Exodus 20:5 (LSB)

Passage

You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,

Nearby Context

Exodus 20:3 “You shall have no other gods before Me.

Exodus 20:4 “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.

Exodus 20:5 You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,

Exodus 20:6 but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

Exodus 20:7 “You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain, for Yahweh will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "shall", "worship", "serve", "yahweh", "jealous", "visiting", "iniquity", and "fathers". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "shall" and "worship", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 4's "You shall not make for yourself an..." into verse 6's "but showing lovingkindness to thousands to those...", so "shall" and "worship" belong inside that flow. In Exodus context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "shall" and "worship" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.