Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain" (KJV; also "You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God" (NRSV) and variants) is the fourth of God's Ten Commandments to man. It is a prohibition of blasphemy, specifically, the misuse or "taking in vain" of the name of the God of Israel, or using His name to commit evil. Exodus 20:7 reads: Based on this commandment, Second Temple Judaism by the Hellenistic period developed a taboo of
Take It Down from the Mast Richard Barrett and Tyrone republican officer Joseph McKelvey. Their execution was a reprisal for the IRA's assassination of Sean Hales, TD the day before, December 7, 1922. The flag in question is the Irish tricolour, which the song tells supporters of the Anglo-Irish Treaty and the Irish Free State to take down, as it is the flag of the Irish Republic, which the "Free Staters" betrayed. At the time, the Anti-Treaty IRA regarded their Civil War opponents as traitors and therefore unworthy to use the Irish tricolour. Take It Down from the Mast "Take it Down from the Mast" is