The Ten Commandments in the King James Version

For four hundred years most English speakers learned the Ten Commandments in the words of the King James Version of 1611: “Thou shalt not kill,” “Honour thy father and thy mother,” “Thou shalt not covet.” Here is the full text as the KJV gives it in Exodus 20:

And God spake all these words, saying, I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

Exodus 20:1–11 (KJV)

¶ Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.

Exodus 20:12–17 (KJV)

The short answer: the Ten Commandments in the King James Version are found in Exodus 20:1–17 and again in Deuteronomy 5:6–21. In short form they begin “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” and end “Thou shalt not covet.” The meaning is the same as in modern translations; only some words have changed, most famously “kill,” which modern Bibles render “murder.” For what each one means, see The Ten Commandments: What Each One Means.

Most people remember the commandments in a shortened form. In the King James wording, following the count used by most Protestant churches, they are:

1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain.
4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
5. Honour thy father and thy mother.
6. Thou shalt not kill.
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
8. Thou shalt not steal.
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
10. Thou shalt not covet.

Catholics and Lutherans number the same words differently, joining the first two and splitting the last; Catholic vs Protestant Ten Commandments sets the lists side by side. For the same list in modern English, see The Ten Commandments in Order.

The King James English is four centuries old, and a few of its words have shifted. A short guide:

• Thou, thee, thy, thine: the singular “you.” God addresses each listener personally, not just the crowd.
• Shalt: “shall,” in the form used with “thou.” “Thou shalt not” means “you must not.”
• Graven image: a carved image, an idol. See What Is Idolatry? Graven Images Explained.
• In vain: emptily, for nothing, falsely. See What Does Taking the Lord’s Name in Vain Mean?
• Kill: in 1611 the everyday word; the Hebrew means unlawful killing. See Thou Shalt Not Kill — or Murder?
• Bear false witness: testify falsely, lie about someone. See Bearing False Witness.
• Covet: to want what belongs to someone else. See What Does ‘You Shall Not Covet’ Mean?
• Manservant, maidservant: male and female servants or workers in a household.

One phrase often troubles readers: “visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children.” It is followed at once by a much larger promise:

Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

Exodus 20:5–6 (KJV)

Three or four generations of consequences for those who hate God, against “thousands” of generations of mercy for those who love him. The weight falls on mercy.

The commandments appear a second time in Deuteronomy 5, when Moses repeats them to the next generation. The King James wording shows the small differences clearly. The Sabbath commandment begins “Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it” (Deuteronomy 5:12) instead of “Remember,” and gives a new reason:

And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day.

Deuteronomy 5:15 (KJV)

In Exodus the reason is creation; in Deuteronomy it is freedom from slavery. (More in Remember the Sabbath.) The last commandments are also joined into one sentence with “neither”:

Thou shalt not kill. Neither shalt thou commit adultery. Neither shalt thou steal. Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbour. Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour’s wife, neither shalt thou covet thy neighbour’s house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or any thing that is thy neighbour’s.

Deuteronomy 5:17–21 (KJV)

Here the neighbour’s wife comes first and gets her own verb, “desire,” while Exodus puts the house first. That small change is why Catholics count two commandments about coveting. The chapter around the original text is explained in What Is Exodus 20?

The King James Version is still loved for its rhythm, and its wording of the commandments is the one carved on courthouse monuments and printed on church walls. If you learned the commandments this way, there is no need to unlearn them.

Modern translations help in a few places where English has moved on. “Murder” captures the Hebrew of the sixth commandment better than “kill”; “idol” is clearer than “graven image”; and many readers find “misuse the name” clearer than “take in vain.” Catholic readers will know a parallel tradition: the Douay-Rheims Bible, the classic Catholic English translation, which renders the first commandment “Thou shalt not have strange gods before me.”

A good habit is to read the commandments in two translations side by side. Where they agree, the meaning is clear. Where they differ, the difference usually points to something in the Hebrew worth understanding.

What are the Ten Commandments in the King James Version?

In short form: no other gods; no graven image; not taking the LORD’s name in vain; remembering the sabbath day; honouring father and mother; not killing; not committing adultery; not stealing; not bearing false witness; and not coveting. The full text is Exodus 20:1–17 (KJV).

Where are the Ten Commandments in the KJV Bible?

In Exodus 20:1–17, where God speaks them at Mount Sinai, and in Deuteronomy 5:6–21, where Moses repeats them forty years later. The wording is almost identical, with small differences in the Sabbath and coveting commandments.

Does the KJV say “kill” or “murder”?

The KJV says “Thou shalt not kill” in Exodus 20:13. Most modern translations say “You shall not murder,” because the Hebrew verb refers to unlawful killing. The meaning of the commandment is the same; “kill” was simply the everyday word in 1611.

What does “thou shalt” mean?

“Thou” is the old singular form of “you,” and “shalt” is “shall.” “Thou shalt not” means “you must not.” The singular matters: each commandment is addressed to every listener personally.

What is the difference between Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5 in the KJV?

Deuteronomy says “Keep the sabbath day” rather than “Remember,” grounds the Sabbath in the exodus from Egypt instead of creation, joins the last commandments with “neither,” and puts the neighbour’s wife before his house. The commandments themselves are the same.