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13 (A)The Lord, your God, shall you fear; him shall you serve,[a] and by his name shall you swear.

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Footnotes

  1. 6:13 Him shall you serve: the verb could be translated as either “serve” or “worship” (cf. 5:9).

20 The Lord, your God, shall you fear, and him shall you serve; to him hold fast and by his name shall you swear.(A)

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20 Fear the Lord your God and serve him.(A) Hold fast(B) to him and take your oaths in his name.(C)

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20 But if a prophet presumes to speak a word in my name(A) that I have not commanded, or speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.

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20 But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods,(A) is to be put to death.”(B)

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21 From a foreigner you may demand interest, but you may not demand interest from your kindred, so that the Lord, your God, may bless you in all your undertakings on the land you are to enter and possess.

22 (A)When you make a vow to the Lord, your God, you shall not delay in fulfilling it; for the Lord, your God, will surely require it of you and you will be held guilty. 23 Should you refrain from making a vow, you will not be held guilty.

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21 If you make a vow to the Lord your God, do not be slow to pay it,(A) for the Lord your God will certainly demand it of you and you will be guilty of sin.(B) 22 But if you refrain from making a vow, you will not be guilty.(C) 23 Whatever your lips utter you must be sure to do, because you made your vow freely to the Lord your God with your own mouth.

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You shall not invoke the name of the Lord, your God, in vain.[a](A) For the Lord will not leave unpunished anyone who invokes his name in vain.

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Footnotes

  1. 20:7 In vain: i.e., to no good purpose, a general framing of the prohibition which includes swearing falsely, especially in the context of a legal proceeding, but also goes beyond it (cf. Lv 24:16; Prv 30:8–9).

“You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.(A)

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12 You shall not swear falsely by my name, thus profaning the name of your God.(A) I am the Lord.

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12 “‘Do not swear falsely(A) by my name(B) and so profane(C) the name of your God. I am the Lord.

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10 A man born of an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father went out among the Israelites, and in the camp a fight broke out between the son of the Israelite woman and an Israelite man. 11 The son of the Israelite woman uttered the Lord’s name in a curse and blasphemed. So he was brought to Moses—now his mother’s name was Shelomith, daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan— 12 and he was kept in custody till a decision from the Lord should settle the case for them.(A) 13 The Lord then said to Moses: 14 Take the blasphemer outside the camp, and when all who heard him have laid their hands[a] on his head,(B) let the whole community stone him. 15 Tell the Israelites: Anyone who blasphemes God shall bear the penalty; 16 whoever utters the name of the Lord in a curse shall be put to death.(C) The whole community shall stone that person; alien and native-born alike must be put to death for uttering the Lord’s name in a curse.

17 [b]Whoever takes the life of any human being shall be put to death;(D) 18 whoever takes the life of an animal shall make restitution of another animal, life for a life.(E) 19 [c]Anyone who inflicts a permanent injury on his or her neighbor shall receive the same in return: 20 fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. The same injury that one gives another shall be inflicted in return.(F) 21 Whoever takes the life of an animal shall make restitution, but whoever takes a human life shall be put to death. 22 You shall have but one rule, for alien and native-born alike.(G) I, the Lord, am your God.

23 When Moses told this to the Israelites, they took the blasphemer outside the camp and stoned him;(H) they did just as the Lord commanded Moses.

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Footnotes

  1. 24:14 Laid their hands: see notes on 1:4 and 16:21. It may be that blasphemy generated a type of pollution which the hearers return to the culprit by this gesture.
  2. 24:17–22 A digression dealing with bodily injury follows the blasphemy rules. It may have been appended since the first case is another example of the death penalty. But the section develops according to its own logic. All legal traditions require death for homicide: Gn 9:5–6; Ex 21:12–14; Nm 35:9–34; Dt 19:1–13; cf. Ex 20:13 and Dt 5:17.
  3. 24:19–20 The phrase “life for a life” in v. 18 leads to introducing the law of talion in vv. 19–20. Some have interpreted the law here and the similar expressions in Ex 21:23–25 and Dt 19:21 to mean that monetary compensation equal to the injury is to be paid, though the wording of the law here and the context of Dt 19:21 indicate an injury is to be inflicted upon the injurer.

