Loading…

Joshua 2:17–21

17 The men said to her, “aWe shall be free from this oath 1to you which you have made us swear,

18 1unless, when we come into the land, you tie this cord of scarlet thread in the window through which you let us down, and agather to yourself into the house your father and your mother and your brothers and all your father’s household.

19 “It shall come about that anyone who goes out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we shall be free; but anyone who is with you in the house, ahis blood shall be on our head if a hand is laid on him.

20 “But if you tell this business of ours, then we shall be free from the oath which you have made us swear.”

21 She said, “According to your words, so be it.” So she sent them away, and they departed; and she tied the scarlet cord in the window.

Read more Explain verse



Joshua 2:17–21 — The New International Version (NIV)

17 Now the men had said to her, “This oath you made us swear will not be binding on us 18 unless, when we enter the land, you have tied this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you have brought your father and mother, your brothers and all your family into your house. 19 If any of them go outside your house into the street, their blood will be on their own heads; we will not be responsible. As for those who are in the house with you, their blood will be on our head if a hand is laid on them. 20 But if you tell what we are doing, we will be released from the oath you made us swear.”

21 “Agreed,” she replied. “Let it be as you say.”

So she sent them away, and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window.

Joshua 2:17–21 — English Standard Version (ESV)

17 The men said to her, “We will be guiltless with respect to this oath of yours that you have made us swear. 18 Behold, when we come into the land, you shall tie this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and you shall gather into your house your father and mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household. 19 Then if anyone goes out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we shall be guiltless. But if a hand is laid on anyone who is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head. 20 But if you tell this business of ours, then we shall be guiltless with respect to your oath that you have made us swear.” 21 And she said, “According to your words, so be it.” Then she sent them away, and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window.

Joshua 2:17–21 — King James Version (KJV 1900)

17 And the men said unto her, We will be blameless of this thine oath which thou hast made us swear. 18 Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father’s household, home unto thee. 19 And it shall be, that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless: and whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him. 20 And if thou utter this our business, then we will be quit of thine oath which thou hast made us to swear. 21 And she said, According unto your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed: and she bound the scarlet line in the window.

Joshua 2:17–21 — New Living Translation (NLT)

17 Before they left, the men told her, “We will be bound by the oath we have taken only if you follow these instructions. 18 When we come into the land, you must leave this scarlet rope hanging from the window through which you let us down. And all your family members—your father, mother, brothers, and all your relatives—must be here inside the house. 19 If they go out into the street and are killed, it will not be our fault. But if anyone lays a hand on people inside this house, we will accept the responsibility for their death. 20 If you betray us, however, we are not bound by this oath in any way.”

21 “I accept your terms,” she replied. And she sent them on their way, leaving the scarlet rope hanging from the window.

Joshua 2:17–21 — The New King James Version (NKJV)

17 So the men said to her: “We will be blameless of this oath of yours which you have made us swear, 18 unless, when we come into the land, you bind this line of scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you bring your father, your mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household to your own home. 19 So it shall be that whoever goes outside the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we will be guiltless. And whoever is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head if a hand is laid on him. 20 And if you tell this business of ours, then we will be free from your oath which you made us swear.”

21 Then she said, “According to your words, so be it.” And she sent them away, and they departed. And she bound the scarlet cord in the window.

Joshua 2:17–21 — New Century Version (NCV)

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. 18 When we return to this land, you must tie this red rope in the window through which you let us down. Bring your father, mother, brothers, and all your family into your house. 19 If anyone leaves your house and is killed, it is his own fault. We cannot be responsible for him. If anyone in your house is hurt, we will be responsible. 20 But if you tell anyone about this, we will be free from the oath you made us swear.”

21 Rahab answered, “I agree to this.” So she sent them away, and they left. Then she tied the red rope in the window.

Joshua 2:17–21 — American Standard Version (ASV)

17 And the men said unto her, We will be guiltless of this thine oath which thou hast made us to swear. 18 Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt gather unto thee into the house thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father’s household. 19 And it shall be, that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we shall be guiltless: and whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him. 20 But if thou utter this our business, then we shall be guiltless of thine oath which thou hast made us to swear. 21 And she said, According unto your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed: and she bound the scarlet line in the window.

