Matthew 5:37
New International Version
All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ anything beyond this comes from the evil one.

New Living Translation
Just say a simple, ‘Yes, I will,’ or ‘No, I won’t.’ Anything beyond this is from the evil one.

English Standard Version
Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.

Berean Standard Bible
Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ Anything more comes from the evil one.

Berean Literal Bible
But let your statement 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and 'No,' 'No.' Anything more than these comes from evil.

King James Bible
But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.

New King James Version
But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.

New American Standard Bible
But make sure your statement is, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil origin.

NASB 1995
“But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes ‘ or ‘No, no’ anything beyond these is of evil.

NASB 1977
“But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; and anything beyond these is of evil.

Legacy Standard Bible
But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of the evil one.

Amplified Bible
But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’ [a firm yes or no]; anything more than that comes from the evil one.

Christian Standard Bible
But let your ‘yes’ mean ‘yes,’ and your ‘no’ mean ‘no.’ Anything more than this is from the evil one.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
But let your word ‘yes be ‘yes,’ and your ‘no be ‘no.’ Anything more than this is from the evil one.

American Standard Version
But let your speech be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: and whatsoever is more than these is of the evil one.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
But your statement shall be, “Yes, yes” and, “No, no”; anything more than these is from The Evil One.

Contemporary English Version
When you make a promise, say only "Yes" or "No." Anything else comes from the devil.

Douay-Rheims Bible
But let your speech be yea, yea: no, no: and that which is over and above these, is of evil.

English Revised Version
But let your speech be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: and whatsoever is more than these is of the evil one.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Simply say yes or no. Anything more than that comes from the evil one.

Good News Translation
Just say 'Yes' or 'No'--anything else you say comes from the Evil One.

International Standard Version
Instead, let your message be 'Yes' for 'Yes' and 'No' for 'No.' Anything more than that comes from the evil one."

Literal Standard Version
but let your word be, Yes, Yes, No, No, and that which is more than these is of the evil [one].

Majority Standard Bible
Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ Anything more comes from the evil one.

New American Bible
Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ Anything more is from the evil one.

NET Bible
Let your word be 'Yes, yes' or 'No, no.' More than this is from the evil one.

New Revised Standard Version
Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one.

New Heart English Bible
But let your 'Yes' be 'Yes' and your 'No' be 'No.' Whatever is more than these is of the evil one.

Webster's Bible Translation
But let your communication be, Yea, yea, Nay, nay: for whatever is more than these cometh of evil.

Weymouth New Testament
But let your language be, 'Yes, yes,' or 'No, no.' Anything in excess of this comes from the Evil one.

World English Bible
But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’ and your ‘No’ be ‘No.’ Whatever is more than these is of the evil one.

Young's Literal Translation
but let your word be, Yes, Yes, No, No, and that which is more than these is of the evil.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Oaths and Vows
36Nor should you swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black. 37Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ Anything more comes from the evil one. 38You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye and tooth for tooth.’…

Cross References
Matthew 5:36
Nor should you swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black.

Matthew 6:13
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.'

Matthew 13:19
When anyone hears the message of the kingdom but does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path.

Matthew 13:38
The field is the world, and the good seed represents the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one,

John 17:15
I am not asking that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil one.

Ephesians 6:16
In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

2 Thessalonians 3:3
But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one.


Treasury of Scripture

But let your communication be, Yes, yes; No, no: for whatever is more than these comes of evil.

let.

2 Corinthians 1:17-20
When I therefore was thus minded, did I use lightness? or the things that I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh, that with me there should be yea yea, and nay nay? …

Colossians 4:6
Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.

James 5:12
But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation.

cometh.

Matthew 13:19
When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.

Matthew 15:19
For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:

John 8:44
Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

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Matthew 5
1. Jesus' sermon on the mount:
3. The Beattitudes;
13. the salt of the earth;
14. the light of the world.
17. He came to fulfill the law.
21. What it is to kill;
27. to commit adultery;
33. to swear.
38. He exhorts to forgive wrong,
43. to love our enemies;
48. and to labor after perfection.














(37) Let your communication.--One of the few instances in which our translators seem to have preferred a somewhat pedantic Latin word for the more literal and homely English speech. (Comp. Luke 24:17.)

Yea, yea.--St. James reproduces the precept in James 5:12 of his Epistle, but the phrase is found in the Talmud, and was probably proverbial. In all common speech a man's words should be as good as his oath. Yes should mean yes, and No should mean no, even though there be no oath to strengthen it.

Cometh of evil.--The Greek may (as in the Lord's Prayer, "Deliver us from evil") be either neuter, "from evil in the abstract," or masculine, "from the evil one." With some hesitation, and guided chiefly by Matthew 13:19-38, I accept the latter as the more probable. These devices of fantastic oaths come not from Him who is the Truth, but from him who "when he speaketh a lie, speaketh of his own" (John 8:44).

Verse 37. - Your communication. Similarly, the Authorized Version in Ephesians 4:29, in archaic usage for "talk." Yea, yea; Nay, nay. Christ permits as far as the repetition of the asseveration. The adoption here by a few authorities of the phrase in James 5:12 ("Let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay," τὸ ναὶ ναὶ κ.τ.λ..)is unsuitable; for here the question is not of truthfulness, but of fervency in asseveration. Whatsoever is more than these; "that which is over and above these" (Rheims). There is a superfluity (περισσόν) in more fervent asseverations, which has its origin ἐκ τοῦ πονηροῖ. Cometh of evil. So the Revised Version margin, "as in ver. 39; 6:13.' Revised Version, is of the evil one (vide Matthew 6:13, note; and cf. 1 John 3:12).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
Simply
δὲ (de)
Conjunction
Strong's 1161: A primary particle; but, and, etc.

let
ἔστω (estō)
Verb - Present Imperative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 1510: I am, exist. The first person singular present indicative; a prolonged form of a primary and defective verb; I exist.

your
ὑμῶν (hymōn)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.

‘Yes’
Ναὶ (Nai)
Particle
Strong's 3483: Yes, certainly, even so. A primary particle of strong affirmation; yes.

[be] ‘Yes,’
ναί (nai)
Particle
Strong's 3483: Yes, certainly, even so. A primary particle of strong affirmation; yes.

[and your] ‘No,’
οὒ (ou)
Adverb
Strong's 3756: No, not. Also ouk, and ouch a primary word; the absolute negative adverb; no or not.

‘No.’
Οὔ (Ou)
Adverb
Strong's 3756: No, not. Also ouk, and ouch a primary word; the absolute negative adverb; no or not.

Anything
τὸ (to)
Article - Nominative Neuter Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

more
περισσὸν (perisson)
Adjective - Nominative Neuter Singular
Strong's 4053: From peri; superabundant or superior; by implication, excessive; adverbially violently; neuter preeminence.

comes
ἐστιν (estin)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 1510: I am, exist. The first person singular present indicative; a prolonged form of a primary and defective verb; I exist.

from
ἐκ (ek)
Preposition
Strong's 1537: From out, out from among, from, suggesting from the interior outwards. A primary preposition denoting origin, from, out.

the
τοῦ (tou)
Article - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

evil [one].
πονηροῦ (ponērou)
Adjective - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 4190: Evil, bad, wicked, malicious, slothful.


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NT Gospels: Matthew 5:37 But let your 'Yes' be 'Yes' (Matt. Mat Mt)
Matthew 5:36
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