare in your
hearing today. Learn them and be sure to follow them. 2
The LORD our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. 3 It
was not with our fathers that the LORD made this
covenant, but with us, with all of us who are alive here
today. 4 The LORD spoke to you face to face out of the fire
on the mountain. 5 (At that time I stood between the
LORD and you to declare to you the word of the LORD,
because you were afraid of the fire and did not go up the
mountain.) And he said:

6 "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of

Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

7 "You shall have no other gods before me.

8 "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of

anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in
the waters below. 9 You shall not bow down to them or
worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God,
punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third
and fourth generation of those who hate me, 10 but
showing love to a thousand generations of those who love
me and keep my commandments.

11 "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God,
for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses
his name.

12 "Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the

LORD your God has commanded you. 13 Six days you
shall labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is
a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do
any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your
manservant or maidservant, nor your ox, your donkey or
any of your animals, nor the alien within your gates, so
that your manservant and maidservant may rest, as you
do. 15 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that
the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty
hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your
God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.

16 "Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your

God has commanded you, so that you may live long and
that it may go well with you in the land the LORD your God
is giving you.

17 "You shall not murder.

18 "You shall not commit adultery.

19 "You shall not steal.

20 "You shall not give false testimony against your

neighbor.

21 "You shall not covet your neighbor's wife. You shall not
set your desire on your neighbor's house or land, his
manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything
that belongs to your neighbor."

22 These are the commandments the LORD proclaimed in

a loud voice to your whole assembly there on the
mountain from out of the fire, the cloud and the deep
darkness; and he added nothing more. Then he wrote
them on two stone tablets and gave them to me.

23 When you heard the voice out of the darkness, while

the mountain was ablaze with fire, all the leading men of
your tribes and your elders came to me. 24 And you said,
"The LORD our God has shown us his glory and his
majesty, and we have heard his voice from the fire. Today
we have seen that a man can live even if God speaks with
him. 25 But now, why should we die? This great fire will
consume us, and we will die if we hear the voice of the
LORD our God any longer. 26 For what mortal man has
ever heard the voice of the living God speaking out of fire,
as we have, and survived? 27 Go near and listen to all that
the LORD our God says. Then tell us whatever the LORD
our God tells you. We will listen and obey."

28 The LORD heard you when you spoke to me and the

LORD said to me, "I have heard what this people said to
you. Everything they said was good. 29 Oh, that their
hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my
commands always, so that it might go well with them and
their children forever!

30 "Go, tell them to return to their tents. 31 But you stay

here with me so that I may give you all the commands,
decrees and laws you are to teach them to follow in the
land I am giving them to possess."

32 So be careful to do what the LORD your God has

commanded you; do not turn aside to the right or to the
left. 33 Walk in all the way that the LORD your God has
commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and
prolong your days in the land that you will possess.

…………………………………………………………………….
Comment:
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS: Who wrote them?
They were written and/or dictated by God at Mount Sinai,
circa 1450 BCE
God inspired the authors of the Bible to write text that is
inerrant -- free of error. There are almost two dozen
verses in the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures which state
or imply that Moses was the author of Exodus and
Deuteronomy. Thus, religious conservatives generally
believe that God spoke the Ten Commandments to Moses
who later recorded them circa 1450 BCE, as part of the
Pentateuch -- the first five books of the Bible.

The first version of the Ten Commandments is described

as having been engraved on stone by God. Since Moses
broke the original set in anger, God had to create a copy,
as recorded in Exodus 34. The third set in Deuteronomy is
often considered to be a review of the previous two sets.
There are three versions of the Ten Commandments in the
Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament). They are at Exodus
20:2-17, Exodus 34:12-26, and Deuteronomy 5:6-21.

The Ten Commandments (a.k.a. Decalog) are a listing of

some of the most important behavioral rules in the
Hebrew Scriptures (a.k.a. Old Testament).

Within Judaism, they have historically been accepted as

a summary of the most important ten rules of behavior
which God expects all Jews to follow. The Torah records
that God gave the Decalogue to Moses on Mount Sinai,
inscribed on stone tablets, and intended for the guidance
of the ancient Hebrews. They form a small but vital part
of the total of 623 laws in the Hebrew Scriptures.
Within Christianity, the Decalogue has traditionally been
regarded as the foundational laws that all Christians are
to conform to. Most Christians continue to hold them in
high regard.

Do Christians follow the Ten Commandments?

Although the Ten Commandments are held in high

respect by many Christians, two of them are routinely
broken by some Christian denominations -- at least if
they are interpreted literally:

The prohibition against "any graven image, or any

likeness of any thing...," if interpreted literally, would
seem to forbid a wide range of objects, including a
statue in a church, a cross, a crucifix, or even to a
photograph of a person. However, many denominations
do not interpret this passage in isolation or do not
interpret it literally. This allows Eastern Orthodox
churches to display icons, Roman Catholic churches to
contains statues, and many Protestant churches to
contain drawings and/or photographs.
 Reserving the Sabbath (Saturday) as a day of rest. The
vast majority of churches have their main services on
Sunday. Only Sabbaterian denominations, like the
Seventh Day Adventists and Seventh Day Baptists,
follow celebrate on Saturday.

Culture clash has produced criticisms of some

commandments within the Decalogue:

The second commandment, interpreted literally,

punishes a man's children, grandchildren, great-
grandchildren and perhaps even great-great
grandchildren if the man has sinned by serving other
Gods. Spreading the responsibility for one person's sin
onto innocent descendents was common in the ancient
Middle East. However, most contemporary ethical
systems -- both secular and religious -- hold a person
responsible only for their own actions. Punishing
innocent children widely considered a seriously immoral
act.
The fifth commandment requires that children honor
their parents. Many would feel that it is unreasonable to
expect a child to honor a parent who was a sexual
molester, a physical abuser or was guilty of neglect.
There are two problems associated with the tenth
commandment:
It treats women as pieces of property
It condones slavery. The terms "manservant" and
"maidservant" in the King James Version of the Bible
refer to male and female slaves.

Equal treatment for men and women form an integral

part of many religious groups' beliefs. Almost all North
American religious groups reject the concept of owning
another human being in a state of slavery.

Christ resumed these Commandments in the double

precept of charity--love of God and of the neighbour; He
proclaimed them as binding under the New Law in
Matthew 19 and in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5).
He also simplified or interpreted them, e.g. by declaring
unnecessary oaths equally unlawful with false, by
condemning hatred and calumny as well as murder, by
enjoining even love of enemies, and by condemning
indulgence of evil desires as fraught with the same malice
as adultery (Matthew 5).
The Church, on the other hand, after changing the day of
rest from the Jewish Sabbath, or seventh day of the week,
to the first, made the Third Commandment refer to
Sunday as the day to be kept holy as the Lord's Day.
The Council of Trent (Sess. VI, can. xix) condemns those
who deny that the Ten Commandments are binding on
Christians.

Posted by viviansteven