Exodus 20:16

Thou shalt not bear false witness.

It will be evident, at. glance, that not only false witness in court, but also statements in common discourse, false promises whether deliberate or careless, exaggerations and high colorings of facts, equivocation and deceit by word or sign, hypocritical professions, and compliments, together with slandering, backbiting, tale-bearing, circulating malicious reports, imputing evil designs, or making injurious representations without sufficient proof, are all direct infractions of the spirit of this command. These are all obvious methods of working ill to our neighbor, of prejudicing his reputation, and injuring or destroying his usefulness and his peace, and consequently cannot consist with the law of love.-- Bush.