You shall be Holy, for I…the Lord, am Holy
This is the ultimate exception to the adage
about whether you would jump off a bridge
just because all your friends are.
Every person shall fear their mother and their father
I don’t need my son to fear me
as long as he cleans his room and
washes the dirt out from under his nails
whenever I say.
You shall not turn to the worthless idols
This was written long before TV came along
and they couldn’t have possibly had in mind
the golden age of programming we’re
currently experiencing.
And if it would be eaten on the third day, it is abominable . . .
God weighs in on leftovers and
I couldn’t agree more!
you shall not fully reap the corner of your field
I need to keep this in mind when
they come to steal my lemons. The tree
hardly gives any, but ancient precedent says
they can have them.
You shall not oppress your fellow
This is the one that so many people
seem to have forgotten.
You shall not steal
Except in the case of italicized quotes
used in poetry to provide context.
The hired worker’s wage shall not remain with you
overnight until morning.
They spoke of fair pay back before
W2 forms were a thing. Let’s get rid of
the forms and give people what they need
to live their lives.
You shall not curse a deaf person
They wouldn’t hear you anyway.
You shall fear your God. I am the Lord.
I fear I should fear something.
Something that would temper this irreverence
Something to believe in that puts love before fear