Joshua 2:17–21 — 1890 Darby Bible (DARBY)

17 And the men said to her, We will be quit of this thine oath which thou hast made us swear. 18 Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind in the window this line of scarlet thread by which thou hast let us down; and thou shalt gather to thee in the house thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father’s household; 19 and it shall be, that whoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, —his blood shall be upon his head, and we shall be innocent; but every one who shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be upon our head, if any hand be upon him. 20 And if thou make known this our business, we will be quit of thine oath which thou hast made us swear. 21 And she said, According to your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed. And she bound the scarlet line in the window.

Joshua 2:17–21 — GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

17 The men told her, “We will be free from the oath which you made us swear, ⸤if you tell anyone what we’re doing here⸥. 18 When we invade your land, tie this red cord in the window through which you let us down. Also, gather your father, mother, brothers, and all your father’s family into your house. 19 Whoever leaves your house will be responsible for his own life. We will be free from that responsibility. But we will take responsibility if anyone inside your house is harmed. 20 If you tell anyone what we’re doing here, we will be free from the oath which you made us swear.” 

21 “I agree,” she said. So she let them go and tied the red cord in the window. 

Joshua 2:17–21 — The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

17 The men said to her, “We will be free from this oath you made us swear, 18 unless, when we enter the land, you tie this scarlet cord to the window through which you let us down. Bring your father, mother, brothers, and all your father’s family into your house. 19 If anyone goes out the doors of your house, his blood will be on his own head, and we will be innocent. But if anyone with you in the house should be harmed, his blood will be on our heads. 20 And if you report our mission, we are free from the oath you made us swear.”

21 “Let it be as you say,” she replied, and she sent them away. After they had gone, she tied the scarlet cord to the window.

Joshua 2:17–21 — The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

17 The men said to her, “We will be released from this oath that you have made us swear to you 18 if we invade the land and you do not tie this crimson cord in the window through which you let us down, and you do not gather into your house your father and mother, your brothers, and all your family. 19 If any of you go out of the doors of your house into the street, they shall be responsible for their own death, and we shall be innocent; but if a hand is laid upon any who are with you in the house, we shall bear the responsibility for their death. 20 But if you tell this business of ours, then we shall be released from this oath that you made us swear to you.” 21 She said, “According to your words, so be it.” She sent them away and they departed. Then she tied the crimson cord in the window.

Joshua 2:17–21 — The Lexham English Bible (LEB)

17 The men said to her, “We will be released from this oath of yours that you made us swear. 18 When we come to the land, you must tie this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and you must gather your father and mother, and your brothers, and your whole family to your house. 19 If anyone goes outside the doors of your house, they will be responsible for their own death, and we will be innocent. Anyone who will be with you in the house, we will be responsible for their death if a hand is laid on them. 20 But if you report this business of ours, we will be released from your oath that you made us swear.” 21 And she said, “According to your word it will be.” Then she sent them away, and they went, and she tied the scarlet cord in the window.

Joshua 2:17–21 — New International Reader’s Version (1998) (NIrV)

17 The men said to her, “You made us take an oath and make a promise. But we won’t keep it 18 unless you do what we say. When we enter the land, you must tie this bright red rope in the window. Tie it in the window you let us down through.

“Bring your father and mother into your house. Also bring your brothers and everyone else in your family into your house. 19 None of you must go out into the street. If you do, anything that happens to you will be your own fault. Don’t hold us accountable.

“But if anyone hurts someone who is inside the house with you, it will be our fault. And you can hold us accountable.

20 “Don’t tell anyone what we’re doing. If you do, we won’t have to keep the promise you asked us to make.”

21 “I agree,” Rahab replied. “I’ll do as you say.” So she sent them away, and they left. Then she tied the bright red rope in the window.


A service of Logos Bible Software