Lectionary Calendar
Thursday, July 17th, 2025
the Week of Proper 10 / Ordinary 15
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Read the Bible

Contemporary English Version

Joshua 2:17

The spies said: You made us promise to let you and your family live. We will keep our promise, but you can't tell anyone why we were here. You must tie this red rope on your window when we attack, and your father and mother, your brothers, and everyone else in your family must be here with you. We'll take the blame if anyone who stays in this house gets hurt. But anyone who leaves your house will be killed, and it won't be our fault.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Armies;   Reconnoissance;   Treaty;   Thompson Chain Reference - Bible Stories for Children;   Children;   Home;   Pleasant Sunday Afternoons;   Religion;   Stories for Children;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Rahab;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Family Life and Relations;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Joshua, the Book of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Hoshea;   Jericho;   Joshua;   Rahab;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Jericho;   Rahab, Rachab ;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Jericho;   Rahab;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Handicraft;   Rahab;   Shittim;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Handicraft;   Jer'icho;   Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types - Cord;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Conquest of Canaan;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
The men said to her, “We will be free from this oath you made us swear,
Hebrew Names Version
The men said to her, We will be guiltless of this your oath which you have made us to swear.
King James Version
And the men said unto her, We will be blameless of this thine oath which thou hast made us swear.
Lexham English Bible
The men said to her, "We will be released from this oath of yours that you made us swear.
English Standard Version
The men said to her, "We will be guiltless with respect to this oath of yours that you have made us swear.
New Century Version
The men said to her, "You must do as we say. If not, we cannot be responsible for keeping this oath you have made us swear.
New English Translation
The men said to her, "We are not bound by this oath you made us swear unless the following conditions are met:
Amplified Bible
The men said to her, "We shall be blameless and free from this oath which you have made us swear,
New American Standard Bible
And the men said to her, "We shall be exempt from this oath to you which you have made us swear,
Geneva Bible (1587)
And the men said vnto her, We will be blamelesse of this thine othe, which thou hast made vs sweare.
Legacy Standard Bible
And the men said to her, "We shall be free from this oath to you which you have made us swear,
Complete Jewish Bible
The men said to her, "We will not be guilty of violating the oath you made us swear, provided that
Darby Translation
And the men said to her, We will be quit of this thine oath which thou hast made us swear.
Easy-to-Read Version
The men said to her, "We made a promise to you. But you must do one thing, or we will not be responsible for our promise.
George Lamsa Translation
And the men said to her, We will be blameless of this oath which you have made us swear.
Good News Translation
The men said to her, "We will keep the promise that you have made us give.
Literal Translation
And the men said to her, We will be guiltless from this oath of yours which you made us swear.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
But the men sayde vnto her: As for this ooth that thou hast taken of vs, we wyll be discharged of it
American Standard Version
And the men said unto her, We will be guiltless of this thine oath which thou hast made us to swear.
Bible in Basic English
And the men said to her, We will only be responsible for this oath which you have made us take,
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And the men sayde vnto her: We wyl be blamelesse of this thy oth which thou hast made vs sweare:
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And the men said unto her: 'We will be guiltless of this thine oath which thou hast made us to swear.
King James Version (1611)
And the men said vnto her, Wee will bee blamelesse of this thine oath which thou hast made vs sweare:
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the men said to her, We are clear of this thy oath.
English Revised Version
And the men said unto her, We will be guiltless of this thine oath which thou hast made us to swear.
Berean Standard Bible
The men said to her, "We will not be bound by this oath you made us swear
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Whiche seiden to hir, We schulen be giltles of this ooth, bi which thou hast chargid vs,
Young's Literal Translation
And the men say unto her, `We are acquitted of this thine oath which thou hast caused us to swear:
Update Bible Version
And the men said to her, We will be innocent of this oath of yours which you have made us to swear.
Webster's Bible Translation
And the men said to her, We [will be] blameless of this thy oath which thou hast made us swear.
World English Bible
The men said to her, We will be guiltless of this your oath which you have made us to swear.
New King James Version
So the men said to her: "We will be blameless of this oath of yours which you have made us swear,
New Living Translation
Before they left, the men told her, "We will be bound by the oath we have taken only if you follow these instructions.
New Life Bible
The men said to her, "We will be free from this promise you have made us swear
New Revised Standard
The men said to her, "We will be released from this oath that you have made us swear to you
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And the men said unto her, - Free, will we be from this thine oath which thou hast made us swear:
Douay-Rheims Bible
And they said to her: We shall be blameless of this oath, which thou hast made us swear,
Revised Standard Version
The men said to her, "We will be guiltless with respect to this oath of yours which you have made us swear.
THE MESSAGE
The men told her, "In order to keep this oath you made us swear, here is what you must do: Hang this red rope out the window through which you let us down and gather your entire family with you in your house—father, mother, brothers, and sisters. Anyone who goes out the doors of your house into the street and is killed, it's his own fault—we aren't responsible. But for everyone within the house we take full responsibility. If anyone lays a hand on one of them, it's our fault. But if you tell anyone of our business here, the oath you made us swear is canceled—we're no longer responsible."
New American Standard Bible (1995)
The men said to her, "We shall be free from this oath to you which you have made us swear,

