Matthew 5:34

Plain English Version

But now I’m telling you this. If you promise something, don’t say, ‘by God’, to get people to believe you. And don’t say, ‘by heaven’, when you promise something. God is the boss in heaven, so that is just like saying, ‘by God’.

Cross References

Acts 7:49

‘God says, “I fill up all of heaven. It is like my big seat. And the whole earth is just like something for me to rest my feet on. So what sort of house will you people build for me? You can’t build a place big enough for me to live in. You see, I made everything.” ’ ”

James 5:12

And there is another thing that I want to say, my friends, and it is very important. Whenever you promise something, don’t say, “God is the boss over heaven and earth, and if I don’t do what I promise, he will punish me.” Don’t say anything like that. You see, if you say that, and then don’t do what you promised, then God will say that you are guilty. So just tell the true story. Say yes when that is true, or no when that is true, and don’t say anything more.