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| If you love me, obey… |
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Today I’m meditating on these words of our Lord, “If you love me, obey my commandments (John14:15 NLT).” Jesus asks for our obedience, but ONLY if we are motivated by love. Of course, he’s addressing disciples here, those who’ve already professed to love him. He’s telling us what it means to love him. And perhaps most interestingly, though he uses the word “commandments”, he doesn’t burden us with lists of complex rules for living. In actuality, Jesus was not a rule maker but a rule breaker. Think about that!
To love the Lord is to be in relationship with him. In any relationship with someone we truly love, it brings us deep pleasure to know that we have blessed the one for whom we feel affection. And in the ultimate relationship, what an incredible pleasure to actually touch the heart of God with our words and deeds!
If you love me...
It should be very clear to all that first and foremost, the Lord wants our heart, our devotion, our LOVE. To simply obey rules without a sincere desire to please our Lover (obedience for the wrong reason) is completely meaningless in terms of relationship. If the Christian life to us was nothing more than following a book of rules (as it was to certain pharisees and scribes), I would fully expect to hear “Away from me, you evildoer!” upon meeting Jesus face to face. My mind goes to the words of Psalm 40:6-8,
40:6 Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but my ears you have pierced;
burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require. 40:7 Then I said, "Here I am, I have come—
it is written about me in the scroll. 40:8 I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart."
His yoke is more than easy, it’s pleasurable!
[See also this related blog: What if free really meant free?] |
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| To add a comment to "If you love me, obey…" |
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| November 09, 2007 |
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| Mike, if we could all live out the message of this blog, what a better world it would be! Great post! |
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| November 09, 2007 |
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| Thanks Kathy. :-) |
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| November 09, 2007 |
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Thank you Mike |
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| November 09, 2007 |
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Mike,
reading this reminds me of the verse, "my yoke is easy my burden is light" The burden of actions birthed from love, leave little weight on the shoulders. Most mothers can atest to that.
I am afraid though, a vast majority of "christians" don't know the weight of love. I seem to be in that camp at times as well. It makes me wonder how many really know who Jesus is. That thought can make one turn the mission field not only to the blatantly pagan, but also the "church." |
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| November 09, 2007 |
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| I wonder if the "church' would prove to be a more difficult field. |
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| November 09, 2007 |
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| Simply and beautifully put. Great post. |
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| November 09, 2007 |
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| Very interesting thoughts Debora. Shortly after posting this, my own thoughts turned to our children. I wish that we could count on their obedience to be borne out of love for us. But is that the case? I don't think so. I think they are actually list followers, simply going by the rules we've given them in order to avoid punishment. |
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| November 09, 2007 |
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| Thanks Kimmy!! |
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| November 09, 2007 |
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I love this! Great blog. My husband and I talk about this all the time, how we just need to love God more. I wonder why I continue to sin and not obey Him in my thoughts. But I keep trying.
"Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him." John 14:21
Wouldn't it be a perfect world if not only we could follow this concept, but if our children could love their parents enough to obey. HA! |
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| November 09, 2007 |
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| Becky, how perfectly wonderful to see you!!!! Great scripture ref too! It's funny, Jesus came at it from both angles didn't he? If you love me then obey, and he who obeys loves me! |
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| November 09, 2007 |
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| Great blog Mike. Our love for our Heavenly Father should make us want to please Him in all that we do, and to sing out our praises to Him... |
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| November 09, 2007 |
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| GOOD POST! Real Love! |
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| November 09, 2007 |
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| Thanks Deb and Keith, great comments, and from what I see, you guys get real love. (your words Keith!) |
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| November 09, 2007 |
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| When you love someone you never desire to hurt them. You always try to do what they ask of you, God is no different. Great post. |
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| November 09, 2007 |
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| ps.... regarding If you love me, obey my commandments -- I know this isn't anything new to most of us. We've certainly all heard it before. But I want my live to be transformed, completely, from the inside out!! Areas I still struggle with, I ask, "what's in my heart???" Am I just trying to find a sensual comfort zone, or am I really trying to please the Lord whom I love? Sometimes I really want to grab myself by the shoulders and shake myself! (But then, that would probably look pretty weird.) Ok, that's all the ramblings I have time for at the moment. Happy reading, friends! |
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| November 09, 2007 |
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| oh, thanks Patrick! Timely comment. |
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| November 09, 2007 |
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Simple concept, yet impossible in our own strength, it is only through the Holy Spirit that we can truly obey. It is wonderful that He will give us the strength to obey because he loves us first.