Contextual Overview

8 Rahab went back up to her roof. The spies were still awake, so she told them: 9 I know that the Lord has given Israel this land. Everyone shakes with fear because of you. 10 We heard how the Lord dried up the Red Sea so you could leave Egypt. And we heard how you destroyed Sihon and Og, those two Amorite kings east of the Jordan River. 11 We know that the Lord your God rules heaven and earth, and we've lost our courage and our will to fight. 12 Please promise me in the Lord 's name that you will be as kind to my family as I have been to you. Do something to show 13 that you won't let your people kill my father and mother and my brothers and sisters and their families. 14 "Rahab," the spies answered, "if you keep quiet about what we're doing, we promise to be kind to you when the Lord gives us this land. We pray that the Lord will kill us if we don't keep our promise!" 15 Rahab's house was built into the town wall, and one of the windows in her house faced outside the wall. She gave the spies a rope, showed them the window, and said, "Use this rope to let yourselves down to the ground outside the wall. 16 Then hide in the hills. The men who are looking for you won't be able to find you there. They'll give up and come back after a few days, and you can be on your way." 17The spies said: You made us promise to let you and your family live. We will keep our promise, but you can't tell anyone why we were here. You must tie this red rope on your window when we attack, and your father and mother, your brothers, and everyone else in your family must be here with you. We'll take the blame if anyone who stays in this house gets hurt. But anyone who leaves your house will be killed, and it won't be our fault.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Joshua 2:20, Genesis 24:3-8, Exodus 20:7, Leviticus 19:11, Leviticus 19:12, Numbers 30:2, 2 Samuel 21:1, 2 Samuel 21:2, 2 Samuel 21:7

Reciprocal: Genesis 24:8 - clear Joshua 6:22 - as ye sware unto her Ecclesiastes 9:2 - feareth

Cross-References

Genesis 2:1
So the heavens and the earth and everything else were created.
Genesis 2:4
That's how God created the heavens and the earth. When the Lord God made the heavens and the earth,
Genesis 2:6
But streams came up from the ground and watered the earth.
Genesis 2:9
The Lord God placed all kinds of beautiful trees and fruit trees in the garden. Two other trees were in the middle of the garden. One of the trees gave life—the other gave the power to know the difference between right and wrong.
Genesis 2:10
From Eden a river flowed out to water the garden, then it divided into four rivers.
Genesis 2:12
where pure gold, rare perfumes, and precious stones are found.
Genesis 2:13
The second is the Gihon River that winds through Ethiopia.
Genesis 2:18
The Lord God said, "It isn't good for the man to live alone. I need to make a suitable partner for him."
Genesis 2:21
So the Lord God made him fall into a deep sleep, and he took out one of the man's ribs. Then after closing the man's side,
Genesis 3:11
"How did you know you were naked?" God asked. "Did you eat any fruit from that tree in the middle of the garden?"

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the men said unto her,.... Some think that this discourse, which passed between the spies and her, was while in the house before she let them down, or otherwise they would have been in danger of being overheard, and so the whole affair discovered; but as it was on the other side of the house, and under the wall of the city, and without it, they might with the greater safety converse together:

we [will be] blameless of this thine oath which thou hast made us swear; that is, they would most faithfully and punctually keep it, it should be sacred to them, and she should have no occasion to lay any blame upon them in the least.


 
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