Free Printable Ten Commandments Poster: Jewish Numbering, King James Text

About these ten commandments (jewish) handouts

The Ten Commandments appear twice in the Bible, in Exodus 20:2-17 and in Deuteronomy 5:6-21, and the two passages differ slightly in wording. This page gives both in the King James text with Jewish numbering. Jewish numbering counts the opening statement, I am the LORD thy God, as the first commandment, and joins no other gods with the ban on images as the second. The traditions agree on the words and differ on where one commandment ends and the next begins, so a poster for one tradition looks different from another's.

The King James Version is in the public domain in the United States, and the text here was compared by program against three independent copies. The divine name is printed as LORD, as in printed editions. Where a verse is divided between two commandments, the break falls at a comma and the comma becomes a period, and an ellipsis marks words that belong to another number. Different editions of the King James text vary a little in spelling and punctuation.

Choose the passage that matches your readings and print the poster for a classroom wall or a church hall. If your class compares numberings, print two posters side by side and have students find where the counts differ. The poster has an editable title and subtitle, so a school can add its own heading. A reviewer from the tradition should confirm the verse divisions before the poster goes on the wall.

How to use them

1. Choose Exodus 20 or Deuteronomy 5, whichever your readings use.
2. Print the poster and hang it where students can read it.
3. Read the ten commandments aloud together, one number at a time.
4. If you compare traditions, print another numbering and mark the differences.
5. Edit the title or subtitle if your school wants its own heading.

Classroom tips

• Read the Deuteronomy version after the Exodus one and ask students to spot the differences in wording.
• Use a highlighter to mark verbs, such as shalt not, and count how many are prohibitions.
• If families come from different traditions, show two numberings and talk about how each count works.
• Keep the poster simple on the wall and send a smaller copy home for family reading.

Notes on this page

• King James Version text, Jewish numbering. Jewish numbering counts the opening statement, I am the LORD thy God, as the first commandment, and joins no other gods with the ban on images as the second.
• The Ten Commandments verse divisions follow the published convention of each tradition; a reviewer confirms the split.
• The divine name is shown as LORD. Where a verse is divided, the break falls at a comma and the comma becomes a period.

Where the facts come from

• scrollmapper/bible_databases, King James Version (1769 text): Public-domain KJV text; verses extracted and compared by program
• aruljohn/Bible-kjv: Second independent KJV text; agrees word for word with the first on every printed verse
• bibleapi/bibleapi-bibles-json, KJV: Third KJV text; agrees except for modernised spellings in 11 verses (logged in data/faith/verification.txt)

Last reviewed 2026-10-03. Handout Hero designs are original and made for this site. They are general reference material; check your own school, district or tradition where it matters.