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." 1 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.") 2 Of this same thing in Exodus: "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain." 3
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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." ↩
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Matt. v. 34-37. All these passages are wanting in the Oxford text; [also in ed. Paris, 1574]. ↩
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Ex. xx. 7. [Compare old Paris ed. on this section.] ↩
