(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-10-11 15:20

SINGAPORE -- A Singaporean judge sentenced a man to four months in jail for stealing a Bible, admonishing him with Scripture before hauling him off to prison, The Straits Times newspaper reported Wednesday.

A bible sits open in the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston, US, April 1, 2005. [Agencies]

District judge Bala Reddy also gave a new Bible to the 26-year-old thief, who said he had tried to steal the book from a bookshop last month because he wanted to replace his old, tattered copy.

At the Tuesday sentencing, the judge told the defendant -- who has previous convictions for theft -- to open his gift.

"You will see at page 65 that it says "Thou shalt not steal. While you are in prison, sit in prison and read the Bible, and ensure that you don't come before the courts again," Reddy said.