I am the LORD your God, 

who brought you out

of the land of Egypt, 

out of the house of bondage. 

You shall have no other gods before

me. You shall not make for yourself 

a graven 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 

or serve them; for I the LORD your 

God am a jealous God, visiting the 

iniquity of the fathers upon the 

children to the third and the fourth 

generation of those who hate me, 

but showing steadfast love to 

thousands of those who love me 

and keep my commandments. 

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. 

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it 

holy. Six days you shall labor, and 

do all your work; but the seventh day 

is a sabbath to the LORD your God; in 

it you shall not do any work, you, or 

your son, or your daughter, your 

manservant, or your maidservant, or 

your cattle, or the sojourner who is 

within your gates; for in six days the 

LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, 

and all that is in them, and rested the 

seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed 

the sabbath day and hallowed it.

Honor your father and your 

mother, that your days may 

be long in the land which 

the LORD your God 

gives you.

You shall not kill.

You shall not 

commit adultery.

You shall not steal.

You shall not bear false 

witness against your 

neighbor. 

You shall not covet your 

neighbor’s house; you shall not 

covet your neighbor’s wife, or his 

manservant, or his maidservant, 

or his ox, or his ass, or anything 

that is your neighbor’s.

your God, who 

brought you out of 

the land of Egypt, 

out of the house of bondage.

You shall have no other 

gods before me...

You shall not take 

the name of the 

LORD your God in 

vain:...

Observe the sabbath 

day, to keep it holy...

Honor your father 

and your mother...

You shall not kill. 

Neither shall you 

commit adultery.

Neither shall you steal.

Neither shall you bear 

false witness against 

your neighbor. 

Neither shall you covet 

your neighbor’s wife...

You shall not desire...

anything that is your 

neighbor’s.

1. I am the LORD 

your God: you 

shall not have 

strange Gods before me.

2. You shall not 

take the name of 

the LORD your 

God in vain.

3. Remember to 

keep holy the 

LORD’S day.

4. Honor your father 

and your mother.

5. You shall not kill.

6. You shall not 

commit adultery.

7. You shall not steal. 

8. You shall not bear 

false witness against 

your neighbor.

9. You shall not covet 

your neighbor’s wife.

10. You shall not covet 

your neighbor’s goods.

 

434. “Teacher, what good must I do to have eternal life?” (Matthew 19:16).

To the young man who asked this question, Jesus answered, “If you would enter into life, keep the commandments”, and then he added, “Come, follow Me” (Matthew 19:16-21). To follow Jesus involves keeping the commandments. The law has not been abolished but man is invited to rediscover it in the Person of the divine Master who realized it perfectly in himself, revealed its full meaning and attested to its permanent validity.

435. How did Jesus interpret the Law?

Jesus interpreted the Law in the light of the twofold yet single commandment of love, the fullness of the Law: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And the second is like it: you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:37-40).

436. What does “Decalogue” mean?

Decalogue means “ten words” (Exodus 34:28). These words sum up the Law given by God to the people of Israel in the context of the Covenant mediated by Moses. This Decalogue, in presenting the commandments of the love of God (the first three) and of one's neighbor (the other seven), traces for the chosen people and for every person in particular the path to a life freed from the slavery of sin.

437. What is the bond between the Decalogue and the Covenant?

The Decalogue must be understood in the light of the Covenant in which God revealed himself and made known his will. In observing the commandments, the people manifested their belonging to God and they answered his initiative of love with thanksgiving.

438. What importance does the Church give to the Decalogue?

The Church, in fidelity to Scripture and to the example of Christ, acknowledges the primordial importance and significance of the Decalogue. Christians are obliged to keep it.

439. Why does the Decalogue constitute an organic unity?

The Ten Commandments form an organic and indivisible whole because each commandment refers to the other commandments and to the entire Decalogue. To break one commandment, therefore, is to violate the entire law.

440. Why does the Decalogue enjoin serious obligations?

It does so because the Decalogue expresses the fundamental duties of man towards God and towards his neighbor.

441. Is it possible to keep the Decalogue?

Yes, because Christ without whom we can do nothing enables us to keep it with the gift of his Spirit and his grace.