¹ And God spake all these words, saying,

² I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

³ Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

⁴ 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:

⁵ 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;

⁶ And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

⁷ 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.

⁸ Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

⁹ Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:

¹⁰ 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:

¹¹ 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.

¹² Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

¹³ Thou shalt not kill.

¹⁴ Thou shalt not commit adultery.

¹⁵ Thou shalt not steal.

¹⁶ Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

¹⁷ 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.

¹⁸ And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off.

¹⁹ And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God Speak with us, lest we die.

²⁰ And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.

²¹ And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.

²² And the LORD said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven.

²³ Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold.

²⁴ An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee.

²⁵ And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.

²⁶ Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon.

¹ Yahweh appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day.

² He lifted up his eyes and looked, and saw that three men stood opposite him. When he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself to the earth,

³ and said, "My lord, if now I have found favor in your sight, please don't go away from your servant.

⁴ Now let a little water be fetched, wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree.

⁵ I will get a morsel of bread so you can refresh your heart. After that you may go your way, now that you have come to your servant." They said, "Very well, do as you have said."

⁶ Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah, and said, "Quickly prepare three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes."

⁷ Abraham ran to the herd, and fetched a tender and good calf, and gave it to the servant. He hurried to dress it.

⁸ He took butter, milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them. He stood by them under the tree, and they ate.

⁹ They asked him, "Where is Sarah, your wife?" He said, "See, in the tent."

¹⁰ He said, "I will certainly return to you when the season comes round. Behold, Sarah your wife will have a son." Sarah heard in the tent door, which was behind him.

¹¹ Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age. Sarah had passed the age of childbearing.

¹² Sarah laughed within herself, saying, "After I have grown old will I have pleasure, my lord being old also?"

¹³ Yahweh said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh, saying, 'Will I really bear a child, yet I am old?'

¹⁴ Is anything too hard for Yahweh? At the set time I will return to you, when the season comes round, and Sarah will have a son."

¹⁵ Then Sarah denied, saying, "I didn't laugh," for she was afraid. He said, "No, but you did laugh."

¹⁶ The men rose up from there, and looked toward Sodom. Abraham went with them to see them on their way.

¹⁷ Yahweh said, "Will I hide from Abraham what I do,

¹⁸ since Abraham has surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed in him?

¹⁹ For I have known him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of Yahweh, to do righteousness and justice; to the end that Yahweh may bring on Abraham that which he has spoken of him."

²⁰ Yahweh said, "Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous,

²¹ I will go down now, and see whether their deeds are as bad as the reports which have come to me. If not, I will know."

²² The men turned from there, and went toward Sodom, but Abraham stood yet before Yahweh.

²³ Abraham drew near, and said, "Will you consume the righteous with the wicked?

²⁴ What if there are fifty righteous within the city? Will you consume and not spare the place for the fifty righteous who are in it?

²⁵ Be it far from you to do things like that, to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be like the wicked. May that be far from you. Shouldn't the Judge of all the earth do right?"

²⁶ Yahweh said, "If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sake."

²⁷ Abraham answered, "See now, I have taken it on myself to speak to the Lord, who am but dust and ashes.

²⁸ What if there will lack five of the fifty righteous? Will you destroy all the city for lack of five?" He said, "I will not destroy it, if I find forty-five there."

²⁹ He spoke to him yet again, and said, "What if there are forty found there?" He said, "I will not do it for the forty's sake."

³⁰ He said, "Oh don't let the Lord be angry, and I will speak. What if there are thirty found there?" He said, "I will not do it, if I find thirty there."

³¹ He said, "See now, I have taken it on myself to speak to the Lord. What if there are twenty found there?" He said, "I will not destroy it for the twenty's sake."

³² He said, "Oh don't let the Lord be angry, and I will speak just once more. What if ten are found there?" He said, "I will not destroy it for the ten's sake."

³³ Yahweh went his way, as soon as he had finished communing with Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.