The short answer
The Ten Commandments are the laws God gave Israel at Mount Sinai, written on two stone tablets. They are in Exodus 20:1–17, and again in Deuteronomy 5:6–21. In short: worship only God, make no idols, honor God’s name, keep the Sabbath, honor your parents, and don’t murder, commit adultery, steal, lie about others or covet what is theirs.
The Ten Commandments in order
Here they are as most Protestant and Orthodox churches number them, in the words of Exodus 20 from the World English Bible. God introduces them first: “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” (Exodus 20:2).
- “You shall have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:3).
- “You shall not make for yourselves an idol” (Exodus 20:4).
- “You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God” (Exodus 20:7).
- “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” (Exodus 20:8).
- “Honor your father and your mother” (Exodus 20:12).
- “You shall not murder.” (Exodus 20:13).
- “You shall not commit adultery.” (Exodus 20:14).
- “You shall not steal.” (Exodus 20:15).
- “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.” (Exodus 20:16).
- “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.” (Exodus 20:17).
Some of the commandments give a reason. The Sabbath points back to creation: “for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day” (Exodus 20:11). Honoring your parents comes with a promise: “that your days may be long in the land which the LORD your God gives you.” (Exodus 20:12).
Where are the Ten Commandments in the Bible?
They appear twice. Exodus 20 tells how God spoke them from Mount Sinai, with thunder and smoke on the mountain, soon after Israel escaped from Egypt. In Deuteronomy 5, Moses repeats them forty years later, as Israel is about to enter the promised land. The wording is almost the same, but Deuteronomy gives a different reason for the Sabbath: “You shall remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt” (Deuteronomy 5:15).
Exodus 20 doesn’t call them the Ten Commandments. The name comes from later passages, which say the tablets held “the words of the covenant, the ten commandments” (Exodus 34:28). In Hebrew the phrase is literally the ten words, which is where the Greek name Decalogue comes from.
God wrote them on two stone tablets, “written with God’s finger” (Exodus 31:18). Moses broke the first pair when he came down the mountain and found the people worshiping a golden calf (Exodus 32:19), and God gave him a second pair. Those were kept in the ark of the covenant: “There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets which Moses put there at Horeb” (1 Kings 8:9).
Why churches number them differently
The Bible says there are ten, but it doesn’t number them, and Exodus 20 holds more than ten commands. So Jewish, Catholic and Protestant traditions group the same verses in slightly different ways.
| Commandment | Jewish | Catholic and Lutheran | Orthodox and most Protestant |
|---|---|---|---|
| I am the LORD your God | 1 | Part of 1 | Introduction |
| No other gods | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| No idols | Part of 2 | Part of 1 | 2 |
| God’s name | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| The Sabbath | 4 | 3 | 4 |
| Honor your parents | 5 | 4 | 5 |
| Murder | 6 | 5 | 6 |
| Adultery | 7 | 6 | 7 |
| Stealing | 8 | 7 | 8 |
| False testimony | 9 | 8 | 9 |
| Coveting your neighbor’s wife | 10 | 9 | 10 |
| Coveting your neighbor’s goods | Part of 10 | 10 | Part of 10 |
None of these is wrong. They group the same words differently, and nothing is left out. Catholic and Lutheran numbering follows Augustine, and splits coveting in two, as Deuteronomy 5:21 does. That’s why one church’s fourth commandment, about parents, is another church’s fifth.
What the Ten Commandments mean
The commandments fall into two groups. The first ones are about loving God: no rivals, no idols, honoring his name and keeping his day. The rest are about loving your neighbor: family, life, marriage, property, truth and even the desires of your heart. Deuteronomy sums up the first group in words Jews still pray every morning and evening, as part of the Shema: “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.” (Deuteronomy 6:5).
They also start with grace. God doesn’t say: obey, and then I’ll rescue you. He says: I am the God who already brought you out of slavery, so live like free people. The commandments describe life with God for people he has already saved.
The last commandment goes deepest. The other nine are mostly about what you do. The tenth is about what you want.
Do Christians still follow the Ten Commandments?
Most Christians teach that the Ten Commandments still show how God wants people to live, even though keeping them isn’t how anyone is saved. When Jesus was asked which commandment was the greatest, he pointed to love for God and love for your neighbor (Matthew 22:35–40). Paul says the commandments about how we treat others are all summed up in one, love your neighbor as yourself (Romans 13:9), and adds: “Love doesn’t harm a neighbor. Love therefore is the fulfillment of the law.” (Romans 13:10).
The Sabbath is where Christians differ most. Most churches worship on Sunday, the day of Jesus’ resurrection, and see it as keeping the spirit of the fourth commandment. Seventh-day Adventists and Seventh Day Baptists keep Saturday, as Jews do.
The prophets promised a day when God’s law would be written inside people, not just on stone: “I will put my law in their inward parts, and I will write it in their heart.” (Jeremiah 31:33). Christians believe that is what God’s Spirit now does.
How to memorize the Ten Commandments
Families and Sunday schools have used tricks like these for generations.
- Learn them in two groups: the first four are about God, the last six about people.
- Shrink each one to a word or two: one God, no idols, God’s name, Sabbath, parents, life, marriage, property, truth, contentment.
- Count them on your fingers, one for each, saying them in order.
- Read Exodus 20:1–17 aloud once a week. It takes about two minutes.
For more on keeping verses close, see our guide to saving and coming back to Bible verses.
Common questions
Where are the Ten Commandments in the Bible?
In Exodus 20:1–17 and Deuteronomy 5:6–21. Exodus tells how God gave them at Mount Sinai, and in Deuteronomy Moses repeats them to the next generation forty years later.
What is the first commandment?
For most Protestants and Orthodox Christians, it’s “You shall have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:3). Catholics and Lutherans include the ban on idols in it too. In Jewish tradition, the first is God’s introduction: “I am the LORD your God” (Exodus 20:2).
Which commandment comes with a promise?
Honoring your parents. Paul calls it “the first commandment with a promise” (Ephesians 6:2), because it ends with long life in the land.
Are the Ten Commandments in the New Testament?
Not as a list, but most of them are repeated. Paul quotes the ones against adultery, murder, stealing and coveting in Romans 13:9, and Jesus repeats several when a rich young man asks him what he must do (Matthew 19:16–19).