I say you should always obey the king’s command. Do this because you made a promise to God.
Joshua 9:19 - Holy Bible: Easy-to-Read Version But the leaders answered, “We have given our promise. We promised before the Lord, the God of Israel. We cannot fight against them now. Tuilleadh leaganachaKing James Version (Oxford) 1769 But all the princes said unto all the congregation, We have sworn unto them by the LORD God of Israel: now therefore we may not touch them. Amplified Bible - Classic Edition But all the leaders said to all the assembly, We have sworn to them by the Lord, the God of Israel, so now we may not touch them. American Standard Version (1901) But all the princes said unto all the congregation, We have sworn unto them by Jehovah, the God of Israel: now therefore we may not touch them. Common English Bible Then all the leaders said to the whole community, “We have made a solemn pledge to them by the LORD, the God of Israel. So we can’t touch them now. Catholic Public Domain Version And they responded to them: "We have sworn to them in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, and for that reason, we are not able to touch them. Douay-Rheims version of The Bible - 1752 version And they answered them: We have sworn to them in the name of the Lord the God of Israel, and therefore we may not touch them. |
I say you should always obey the king’s command. Do this because you made a promise to God.
But, there is one thing that happens to everyone—we all die! Death comes to good people and bad people. Death comes to those who are pure and to those who are not pure. Death comes to those who give sacrifices and to those who don’t give sacrifices. Good people will die just as sinners do. Those who make promises to God will die just as those who are afraid to make those promises.
If you do these things, you will be able to use my name to make a promise. You will be able to say, ‘As the Lord lives.’ You will be able to use these words in a truthful, honest, and right way. If you do these things, the nations will be blessed by the Lord. They will brag about what the Lord has done.”
But the army of Israel did not try to fight against those cities. They had made a peace agreement with them. They had made a promise to them before the Lord, the God of Israel. All the people complained against the leaders who made the agreement.
This is what we must do. We must let them live. We cannot hurt them or God will be angry with us because we broke the promise we made to them.