Statements or answers which are untrue. Lying, false witness, deceit and false dealings are all condemned in Scripture.
Lying is condemned
Psalm 34:12–13; Ephesians 4:25; Colossians 3:9–10 See also Exodus 20:16 parallel Deuteronomy 5:20; Leviticus 19:11–12; Proverbs 6:16–17, Proverbs 12:22; Jeremiah 17:9–10
Who is the man who delights in life, who desires to see good days? Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from deceitful speech.
Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one another.
Do not lie to one another, since you have taken off the old self with its practices, and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
Examples of lying
Genesis 3:4–5 the serpent to Eve; Genesis 4:9 Cain to the LORD; Genesis 12:11–13 Abraham urges Sarah to lie to the Egyptians; Genesis 18:15 Sarah to the LORD; Genesis 20:1–2 Abraham to Abimelech; Genesis 26:6–7 Isaac to the men of Gerar; Genesis 27:18–19, Genesis 27:24; Genesis 39:14–18 Potiphar's wife to her household servants; 2 Kings 5:22–27 Gehazi to Naaman and then to Elisha; Acts 5:1–10 Ananias and Sapphira; Acts 6:11, Acts 6:13; Acts 25:7; Romans 3:8
Lying will not go unnoticed or unpunished
Proverbs 19:9 See also Psalm 5:6, Psalm 52:2–5, Psalm 55:23, Psalm 101:7; Jeremiah 6:13–15, Jeremiah 23:32; Nahum 3:1; 1 Timothy 1:9–10; Revelation 21:8, Revelation 21:27, Revelation 22:15
A false witness will not go unpunished, and one who pours out lies will perish.
God's people should resist the temptation to lie
Lying can be an act of malice
A hateful man disguises himself with his speech, but he lays up deceit in his heart. When he speaks graciously, do not believe him, for seven abominations fill his heart. Though his hatred is concealed by deception, his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly. He who digs a pit will fall into it, and he who rolls a stone will have it roll back on him. A lying tongue hates those it crushes, and a flattering mouth causes ruin.
Lying can be the sign of a dead conscience
Now the Spirit expressly states that in later times some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons, influenced by the hypocrisy of liars, whose consciences are seared with a hot iron.
A lying spirit
See also 1 Kings 22:21–23 parallel 2 Chronicles 18:20–22
Lying is the hallmark of the devil and the antichrist
John 8:44 See also 1 John 2:22; Revelation 13:14, Revelation 20:7–10
You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out his desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, refusing to uphold the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, because he is a liar and the father of lies.
Related themes
Dictionary of Bible Themes © 1999 Martin Manser, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, via Bible Aquifer. Formatted for this site, with Scripture from the Berean Standard Bible.