Excerpts from the Code of Hammurabi at the Avalon Project, the King James Bible at BibleGateway.com, the Magna Carta at the British Library, and the Declaration of Independence.
The Code of Hammurabi (c. 1780BCE)
{1}Hammurabi, the protecting king am I. . .
. The king who ruleth among the kings of the cities am I. My words
are well considered; there is no wisdom like unto mine. By the command of
Shamash, the great judge of heaven and earth, let righteousness go forth
in the land: by the order of Marduk, my lord, let no destruction befall my
monument. In E-Sagil, which I love, let my name be ever repeated; let the
oppressed, who has a case at law, come and stand before this my image as
king of righteousness; let him read the inscription, and understand my
precious words: the inscription will explain his case to him; he will find
out what is just, and his heart will be glad . . . .
{2}In future time, through all coming generations,
let the king, who may be in the land, observe the words of righteousness
which I have written on my monument; let him not alter the law of the land
which I have given, the edicts which I have enacted; my monument let him
not mar. If such a ruler have wisdom, and be able to keep his land in
order, he shall observe the words which I have written in this
inscription; the rule, statute, and law of the land which I have given;
the decisions which I have made will this inscription show him; let him
rule his subjects accordingly, speak justice to them, give right
decisions, root out the miscreants and criminals from this land, and grant
prosperity to his subjects. . . .
{3}If this ruler do not esteem my words, which I have written in my inscription, if he despise my curses, and fear not the curse of God, if he destroy the law which I have given, corrupt my words, change my monument, efface my name, write his name there, or on account of the curses commission another so to do, that man, whether king or ruler . . . or commoner, no matter what he be, may the great God (Anu), the Father of the gods, who has ordered my rule, withdraw from him the glory of royalty, break his scepter, curse his destiny.
Ten Commandments (from Exodus 20:1-17, King James Version)
{1}And God spake all these words, saying,
{2}I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee
out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
{3}Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
{4}Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image,
or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the
earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
{5}Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor
serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity
of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of
them that hate me;
{6}And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that
love me, and keep my commandments.
{7}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.
{8}Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
{9}Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
{10}But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord
thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy
daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy
stranger that is within thy gates:
{11}For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore
the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
{12}Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days
may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
{13}Thou shalt not kill.
{14}Thou shalt not commit adultery.
{15}Thou shalt not steal.
{16}Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy
neighbour.
{17}Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house,
thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his
maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy
neighbour's.
Paul, letter to Galatians 3: 26-29 (written c. 53CE, King James Version)
{26}For ye are all the children of God by faith in
Christ Jesus.
{27}For as many of you as have been baptized into
Christ have put on Christ.
{28}There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is
neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all
one in Christ Jesus.
{29}And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's
seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Gospel of Mark 12:28-31 (written c. 60, King James Version)
{28}And one of the scribes came, and having heard
them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well,
asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?
{29}And Jesus answered him, The first of all the
commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
{30}And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all
thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy
strength: this is the first commandment.
{31}And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt
love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater
than these.
Magna Carta (1215)
{1}TO ALL FREE MEN OF OUR KINGDOM we have also
granted, for us and our heirs for ever, all the liberties written out
below, to have and to keep for them and their heirs, of us and our heirs.
. . .
{2}No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or
stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived
of his standing in any way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or
send others to do so, except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by
the law of the land.
{3}To no one will we sell, to no one deny or delay
right or justice. . . .
{4}All these customs and liberties that we have
granted shall be observed in our kingdom in so far as concerns our own
relations with our subjects. Let all men of our kingdom, whether clergy or
laymen, observe them similarly in their relations with their own men.
{5}If we, our chief justice, our officials, or any
of our servants offend in any respect against any man, or transgress any
of the articles of the peace or of this security, and the offence is made
known to four of the said twenty-five barons, they shall come to us . .
. to declare it and claim immediate redress. If we . . . make no
redress within forty days. . ., the four barons shall refer the matter to
the rest of the twenty-five barons, who may distrain upon and assail us in
every way possible, with the support of the whole community of the land,
by seizing our castles, lands, possessions, or anything else saving only
our own person and those of the queen and our children, until they have
secured such redress as they have determined upon. Having secured the
redress, they may then resume their normal obedience to us.
Declaration of Independence (1776)
{1} When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
{2} We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,
--That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes;and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. . . .
{3} We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.