April 17, 2005

The 10 Commandments

The 10 Commandments from the Exodus 20 in the English Standard Version are as follows...

  • "You shall have no other gods before me.

  • "You shall not make for yourself a carved 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. 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 on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

  • "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.

  • "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. 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 made it holy.

  • "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

  • "You shall not murder.

  • "You shall not commit adultery.

  • "You shall not steal.

  • "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

  • "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's."

Here’s a point I want to make. You’ll notice that the sixth commandment says, “You shall not murder.” To my knowledge, only the King James Version says to not kill. There is a difference between admonition to not kill and to not murder. To kill is to take life. To murder is to take innocent life.

The bible is not saying that all killing is bad. It is saying that killing innocents is bad. Many non-Christians use the King James translations to imply pacifism. The bible does not preach pacifism.

Posted by Ted at April 17, 2005 10:07 AM
Comments

While the King James version is considered by many to be the only 'authorized' version; there are many other good translations around. The NIV version is more readable as is the Revised Standard Edition.

Posted by: Reb Orrell at April 17, 2005 4:45 PM

According to R. C. Sproul the English Standard Version is the most accurate word-for-word translation.

Posted by: Ted at April 17, 2005 7:17 PM

I don't know that I've ever seen that version. Is it very popular? I know the NIV is a good seller.

Posted by: Reb Orrell at April 22, 2005 9:10 PM

I don't think it's as popular at the NIV. Use the web site http://www.gmpsoft.com/ to download it to my Palm. It eats about 2MB.

Posted by: Ted at April 23, 2005 7:34 AM