The: The Revised English Bible
Exodus 20:1-17

God spoke all these words: I am the LORD your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
  1. You must have no other god besides me.
  2. You must not make a carved image for yourself, nor the likeness of anything in the heavens above, or on the earth below, or in the waters under the earth. You must not bow down to them in worship; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sins of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who reject me.
    But I keep faith with thousands, those who love me and keep my commandments.
  3. You must not make wrong use of the name of the LORD your God; the LORD will not leave unpunished anyone who misuses his name.
  4. Remember to keep the sabbath day holy. You have six days to labour and do all your work; but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; that day you must not do any work, neither you, nor your son or your daughter, your slave or your slave-girl, your cattle, or the alien residing among you;

    for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and on the seventh day he rested. Therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and declared it holy.
  5. Honour your father and your mother, so that you may enjoy long life in the land which the LORD your God is giving you.
  6. Do not commit murder.
  7. Do not commit adultery.
  8. Do not steal.
  9. Do not give false evidence against your neighbour.
  10. Do not covet your neighbour's household: you must not covet your neighbour's wife, his slave, his slave-girl, his ox, his donkey, or anything that belongs to him.
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Known details

1989

History

In 1974, the Joint Committee of the Churches, which had produced the New English Bible, decided to begin a major revision of the text. By this time, there were changes in the composition of the Joint Committee. The Roman Catholic Church, with representatives from the hierarchies of England and Wales, of Scotland, and of Ireland, entered into full membership. The United Reformed Church, which was a recent union of the Presbyterian Church of England and the Congregational Church, was represented. Then representatives of the Salvation Army and the Moravian Church joined the committee.

The best available texts of both Testaments were used. Care was taken to ensure that the style of English used be fluent and of dignity for liturgical use, while maintaining intelligibility for all ages and backgrounds. Complex or technical terms were avoided, where possible. There was care that sentence structure and word order would facilitate congregational reading, without misrepresenting the meaning of the original text. "Thou" in addressing God has been replaced by you. A more inclusive gender reference than the male-oriented language was preferred. A more extensive use of textual sub-headings in italics has been used. These are not to be considered part of the text. The traditional verse numbering of the Authorized Version has been retained. Passages that appear in the manuscripts used for the Authorized Version but left out of the Revised English Bible have been reproduced in footnotes. Some modern equivalents of ancient terms are used.

The Joint Committee commends this version with humility, but with confidence that God has yet new light and truth to break forth from his word. The publishers consider the Revised English Bible to be a radical revision of the New English Bible.

Oxford and Cambridge Universities Presses (1989)

[Tyndale House, Cambridge, United Kingdom]