The Ten Commandments in the Bible

These laws were made by God to ensure that all human beings live peacefully, and that there is no ill-will amongst neighbors, families, and the people of Earth in general. Although most of us have learned about these rules during our school years, yet they are often forgotten.

Before we get to the story behind these rules, let's see how they exactly appear in Exodus 20:1-17:

And God spoke all these words, saying: "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage

1. You shall have no other gods before me.

2. You shall not make for yourself any 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 nor 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 fourth generations of those who hate me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

3. 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.

4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates....

...For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

5. Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.

8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
10. You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's.

At mount Sinai, God met Moses and told him that he wanted the people of Israel out of Egypt, and that he wanted to create a holy nation of these chosen people to carry on his beliefs.

Moses remained with God for forty days and forty nights, receiving instructions on how people should lead a moral and spiritual life. After those forty days, God gave Moses two tablets of stone, with 'ten commandments' inscribed on them.

When Moses returned to the people of Israel, he saw that they had again started worshiping idols as they used to in Egypt. He found people worshiping a calf cast in gold, made by his own brother Aaron.

This angered him so much that he threw down the two stone tablets and smashed them. Thereafter, God and Moses started disciplining people for the sin they had committed. Also, God asked Moses to make two new tablets of stone, similar to the ones he had made previously.

These commandments teach kids as well as adults, the way to lead a meaningful and moral life. The story behind them shows that people often give more importance to money, fame, pleasure, etc., as symbolized by the 'idol of calf', rather than to the words of God.

If people want to be happy and satisfied in the world, such a tendency should be checked, and God's teachings and laws should be followed.