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Saturday, June 7th, 2025
Eve of Pentacost
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Read the Bible

New Century Version

Joshua 2:17

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.

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 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,
Contemporary English Version
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.
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 Before the spies went to sleep for the night, Rahab went up to the roof. 9 She said to them, "I know the Lord has given this land to your people. You frighten us very much. Everyone living in this land is terribly afraid of you 10 because we have heard how the Lord dried up the Red Sea when you came out of Egypt. We have heard how you destroyed Sihon and Og, two Amorite kings who lived east of the Jordan. 11 When we heard this, we were very frightened. Now our men are afraid to fight you because the Lord your God rules the heavens above and the earth below! 12 So now, promise me before the Lord that you will show kindness to my family just as I showed kindness to you. Give me some proof that you will do this. 13 Allow my father, mother, brothers, sisters, and all of their families to live. Save us from death." 14 The men agreed and said, "It will be our lives for your lives if you don't tell anyone what we are doing. When the Lord gives us the land, we will be kind and true to you." 15 The house Rahab lived in was built on the city wall, so she used a rope to let the men down through a window. 16 She said to them, "Go into the hills so the king's men will not find you. Hide there for three days. After the king's men return, you may go on your way." 17 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.

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 sky, the earth, and all that filled them were finished.
Genesis 2:4
This is the story of the creation of the sky and the earth. When the Lord God first made the earth and the sky,
Genesis 2:6
but a mist would rise up from the earth and water all the ground.
Genesis 2:9
The Lord God caused every beautiful tree and every tree that was good for food to grow out of the ground. In the middle of the garden, God put the tree that gives life and also the tree that gives the knowledge of good and evil.
Genesis 2:10
A river flowed through Eden and watered the garden. From there the river branched out to become four rivers.
Genesis 2:12
The gold of that land is excellent. Bdellium and onyx are also found there.
Genesis 2:13
The second river, named Gihon, flows around the whole land of Cush.
Genesis 2:18
Then the Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is right for him."
Genesis 2:20
The man gave names to all the tame animals, to the birds in the sky, and to all the wild animals. But Adam did not find a helper that was right for him.
Genesis 2:21
So the Lord God caused the man to sleep very deeply, and while he was asleep, God removed one of the man's ribs. Then God closed up the man's skin at the place where he took the rib.

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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