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That we must not swear.

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iv.v.xii.iv.xiv218 words

12. That we must not swear.

In Solomon: “A man that sweareth much shall be filled with iniquity, and the plague shall not depart from his house; and if he swear vainly, he shall not be justified.”4265 Of this same matter, according to Matthew: “(Again, ye have heard that it was said to them of old, Thou shalt not swear falsely, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths.) I say unto you, Swear not at all: (neither by heaven, because it is God’s throne; nor by the earth, because it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, because it is the city of the great King; neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.) But let your discourse be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: (for whatever is fuller than these is of evil.”)4266 Of this same thing in Exodus: “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.”4267

Footnotes

  1. 4265

    Ecclus. xxiii. 11. From some ancient text the Oxford edition adds here, “Et si frustra juraverit dupliciter punietur”—“and if he swear with no purpose, he shall be punished doubly.”

  2. 4266

    Matt. v. 34–37. All these passages are wanting in the Oxford text; [also in ed. Paris, 1574].

  3. 4267

    Ex. xx. 7. [Compare old Paris ed. on this section.]