Thanks again for a good reminder.
peace in His love |
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| November 09, 2007 |
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Excellent post - A clear example of love being a choice, not a feeling. I chose to love Christ when I chose to obey Him! I chose to love my wife when I chose the cherish her. I chose to love my parents when I honor and obey them.
Cheers and God bless! |
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| November 09, 2007 |
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Thanks Mike;
That should put a few chinks in the wall of legalism I've managed to build between Christ and I.
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| November 09, 2007 |
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Beautifully put. To love him is to obey and not simply by reading the word but by doing it... What a wonderful world it would be if we just obeyed..
Thanks Mike |
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| November 09, 2007 |
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| For years I looked at this statement as if it said "If you don't do my commandments, you don't really love me." I was wrong to think that, and Jesus never actually said what I read into His statement. I'm so glad Jesus isn't co-dependant! |
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| November 09, 2007 |
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Glenn, great call, the Holy Spirit is essential to abide in Jesus love, or even understand that love.
Larry - amen! So many think love is always a feeling. Not so. But it sure is a great motivator!
Dave, I hope that we've torn that wall completely down! Loved your blog too, btw. In fact that may have been what subconsciously started this ball rolling....
mstovall, you've echoed the sentiments of many, ah what this world would look like. Heck, what the CHURCH would look like, if we loved the Savior as we ought.... |
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| November 09, 2007 |
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| EXCELLENT BLOG |
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| November 11, 2007 |
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So true and awsome. Love you two you write the best stuff. All my love and His from above, Diana |
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| November 11, 2007 |
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Pastor Tim, that is a fabulous quote, and a great point to go along. Computers can be moral, they don't have a heart!
We have indeed never been forced into anything Jack, provided you don't believe that God's sovereignty completely rules out our free will. I don't believe free will outweighs sovereignty of God (we are not more powerful than God), but I believe scripture teaches that the Almighty has given us the power to choose him. This to me is what makes loving God meaningful. Good comment Jack!
Alene, seems like I haven't heard from you in a while. Your comment is appreciated! My life experience has been similar to yours, i.e. when I was younger it was all about achieving a certain level of obedience. The love only came later. When I truly appreciated all that he has done, and really started putting time into the relationship!
Diana, MaKelly, thanks so much! I appreciate you guys!
Jess, in effect you are saying you used to think an absence of obedience = absence of love for God. Hmmm. Not necessarily always true, IMO. A person can certainly have temporary lapses in obedience, or possibly be in bondage to habits or addictions, yet deeply appreciate all that God has done for them. However a life characterized by complete lack of obedience indicates a person whose back is to God rather than their face (ignoring rather than seeking to please God). Jesus continues later in the chapter, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching." (NIV)
Speaking of habitual sins, it is interesting, when I resolved to love God, simply love him and seek him, rather than specifically work on eliminating bad habits, those same bad habits seemed to vanish on their own. That's not to say this will necessarily be everyone's experience. But it seems a great way to rely on God's strength rather than our own is to meditate on God's words and resolve to be motivated by a desire to please God rather than the desire to "clean up our lives".
Thanks for your comment Jess! |
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| November 12, 2007 |
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This blog is good! |
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| November 12, 2007 |
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| Thanks Joey :-) |
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| November 13, 2007 |
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Thanks for this one!
