1. I am the Lord your God, let there be no gods for you or except Me.
2. Thou shalt not make for thyself an idol or any likeness, such as the tree in heaven, and the tree upon the earth below, and the tree in the waters under the earth: thou shalt not bow down to them, nor serve them.
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy: six days you shall do it, and in them you shall do all your work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God.
5. Honor your father and your mother, may you be well and may you live long on earth.
6. Thou shalt not kill.
7. Do not commit adultery.
8. Don't steal.
9. Do not listen to your friend’s false testimony.
10. Thou shalt not covet thy sincere wife, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, nor his village, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor any of his livestock, nor anything that is thy neighbor.
1. I am the Lord your God, so that you shall have no other gods besides Me.
2. Do not make for yourself an idol or any image of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth below, or that is in the water under the earth; do not worship them or serve them.
3. Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy; Six days you shall work and do all your work in them, and the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God.
5. Honor your father and your mother, so that it may go well with you and that your days on earth may be long.
6. Don't kill.
7. Do not commit adultery.
8. Don't steal.
9. Do not bear false witness against your neighbor.
10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, you shall not covet your neighbor’s house, nor his field, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor any of his livestock, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.
The books in which the ten commandments and the whole law are written, given by God through Moses and others like him who lived after him before Christ, the chosen ones of God, are called the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament.
The Old Testament was the preparation of people for the new Divine revelation, which was brought to earth by the Son of God Jesus Christ, the incarnate Word.
Is the law given by God in the Old Testament, set out in the decalogue, obligatory for Christians? Jesus Christ Himself answers this question: “Do not think that I came to destroy the law: I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill” (Matthew 5:17) - and not only to fulfill, but to complete this law with His new Divine teaching.
Everything that Jesus Christ did and taught was recorded by His disciples in books called the Gospel, that is, “good news.” There are four such books: the Gospel of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The teachings of Jesus Christ were revealed by His disciples - the Apostles in letters or epistles, which together with the Gospel make up one book called the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament.
That is why, when the Gospel is read in church during a service, an Orthodox Christian must listen to this reading as carefully as if he were listening to Jesus Christ Himself, as the priest’s exclamation reminds him of: “Let us listen.”