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

The NET Bible®

Joshua 2:17

The men said to her, "We are not bound by this oath you made us swear unless the following conditions are met:

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.
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 Now before the spies went to sleep, Rahab went up to the roof. 9 She said to the men, "I know the Lord is handing this land over to you. We are absolutely terrified of you, and all who live in the land are cringing before you. 10 For we heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you left Egypt and how you annihilated the two Amorite kings, Sihon and Og, on the other side of the Jordan. 11 When we heard the news we lost our courage and no one could even breathe for fear of you. For the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on earth below! 12 So now, promise me this with an oath sworn in the Lord 's name. Because I have shown allegiance to you, show allegiance to my family. Give me a solemn pledge 13 that you will spare the lives of my father, mother, brothers, sisters, and all who belong to them, and rescue us from death." 14 The men said to her, "If you die, may we die too! If you do not report what we've been up to, then, when the Lord hands the land over to us, we will show unswerving allegiance to you." 15 Then Rahab let them down by a rope through the window. (Her house was built as part of the city wall; she lived in the wall.) 16 She told them, "Head to the hill country, so the ones chasing you don't find you. Hide from them there for three days, long enough for those chasing you to return. Then you can be on your way." 17 The men said to her, "We are not bound by this oath you made us swear unless the following conditions are met:

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
The heavens and the earth were completed with everything that was in them.
Genesis 2:4
This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created—when the Lord God made the earth and heavens.
Genesis 2:6
Springs would well up from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground.
Genesis 2:9
The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow from the soil, every tree that was pleasing to look at and good for food. (Now the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil were in the middle of the orchard.)
Genesis 2:10
Now a river flows from Eden to water the orchard, and from there it divides into four headstreams.
Genesis 2:12
(The gold of that land is pure; pearls and lapis lazuli are also there).
Genesis 2:13
The name of the second river is Gihon; it runs through the entire land of Cush.
Genesis 2:18
The Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a companion for him who corresponds to him."
Genesis 2:20
So the man named all the animals, the birds of the air, and the living creatures of the field, but for Adam no companion who corresponded to him was found.
Genesis 2:21
So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, and while he was asleep, he took part of the man's side and closed up the place with flesh.

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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