What if u r reminded of other stuff instead of God's Love.. sometimes i pray n i forget who i am talkin to.. u know.. Lord ,i want this,i want this.. not LORD, i want this... |
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| November 13, 2007 |
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| GREAT BLOG MIKE I DON'T KNOW HOW I MISSED IT EARLIER......I WONDERED WHERE YOU'VE BEEN......I SEE RIGHT HERE...LOL...BLESSINGS TO YOU MY FRIEND....... |
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| November 13, 2007 |
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Mike and Laura and Deborah-
You put a whole new twist on the thought of obedience coming from love. That really helped me when you or one of the comments mentioned thinking about it in terms of a mother and her children. A burden of action birthed by love spoke by Deborah was awesome! thanks. |
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| November 13, 2007 |
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DarkKnight, thank YOU! Regarding who you are praying to, lately I've been treating the Psalms as prayers.... when it says things like "Glorious and majestic are his deeds, his righteousness endures forever", I've been reading them to the Lord saying "Glorious and majestic are your deeds, your righteousness endures forever." Psalms can make very powerful prayers!
Rosie, how did you miss this? I thought you were hanging on my every word?? (LOL - you KNOW I'm kidding!!) We returned from a week away on vacation a few days before I posted this.
Jeff L, thanks for your comment! Yes, this has turned into a great discussion, many interesting viewpoints shared! |
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| November 13, 2007 |
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I should have been clearer with my first response.
I used to use the idea that Jesus was saying "If you don't do my commandments, you don't really love me", as a club to try to shame myself into living a Godly life. Shame is not a motive that pleases God, ever. The first recorded instance of a response of shame was in the Garden, after Adam and Eve sinned. Their shame motivated them to run from God. |
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| November 13, 2007 |
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Ooh, good observation Jess! And now that you use the word "shame" your meaning is very clear.
Some parents use shame to extract a certain type of behavior from their children. Such parents are only interested in the behavior, not the heart behind the behavior. This instills in kids a twisted concept of who God is. Very sad. |
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| November 13, 2007 |
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| Thanks Mike, I've never heard it put that way. That makes total sense (and explains much of my childhood). |
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| November 13, 2007 |
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Thanks for a great blog, Mike.
It's such a simple straightforward concept but so difficult to practice sometimes. Love becomes convenient when we feel good instead of when we are being His hands and feet. |
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| November 13, 2007 |
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Gene, simple folks like me need to simplify things as much as possible! Actually you remind me of something a good friend recently said: obedience (love) is simple but not easy!
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| November 13, 2007 |
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| Good words! |
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| November 13, 2007 |
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Very well put Mike. A Great message.
I was thinking while reading the other comments and it occured to me that if we truly love Him, we have therein already kept his commandments.
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| November 13, 2007 |
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Thank you Michael! May I ask you to expound on the second part of your comment, "therein already kept his commandments"? I'm a little slow tonight! :-)
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| November 13, 2007 |
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Well, his commandments are that we love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strenght. and that we love our neighbor as ourselves, right? In these lie all the other commandments.
Well, if we love Jesus with all our heart, then we do love God with all our heart.
And then in 1 John 4:20
"If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? "
So if we love God, and are true abut it, then we love our brothers and sisters, and neighbors!
Am I making sense? It is kinda late.
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| November 13, 2007 |
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| Gotcha! Crystal clear, thanks Michael (I said I was slow tonight). :-) |
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| November 16, 2007 |
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"to see what "flavor" you are! lol"
Hmm, I'm intrigued and can't wait! ......Thanks for reading and commenting Lara! ~mike |
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| November 16, 2007 |
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Mike has a flavor?
Lara, are you going to tell us all what flavor we are? I can pick one for you, Mike buddy, but it's probably not what Lara has in mind. |
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| November 16, 2007 |
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| May I COMMEND everyone who has commented so far. Not a single person has been tempted to insert the word "ten" into Jesus words. Having come from a legalistic background, where the word "ten" was implied before the word commandments, I applaud every one here. Jesus is, of course speaking of HIS commandments TO the church, not the Decalog which was given to ancient Israel. Now that's too big a discussion for here. Perhaps some other time... |
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| November 17, 2007 |
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Hey yall this so true, GOD just want all of us to obey.I think GOD gave u a good word ,so U can help heal the world. Thank yall because it help me.I know it is helping others as well. GOD BLESS YALL and your church. |
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| November 17, 2007 |
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Thanks Grant, good point! His commandments, not the commandments. hehe, never even occurred to me...
