Bihoold and se that in the firste table Of heighe Goddes heestes honurable, Hou that the seconde heeste of hym is this: "Take nat my name in ydel or amys." Lo, rather he forbedeth swich sweryng Than homycide or many a cursed thyng.

Bihoold and se that in the firste table
Of heighe Goddes heestes honurable,
Hou that the seconde heeste of hym is this:
"Take nat my name in ydel or amys."
Lo, rather he forbedeth swich sweryng
Than homycide or many a cursed thyng.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Pardoner’s Tale. The Pardoner says that idle swearing is particularly offensive to God, and is forbidden by the second of his Ten Commandments. The Pardoner claims that God ranks it as worse than homicide. Exodus 20:7 in the Bible states: "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain."

Geoffrey Chaucer Quotes