The Ten Commandments In Modern Conversational English

Ever think about the Ten Commandments in modern conversational English?

Paulist Father John Behnke, former chaplain at St. Lawrence Church and Newman Center, offers a re-write of the biblical language in a new book whose target audience is younger people.

In “Lent and Easter for the Younger Crowd” (Paulist Press), he offers this take on Exodus 20:1-7, better known as the Ten Commandments:

"One day God said to his people, 'Here are some rules I want you to always follow:

1. Pray only to me because I'm the one who made you and saved you.

2. I don't want to hear any of you swearing.

3. I want one day out of the week to be a special day for you. Don't do too much work that day so you can relax and spend some time praying to me.

4. I want you to listen to your parents (even when you grow up) because they have lived longer and know more about life than you.

5. Don't kill anyone for any reason.

6. Don't fool around with someone you're not married to.

7. Don't take anything that isn't yours.

8. Don't lie about anybody.

9. Don't always be wanting things that belong to other people.

All I'm really asking is that you 'love me and keep my rules.'"