Glad to hear from you, brother Ed!
Gene, I am still waiting for word on exactly what flavor that would be... :-) |
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| November 17, 2007 |
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| Licorice? |
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| November 18, 2007 |
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| not from you! |
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| November 18, 2007 |
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| Just a thought. . . . . . |
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| November 18, 2007 |
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| lol |
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| November 20, 2007 |
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Excellent blog! After I read it and was scrolling down reading other comments and the old '60s song ran through my head. "To know, know, know you... is to love, love , love you" and it seemed to me that is the way to love Him more. The more we really know Him the more we have got to love Him!! My desire is to know Him intimately better everyday and the love for Him just flows out. When I haven't spend much time with Him my own love grows cold and my doubts increase at how much He loves me.
I gave a testimony at church the other night and the Lord put on my heart to share about when I had been sacrificing for Him but not being obedient. "To obey is better than sacrifice' (Now I have Keith Green's song running through my head.) I was sacrificing my time and energy doing stuff for the Lord he didn't ask me to do. It was good stuff, stuff He again let me do when my motives got right. We sometimes need to check our motives and the voice of the Lord to make sure we are not JUST sacrificing but being obedient!!
Wonderful Blog and Great comments. I am encouraged!!
Shirley |
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| November 20, 2007 |
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And yet another great comment, thanks for your input Shirley!!
'To obey is better than sacrifice' IS sacrifice, just not of the individual variety. Sounds like whole-life sacrifice to me. Sacrifice yourself, not just your time or money. The other things naturally follow if you sacrifice yourself. |
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| December 10, 2008 |
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This is one of the deepest commands I belief because if we see it in proper Light it is the only command, If we keep the first commanment the others all line up.
Of course we can not like wise keep even one without this LOVE
Love is the out come of keeping The Commandments
Thats why Jesus(YAhushua)
Says
Love is the first Commandment
if we keep the Commandment to LOVE All this Follows
6 I am יהוה thy Elohim, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. 7 Thou shalt have none other elohim before me. 8 Thou shalt not make 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 waters beneath the earth: 9 Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I יהוה thy Elohim am a jealous El, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, 10 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments. 11 Thou shalt not take the name of יהוה thy Elohim in vain: for יהוה will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. 12 Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as יהוה thy Elohim hath commanded thee. 13 Six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work: 14 But the seventh day is the sabbath of יהוה thy Elohim: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou. 15 And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that יהוה thy Elohim brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore יהוה thy Elohim commanded thee to keep the sabbath day. 16 Honour thy father and thy mother, as יהוה thy Elohim hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which יהוה thy Elohim giveth thee. 17 Thou shalt not kill. 18 Neither shalt thou commit adultery. 19 Neither shalt thou steal. 20 Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbour. 21 Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbours wife, neither shalt thou covet thy neighbours house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or any thing that is thy neighbours. 22 These words יהוה spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: and he added no more. And he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me. 23 And it came to pass, when ye heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, (for the mountain did burn with fire,)that ye came near unto me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your elders; 24 And ye said, Behold, יהוה our Elohim hath shewed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that Elohim doth talk with man, and he liveth. 25 Now therefore why should we die? for this great fire will consume us: if we hear the voice of יהוה our Elohim any more, then we shall die. 26 For who is there of all flesh, that hath heard the voice of the living Elohim speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived? 27 Go thou near, and hear all that יהוה our Elohim shall say: and speak thou unto us all that יהוה our Elohim shall speak unto thee; and we will hear it, and do it. 28 And יהוה heard the voice of your words, when ye spake unto me; and יהוה said unto me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they have spoken unto thee: they have well said all that they have spoken. 29 O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever! 30 Go say to them, Get you into your tents again. 31 But as for thee, stand thou here by me, and I will speak unto thee all the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which thou shalt teach them, that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess it. 32 Ye shall observe to do therefore as יהוה your Elohim hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. 33 Ye shall walk in all the ways which יהוה your Elohim hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess.
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