Deuteronomy 5
Wycliffe's Bible
1And Moses called all Israel, and said to him, Hear, thou Israel, the ceremonies and dooms, which I speak today in your ears; learn ye them, and fulfilleth in deed. (And Moses called all the Israelites, and said to them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and laws, or judgements, which I speak today in your ears; learn ye them, and do ye them.) 2Our Lord God made a bond of peace with us in Horeb; (The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Mount Sinai;) 3he made not covenant with our fathers, but with us that be present, and live. (he did not make the covenant with our fathers, but with us who be alive, and present here today.) 4Face to face he spake to us in the hill, from the midst of the fire. (Face to face he spoke to you on the mountain, from the midst of the fire.) 5I was (a) reconciler and a mediator betwixt God and you in that time, that I should tell to you his words, for ye dreaded the fire, and ye went not up into the hill. And he said, (I was a reconciler and a mediator between God and you at that time, to tell you his words, for ye feared the fire, and ye would not go up the mountain. And he said,)

6I am thy Lord God, that led thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of servage. (I am the Lord thy God, who led thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of servitude, or of slavery.)

7Thou shalt not have alien Gods in my sight. (Thou shalt not have any foreign, or other, gods before me.)

8Thou shalt not make to thee a graven image, neither a likeness of all things that be in heaven above, and that be in earth beneath, and that be in waters under (the) earth; (Thou shalt not make a carved image, or an idol, for thyself, nor a likeness of anything that be in the heavens above, or on the earth beneath, or in the waters under the earth;) 9thou shalt not praise them, nor worship them; for I am thy Lord God, a jealous God; and I yield the wickedness of (the) fathers into the sons, into the third and the fourth generation to them that hate me (and I put the punishment of the fathers upon the children, into the third and the fourth generations of those who hate me), 10and I do mercy into many thousands to them that love me, and keep my behests. (but I do mercy to the many thousands who love me, and keep my commandments.)

11Thou shalt not mis-take the name of thy Lord God in vain, for he shall not be unpunished, that taketh the name of God in a vain thing. (Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, for no one shall go unpunished, who taketh the name of God in vain.)

12Keep thou the sabbath day that thou hallow it, as thy Lord God commanded to thee. (Keep thou the sabbath day holy, as the Lord thy God commanded thee.) 13In six days thou shalt work, and do all thy works; 14the seventh day is the day of sabbath, that is, the rest of thy Lord God. Thou shalt not do therein anything of work; thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, thy servant, and thine handmaid, and thine ox, and thine ass, and all thy work beasts, and the pilgrim that is within thy gates; that thy servant rest and thine handmaid, as also thou. (the seventh day is the day of sabbath, that is, the rest of the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not do any work on it; thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, thy slave, and thy slave-girl, and thy ox, and thy donkey, and all thy work beasts, and the foreigner, or the stranger, who is within thy gates; so that thy slave and thy slave-girl can rest, as thou doeth.) 15Have mind, that also thyself servedest in Egypt, and thy Lord God led thee out from thence, in a strong hand, and in an arm stretched forth (Remember, that thou were slaves in Egypt, and that the Lord thy God led thee out from there, with a strong hand, and an outstretched arm); therefore he commanded to thee, that thou shouldest keep the sabbath day.

16Honour thy father and thy mother, as thy Lord God commanded to thee, that thou live in long time, and that it be well to thee, in the land which thy Lord God shall give to thee. (Honour thy father and thy mother, as the Lord thy God commanded thee, so that thou live a long time, and that it be well with thee, in the land which the Lord thy God shall give thee.)

17Thou shalt not slay. (Thou shalt not kill.)

18Thou shalt not do lechery.

19Thou shalt not do theft.

20Thou shalt not speak false witnessing against thy neighbour.

21Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his house, nor his field, nor his servant, nor his handmaid, nor his ox, nor ass, and all things, that is, nothing of all the things, that be his. (Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his house, nor his field, nor his slave, nor his slave-girl, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that be his.)

22The Lord spake these words to all your multitude, in the hill, from the midst of the fire, and of the cloud, and of the mist, with great voice, and he added to (it) nothing more; and he wrote those words in two tables of stone, which he gave to me. (The Lord spoke these words to all the multitude of you, on the mountain, from the midst of the fire, and of the cloud, and of the mist, with a great voice, and he added nothing more to it; and he wrote those words on two stone tablets, which he gave to me.) 23And after that ye heard the voice from the midst of the darknesses, and ye saw the hill burn, all ye princes of the lineages, and the greater men in birth, nighed to me, (And after that ye heard the voice from the midst of the darkness, and ye saw the mountain burning with fire, all ye leaders of the tribes, and the men of great age, that is, the elders, came to me,) 24and ye said, Lo! our Lord God hath showed to us his majesty and greatness; we heard his voice from [the] midst of the fire, and we have proved today that a man liveth, God speaking with man. (and ye said, Lo! the Lord our God hath shown us his majesty and his greatness; we heard his voice from the midst of the fire, and we have proven today that a person can live, even after God hath spoken with him.) 25Why therefore shall we die, and shall this greatest fire devour us? For if we hear more the voice of our Lord God, we shall die. (And so why should we risk death again? for this great fire shall devour us! Yea, if we hear the voice of the Lord our God again, surely we shall all die!) 26What is each man, that he hear the voice of God living, that speaketh from [the] midst of the fire, as we have heard, and that he may live? (For what person hath ever heard the voice of the living God, speaking from the midst of the fire, as we have, and still lived to tell about it?) 27Rather nigh thou, and hear thou all things which our Lord God shall say to thee; and thou shalt speak to us, and we shall hear, and do those words. (Instead, thou go near, and listen thou to all the things that the Lord our God shall say to thee; and thou shalt tell us, and we shall hear, and do those things.)

28And when the Lord had heard this, he said to me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they have spoken to thee; they have spoken well all things. (And when the Lord had heard this, he said to me, I have heard the words of these people, that they have spoken to thee; and they have spoken all things well.) 29Who shall give that they have such soul, that they dread me, and keep all my commandments in all time, that it be well to them, and to the sons of them, [into] without end? (O that they would have such a soul, that they would fear me at all times/that they would revere me at all times, and obey all my commandments, so that it would be well with them, and with their children, forevermore!) 30Go thou, and say to them, Turn ye again into your tents. (Go thou, and say to them, Return ye to your tents.) 31Soothly stand thou here with me, and I shall speak to thee all [the] commandments, and ceremonies, and dooms, which thou shalt teach them, that they do those in the land which I shall give to them into possession. (But thou stand here with me, and I shall tell thee all the commandments, and statutes, and laws, or judgements, which thou shalt teach them, so that they can do them in the land which I shall give them for a possession.) 32Therefore keep ye (And so obey ye), and do ye those things, which the Lord God hath commanded to you; ye shall not bow away, neither to the right side, nor to the left side, 33but ye shall go by the way which your Lord God commanded, that ye live, and that it be well to you (so that ye can live, and it shall be well with you), and that your days be lengthened in the land of your possession.

WYCLIFFE’S BIBLE

Comprising of
Wycliffe’s Old Testament

and

Wycliffe’s New Testament
(Revised Edition)


Translated by

JOHN WYCLIFFE
and JOHN PURVEY


A modern-spelling edition of their
14TH century Middle English translation,
the first complete English vernacular version,
with an Introduction by

TERENCE P. NOBLE

Used by Permission

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