Single lesson
The Ten Commandments: Loving God and Others
Exodus 20:1–17; Deuteronomy 5:5–21
In these verses, God speaks the Ten Commandments and identifies himself as the one who brought his people out of bondage. This lesson helps older students see the commandments in their covenant setting and trace how they speak about loyalty to God and conduct towards neighbours.
Before you teach
The source gives the commandments twice. In Exodus, God speaks these words directly. In Deuteronomy, Moses says he stood between Yahweh and the people to show Yahweh’s word because they were afraid. Both passages begin with God’s rescue from Egypt and then list commands about worship, speech, rest, family, life, faithfulness, property, truth and desire.
Students will be able to name the covenant introduction to the Ten Commandments and explain how the commands address both devotion to God and treatment of other people.
Welcome: God speaks and rescues
6 minBegin by reading the opening lines aloud. Ask students to notice what comes before any command. The passage starts with God speaking and identifying himself as Yahweh their God, the one who brought them out of Egypt, out of bondage. This sets the commandments inside a relationship and a rescue, not as detached rules.
Exodus 20:1, Exodus 20:2, Deuteronomy 5:5, Deuteronomy 5:6
Read and explain: Commands about Yahweh
10 minRead the first group of commands slowly. List them on the board: no other gods, no idols, no bowing to images, no misuse of Yahweh’s name, and keeping the Sabbath holy. Explain that the text gives reasons too: Yahweh is jealous, shows loving kindness, and has made the Sabbath holy. Deuteronomy also says servants should rest and Israel should remember bondage.
Exodus 20:3, Exodus 20:4, Exodus 20:5, Exodus 20:6, Exodus 20:7, Exodus 20:8, Exodus 20:10, Exodus 20:11, Deuteronomy 5:12, Deuteronomy 5:14, Deuteronomy 5:15
Discuss: Commands about other people
8 minRead the remaining commands and ask students to sort them into family, life, marriage, property, truth and inward desire. Highlight that the commands move from outward actions such as murder, stealing and false testimony to inner wanting, coveting or desiring what belongs to a neighbour. Honour for parents is also tied to life in the land God gives.
Exodus 20:12, Exodus 20:13, Exodus 20:14, Exodus 20:15, Exodus 20:16, Exodus 20:17, Deuteronomy 5:16, Deuteronomy 5:17, Deuteronomy 5:18, Deuteronomy 5:19, Deuteronomy 5:20, Deuteronomy 5:21
Make and respond: Stone tablet summary
10 minStudents make two paper or cardboard tablets and write brief paraphrase labels drawn from the text itself. On one tablet, place commands centred on Yahweh. On the other, place commands about neighbours and community life. As they work, ask for one everyday example of what each command would guard or preserve, making clear that examples are applications, not extra Bible wording.
Exodus 20:3, Exodus 20:7, Exodus 20:8, Exodus 20:12, Exodus 20:15, Exodus 20:16, Exodus 20:17
Closing: Review the covenant setting
6 minFinish by inviting students to explain the commandments in one sentence beginning with the rescue from bondage. Re-read the opening and one command from each group. Emphasise that the passage presents both what people must not do and what they are to remember: Yahweh’s identity, Yahweh’s acts, and the holiness of the Sabbath.
Exodus 20:2, Exodus 20:8, Deuteronomy 5:6, Deuteronomy 5:12, Deuteronomy 5:15
Questions to explore
What words introduce the commandments, and why do those words matter for reading the rest of the passage?
Look at the repeated statement that Yahweh is their God who brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, before any command is listed.
Exodus 20:2, Deuteronomy 5:6
What reasons does the text itself give for keeping the Sabbath holy?
Compare the reasons in both passages: Exodus points to Yahweh making heaven and earth and blessing the Sabbath, while Deuteronomy tells Israel to remember they were servants in Egypt and that Yahweh brought them out.
Exodus 20:11, Deuteronomy 5:14, Deuteronomy 5:15
Which command reaches beyond actions into what a person wants, and what does it forbid wanting?
Find the final command, which names a neighbour’s house, wife, servants, animals and anything that belongs to the neighbour.
Exodus 20:17, Deuteronomy 5:21
Make, think or respond
Two Tablets Commandment Sort
What you’ll need
- paper or light cardboard
- markers or pens
- scissors
- ruler
Try it together
- Cut or draw two tablet shapes for each student or pair.
- Write short command labels from the passage on the tablets, keeping the wording close to the text.
- Place commands about Yahweh on one tablet and commands about neighbours on the other.
- Add one brief modern example beside selected commands, clearly marked as an application rather than Bible wording.
This activity helps students see the order and scope of the commands in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5, while distinguishing the Bible text from present-day applications.
Adapt for your group
- For ages 12 to 13, provide a prepared list of the commandments to sort before students write their own tablet summaries.
- For ages 15 to 17, ask students to compare the Sabbath wording in Exodus and Deuteronomy and summarise the distinct reasons each passage gives.
An optional closing prayer
Proposed words: Yahweh our God, thank you that these words show your holiness, your rescue, and your care for how people live. Help us read your commands carefully and truthfully. Amen.
Read the Bible passage World English Bible Classic
Exodus 20
1 God spoke all these words, saying,
2 “I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
3 “You shall have no other gods before me.
4 “You shall not make for yourselves an idol, nor any image of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
5 you shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me,
6 and showing loving kindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
7 “You shall not misuse the name of Yahweh your God, for Yahweh will not hold him guiltless who misuses his name.
8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 You shall labor six days, and do all your work,
10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your God. You shall not do any work in it, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your livestock, nor your stranger who is within your gates;
11 for in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore Yahweh blessed the Sabbath day, and made it holy.
12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which Yahweh your God gives you.
13 “You shall not murder.
14 “You shall not commit adultery.
15 “You shall not steal.
16 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”
Deuteronomy 5
5 (I stood between Yahweh and you at that time, to show you Yahweh’s word; for you were afraid because of the fire, and didn’t go up onto the mountain) saying,
6 “I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
7 “You shall have no other gods before me.
8 “You shall not make a carved image for yourself—any likeness of what is in heaven above, or what is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
9 You shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me
10 and showing loving kindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
11 “You shall not misuse the name of Yahweh your God; for Yahweh will not hold him guiltless who misuses his name.
12 “Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as Yahweh your God commanded you.
13 You shall labor six days, and do all your work;
14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your God, in which you shall not do any work—neither you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your livestock, nor your stranger who is within your gates; that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you.
15 You shall remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and Yahweh your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm. Therefore Yahweh your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
16 “Honor your father and your mother, as Yahweh your God commanded you, that your days may be long and that it may go well with you in the land which Yahweh your God gives you.
17 “You shall not murder.
18 “You shall not commit adultery.
19 “You shall not steal.
20 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
21 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. Neither shall you desire your neighbor’s house, his field, or his male servant, or his female servant, his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”
World English Bible Classic. Public domain.