Yitro יִתְרוֹ
Commandments in this portion: positive — 3 · negative — 14counted by Sefer HaChinuch
Which commandments
- 25The commandment of belief in Godמצות האמנה במציאות השםpos.
- 26That we not believe in a god besides God aloneשלא נאמין באלה בלתי ה' לבדוneg.
- 27To not make a statueשלא לעשות פסלneg.
- 28To not bow down to idolatryשלא להשתחות לעבודה זרהneg.
- 29To not worship idolatry in that which is its way to be worshipedשלא לעבוד ע"ז במה שדרכה להעבדneg.
- 30To not swear in vainשלא לשבע לשואneg.
- 31The commandment of the sanctification of Shabbat with wordsמצות קדוש שבת בדבריםpos.
- 32To not do work on Shabbatשלא לעשות מלאכה בשבתneg.
- 33The commandment to honor father and motherמצות כיבוד אב ואםpos.
- 34To not kill the innocentשלא להרג נקיneg.
- 35To not reveal the nakedness of a man's wifeשלא לגלת ערות אשת אישneg.
- 36To not steal a soul of Israelשלא לגנב נפש מישראלneg.
- 37To not testify falselyשלא להעיד בשקרneg.
- 38To not covetשלא לחמדneg.
- 39Not to make the form of a man, even for decorationשלא לעשות צורת אדם אפילו לנויneg.
- 40To not build with hewn stonesשלא לבנות אבני גזיתneg.
- 41To not take steps on the altarשלא לפסע על המזבחneg.
Numbering, order and division follow Sefer HaChinuch; the number links to the text.
Yitro comes to the camp and advises Moshe to appoint judges over thousands and hundreds, so that he does not wear himself out alone. The people stand at Sinai on the third day; the mountain smokes, and the Ten Commandments are spoken. The people ask that Moshe speak, and not God directly.
Read next on 30 January 2027, 19 February 2028. By the Israeli reading cycle.
People of the portion
Mount Sinai The Torah (Pentateuch) Exodus Leviticus Song of Songs Shabbat Kashrut Tefillin Mikveh Shavuot
Events of this portion
Echoes in the Prophets and history
These events themselves live in other books and other centuries; each is tied to this portion by the verse shown beside it: the early ones the portion recalls, in the later ones its word resounds:
The world at that time
The nearest event of world history known to us comes later, 13 years on:
How it is read
| First | Shemot 18:1—18:12 | 12 verses |
|---|---|---|
| Second | Shemot 18:13—18:23 | 11 verses |
| Third | Shemot 18:24—18:27 | 4 verses |
| Fourth | Shemot 19:1—19:6 | 6 verses |
| Fifth | Shemot 19:7—19:19 | 13 verses |
| Sixth | Shemot 19:20—20:14 | 20 verses |
| Seventh | Shemot 20:15—20:23 | 9 verses |
| Maftir | Shemot 20:19—20:23 | 5 verses |
| Haftarah | Isaiah 6:1—7:6 on Sefaria | 19 verses |
| Haftarah | Isaiah 9:5—9:6 on Sefaria | 2 verses |
The text
The English edition does not yet carry the text of the portion. The Hebrew with translation is on Sefaria; the Russian page of this portion carries the full text verse by verse — открыть по-русски →.