Decalogus
The Ten Commandments
God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai. They express the natural law written on the heart and bind all people. Jesus summarized them as love of God and love of neighbor. In the Catholic tradition, the numbering follows the Latin enumeration used in the Catechism.
- 1
You shall have no other gods before me.
Worship God alone. Reject idolatry, superstition, divination, and anything placed above the one true God.
Forbids
False worship, occult practices, treating creatures as gods.
Requires
Faith, hope, charity, prayer, worship, and gratitude toward God.
- 2
You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.
God’s name is holy. It must not be abused in speech, false oaths, or irreverence.
Forbids
Blasphemy, cursing, breaking vows sworn in God’s name.
Requires
Reverence in speech, honest oaths when necessary, blessing the name of God.
- 3
Remember to keep holy the LORD’s Day.
Sunday, the Lord’s Day of Resurrection, is set apart for Mass, rest, and works of mercy.
Forbids
Unnecessary servile work on Sunday, neglect of worship.
Requires
Participation in Mass, rest, family life, and charity on the Lord’s Day.
- 4
Honor your father and your mother.
Children owe respect, obedience (while minors), and care to parents; society owes honor to legitimate authority.
Forbids
Disrespect, rebellion, neglect of elderly parents.
Requires
Gratitude, obedience in the Lord, support in age and sickness.
- 5
You shall not kill.
Human life is sacred from conception to natural death. No one may deliberately destroy innocent life.
Forbids
Murder, abortion, euthanasia, suicide, reckless endangerment, hatred.
Requires
Protection of life, peace, self-defense within moral limits, care for the vulnerable.
- 6
You shall not commit adultery.
Sexual powers belong within marriage between one man and one woman, open to life and faithful in exclusivity.
Forbids
Adultery, fornication, pornography, contraception used against openness to life, homosexual acts.
Requires
Chastity according to state in life; fidelity and mutual self-giving in marriage.
- 7
You shall not steal.
Respect the right to private property and the seventh commandment’s call to justice.
Forbids
Theft, fraud, damage to others’ goods, unjust wages, corruption.
Requires
Honesty, restitution when possible, stewardship and generosity.
- 8
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
Truth is a foundation of community. Reputation and justice must not be destroyed by lies.
Forbids
Lying, perjury, detraction, calumny, rash judgment.
Requires
Truthfulness, discretion, defense of others’ reputation.
- 9
You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.
Interior desires must be ordered. Envy and lust in the heart violate charity.
Forbids
Deliberate lustful thoughts, envy of another’s spouse.
Requires
Purity of heart, gratitude for one’s vocation.
- 10
You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.
Desire for what belongs to another leads to injustice and discontent with Providence.
Forbids
Envy of possessions, greed, jealousy of others’ success.
Requires
Detachment, generosity, trust in God’s care.