A Blasphemer Put to Death

10 Now the son of an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father went out among the Israelites, and a fight broke out in the camp between him and an Israelite. 11 The son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name(A) with a curse;(B) so they brought him to Moses.(C) (His mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri the Danite.)(D) 12 They put him in custody until the will of the Lord should be made clear to them.(E)

13 Then the Lord said to Moses: 14 “Take the blasphemer outside the camp. All those who heard him are to lay their hands on his head, and the entire assembly is to stone him.(F) 15 Say to the Israelites: ‘Anyone who curses their God(G) will be held responsible;(H) 16 anyone who blasphemes(I) the name of the Lord is to be put to death.(J) The entire assembly must stone them. Whether foreigner or native-born, when they blaspheme the Name they are to be put to death.

17 “‘Anyone who takes the life of a human being is to be put to death.(K) 18 Anyone who takes the life of someone’s animal must make restitution(L)—life for life. 19 Anyone who injures their neighbor is to be injured in the same manner: 20 fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth.(M) The one who has inflicted the injury must suffer the same injury. 21 Whoever kills an animal must make restitution,(N) but whoever kills a human being is to be put to death.(O) 22 You are to have the same law for the foreigner(P) and the native-born.(Q) I am the Lord your God.’”

23 Then Moses spoke to the Israelites, and they took the blasphemer outside the camp and stoned him.(R) The Israelites did as the Lord commanded Moses.

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[a]“The clean of hand and pure of heart,
    who has not given his soul to useless things,
    what is vain.

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Footnotes

  1. 24:4–5 Lit., “the one whose hands are clean.” The singular is used for the entire class of worshipers.

The one who has clean hands(A) and a pure heart,(B)
    who does not trust in an idol(C)
    or swear by a false god.[a]

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 24:4 Or swear falsely

23 because they have committed an outrage in Israel, committing adultery with their neighbors’ wives, and alleging in my name things I did not command. I know, I am witness—oracle of the Lord.(A)

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23 For they have done outrageous things in Israel; they have committed adultery(A) with their neighbors’ wives, and in my name they have uttered lies—which I did not authorize. I know(B) it and am a witness(C) to it,” declares the Lord.

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Teaching About Oaths. 33 [a](A)“Again you have heard that it was said to your ancestors, ‘Do not take a false oath, but make good to the Lord all that you vow.’ 34 (B)But I say to you, do not swear at all;[b] not by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35 nor by the earth, for it is his footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 Do not swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black. 37 [c]Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ Anything more is from the evil one.

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Footnotes

  1. 5:33 This is not an exact quotation of any Old Testament text, but see Ex 20:7; Dt 5:11; Lv 19:12. The purpose of an oath was to guarantee truthfulness by one’s calling on God as witness.
  2. 5:34–36 The use of these oath formularies that avoid the divine name is in fact equivalent to swearing by it, for all the things sworn by are related to God.
  3. 5:37 Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No’: literally, “let your speech be ‘Yes, yes,’ ‘No, no.’” Some have understood this as a milder form of oath, permitted by Jesus. In view of Mt 5:34, “Do not swear at all,” that is unlikely. From the evil one: i.e., from the devil. Oath-taking presupposes a sinful weakness of the human race, namely, the tendency to lie. Jesus demands of his disciples a truthfulness that makes oaths unnecessary.

Oaths

33 “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath,(A) but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’(B) 34 But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all:(C) either by heaven, for it is God’s throne;(D) 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King.(E) 36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37 All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’;(F) anything beyond this comes from the evil one.[a](G)

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 5:37 Or from evil