16 Thou shall not give false witness against thy neighbor.
Exodus 23:1 Thou shall not raise a false report. Put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.
Psalms 119:163 I hate and abhor lying: but Your law do I love.
Proverbs 12:22 Lying lips are abomination to the I AM, but they that deal truly are His delight.
Proverbs 13:5 A righteous man hates lying, but a wicked man is loathsome, and comes to shame.
Proverbs 14:5 A faithful witness will not lie, but a false witness will utter lies.
Proverbs 17:7 Excellent speech becomes not a fool, much less do lying lips a prince.
Proverbs 19:5 - A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaks lies shall not escape.
Proverbs 6:16-19 - These six things does the I AM hate. Yes, seven are an abomination unto him:
17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
18 An heart that plans wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,
19 A false witness that speaks lies, and he that sows discord among brethren.
Proverbs 19:9 - A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaks lies shall perish.
Ephesians 4:25 - Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor: for we are members one of another.
Revelation 21:8 - But the cowerdly, and unbelieving, and the dirty minded, and murderers, and sexually immoral, and users of witchcraft, and idol worshipers, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
Exodus 23:2 Thou shall not follow a crowd to do evil, neither shall thou testify in a cause, following after the crowd to twist judgment:
Don’t follow the crowd when they want to steamroll someone.
Exodus 23:3 Neither shall thou favor a poor man in his cause.
Justice sees no dollar sign.
A society can't survive if it has a contempt for truth. The Mosaic Law decreed the punishment for false testimony to be the same as for crime being tried. If you lie on the witness stand in hopes of getting the other person executed, you will be executed.
But scholars believe this commandment was about truth telling generally since it is missing the words "in court."
All great societal evils are based on lies such as
- "one skin color is better than another color,"
- "rich people are evil,"
- "poor people are inferior."
Mass evil is committed by the lies that evil is good. Even if the cause is good, a lie will do evil if for no other reason than that it diverts resource from even more important causes.
It distorts a societies priorities.
A society will fall if it is not based on truth.
Colossians 3:9-10 9 “Don't lie to each other, since ye have put off the old man with his deeds;
10 “And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him:”
Ephesians 4:29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace to the hearers.
1 Timothy 4:2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
Revelation 22:15 For outside [heaven] are unbelievers, those who practice witchcraft, and misuse sex, and murderers, and idolaters, and whoever loves and makes a lie.
The New Testament also tells us not to lie, reaffirming this command.
There is an exception. In a couple of places in the Bible God rewarded people for lying to protect the innocent, most notably, the midwives in Egypt who were commanded to kill all baby boys. I believe God also approved of the lies told to protect and hide the Jews in Germany during World War 2. When the lie is told to stop a greater evil, it's like when we use a gun to stop evil. It is not acceptable to go around randomly shooting people, but if you are a security guard in school and see a shooter walking in, God WANTS you to shoot him to protect the innocent. Lying is the same.
We must be very careful, however, that any untruth told is not actually for our own benefit, to protect ourselves or further our own agenda. That is a sin.