The First Commandment

You shall have no other gods.

What does this mean?
We should fear, love and trust in God above all things.

The Second Commandment

You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.

What does this mean?
We should fear and love God so that we do not curse, swear, use witchcraft, lie, or deceive by His name, but call upon it in every trouble, pray, praise, and give thanks.

The Third Commandment

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. [You shall sanctify the holy day.]

What does this mean?
We should fear and love God so that we do not despise preaching and His Word, but hold it sacred, and gladly hear and learn it.

The Fourth Commandment

Honour your father and your mother.

What does this mean?
We should fear and love God so that we do not despise or anger our parents or those in authority over us, but honour, serve and obey them, and hold them in love and esteem.

The Fifth Commandment

You shall not murder.

What does this mean?
We should fear and love God so that we do not hurt or harm our neighbour physically, but help and support him in every physical need.

The Sixth Commandment

You shall not commit adultery.

What does this mean?
We should fear and love God so that we lead a sexually pure and decent life in our words and actions, and each love and honour his spouse.

The Seventh Commandment

You shall not steal.

What does this mean?
We should fear and love God that we do not take our neighbour’s money or property, or get them by deception or dishonesty, but help him to improve and protect his property and income.

The Eighth Commandment

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.

What does this mean?
We should fear and love God so that we do not misrepresent, betray, slander, or defame our neighbour, but defend him, speak well of him, and put the best construction on everything.

The Ninth Commandment

You shall not covet your neighbour’s house.

What does this mean?
We should fear and love God so that we do not seek to get our neighbour’s inheritance or house by deception or with merely the appearance of justice, but help and be of service to him in keeping it.

The Tenth Commandment

You shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour.

What does this mean?
We should fear and love God so that we do not entice or force away our neighbour’s wife, servants or animals, but urge them to stay and do their duty.

The Close of the Commandments

What does God say about all of these commandments?
He says, “I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments” (Exodus 20:5-6).

What does this mean?

God threatens to punish all who break these commandments. Therefore we should fear His wrath and not do anything contrary to these commandments. But He promises grace and every blessing to all who keep these commandments. Therefore we should also love and trust in Him, and gladly follow His commandments.

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This modernised version of Luther’s Small Catechism is based on the public domain text here, and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Please attribute it by linking back to this page. 

All Scripture quotations in this publication are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.