¹⁷ Before they left, the men told her, “We will be bound by the oath we have taken only if you follow these instructions.

⁷ The king spared Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth,^[a] who was Saul’s grandson, because of the oath David and Jonathan had sworn before the Lord.

² A man who makes a vow to the Lord or makes a pledge under oath must never break it. He must do exactly what he said he would do.

David Avenges the Gibeonites

21 There was a famine during David’s reign that lasted for three years, so David asked the Lord about it. And the Lord said, “The famine has come because Saul and his family are guilty of murdering the Gibeonites.”

² So the king summoned the Gibeonites. They were not part of Israel but were all that was left of the nation of the Amorites. The people of Israel had sworn not to kill them, but Saul, in his zeal for Israel and Judah, had tried to wipe them out.

¹¹ “Do not steal.

“Do not deceive or cheat one another.

¹² “Do not bring shame on the name of your God by using it to swear falsely. I am the Lord.

²⁰ If you betray us, however, we are not bound by this oath in any way.”

⁷ “You must not misuse the name of the Lord your God. The Lord will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name.

³ Swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and earth, that you will not allow my son to marry one of these local Canaanite women. ⁴ Go instead to my homeland, to my relatives, and find a wife there for my son Isaac.”

⁵ The servant asked, “But what if I can’t find a young woman who is willing to travel so far from home? Should I then take Isaac there to live among your relatives in the land you came from?”

⁶ “No!” Abraham responded. “Be careful never to take my son there. ⁷ For the Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and my native land, solemnly promised to give this land to my descendants.^[a] He will send his angel ahead of you, and he will see to it that you find a wife there for my son. ⁸ If she is unwilling to come back with you, then you are free from this oath of mine. But under no circumstances are you to take my son there.”