'Swear' in the Bible

Swear to me by God here and now, that you will not break an agreement with me or with my children and descendants. As I have been loyal to you, so you will be loyal to me and to the country where you are a foreign resident.”

And Abraham said, “I swear it.”

and I will have you swear by the Lord, God of heaven and God of earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I live,

Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore to Jacob and sold his birthright to him.

Then Joseph said, “I swear that I will not do this. The man in whose possession the cup was found will be my slave. The rest of you can go in peace to your father.”

And Jacob said, “Swear to me.” So Joseph swore to him. Then Israel bowed in thanks at the head of his bed.

Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, because Joseph had made the Israelites swear a solemn oath, saying, “God will certainly come to your aid; then you must take my bones with you from this place.”

You must not swear falsely by My name, profaning the name of your God; I am Yahweh.

I swear that none of you will enter the land I promised to settle you in, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.

I, Yahweh, have spoken. I swear that I will do this to the entire evil community that has conspired against Me. They will come to an end in the wilderness, and there they will die.”

Now please swear to me by the Lord that you will also show kindness to my family, because I showed kindness to you. Give me a sure sign

The men said to her, “We will be free from this oath you made us swear,

And if you report our mission, we are free from the oath you made us swear.”

Then Samson told them, “Because you did this, I swear that I won’t rest until I have taken vengeance on you.”

They said to him, “We’ve come to arrest you and hand you over to the Philistines.”Then Samson told them, “Swear to me that you yourselves won’t kill me.”

However, Jonathan had not heard his father make the troops swear the oath. He reached out with the end of the staff he was carrying and dipped it into the honeycomb. When he ate the honey, he had renewed energy.

Then, one of the troops said, “Your father made the troops solemnly swear, ‘The man who eats food today is cursed,’ and the troops are exhausted.”

David answered him, “I swear that women are being kept from us, as always when I go out to battle. The young men’s bodies are consecrated even on an ordinary mission, so of course their bodies are consecrated today.”

He said to his men, “I swear before the Lord: I would never do such a thing to my lord, the Lord’s anointed. I will never lift my hand against him, since he is the Lord’s anointed.”

Therefore swear to me by the Lord that you will not cut off my descendants or wipe out my name from my father’s family.”

David then asked him, “Will you lead me to these raiders?”He said, “Swear to me by God that you won’t kill me or turn me over to my master, and I will lead you to them.”

“Now get up! Go out and encourage your soldiers, for I swear by the Lord that if you don’t go out, not a man will remain with you tonight. This will be worse for you than all the trouble that has come to you from your youth until now!”

Go, approach King David and say to him, ‘My lord the king, did you not swear to your servant: Your son Solomon is to become king after me, and he is the one who is to sit on my throne? So why has Adonijah become king?’

It was reported to Solomon: “Look, Adonijah fears King Solomon, and he has taken hold of the horns of the altar, saying, ‘Let King Solomon first swear to me that he will not kill his servant with the sword.’”

And now, as the Lord lives, the One who established me, seated me on the throne of my father David, and made me a dynasty as He promised—I swear Adonijah will be put to death today!”

So the king summoned Shimei and said to him, “Didn’t I make you swear by the Lord and warn you, saying, ‘On the day you leave and go anywhere else, know for sure that you will certainly die’? And you said to me, ‘The sentence is fair; I will obey.’

As the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my lord has not sent someone to search for you. When they said, ‘He is not here,’ he made that kingdom or nation swear they had not found you.

But the king said to him, “How many times must I make you swear not to tell me anything but the truth in the name of Yahweh?”

But the king said to him, “How many times must I make you swear not to tell me anything but the truth in the name of Yahweh?”

He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar who had made him swear allegiance by God. He became obstinate and hardened his heart against returning to Yahweh, the God of Israel.

But the king will rejoice in God;all who swear by Him will boast,for the mouths of liars will be shut.

who invoke You deceitfully.Your enemies swear by You falsely.

On that day five cities in the land of Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear loyalty to the Lord of Hosts. One of the cities will be called the City of the Sun.

By Myself I have sworn;Truth has gone from My mouth,a word that will not be revoked:Every knee will bow to Me,every tongue will swear allegiance.

“Listen to this, house of Jacob—those who are called by the name Israeland have descended from Judah,who swear by the name of Yahwehand declare the God of Israel,but not in truth or righteousness.

Whoever is blessed in the landwill be blessed by the God of truth,and whoever swears in the landwill swear by the God of truth.For the former troubles will be forgottenand hidden from My sight.

then you can swear, “As the Lord lives,”in truth, in justice, and in righteousness,then the nations will be blessed by Himand will pride themselves in Him.

“Do you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and follow other gods that you have not known?

If they will diligently learn the ways of My people—to swear by My name, ‘As Yahweh lives,’ just as they taught My people to swear by Baal—they will be built up among My people.

But if you do not obey these words, then I swear by Myself”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“that this house will become a ruin.”

Therefore this is what the Lord God says: I swear that the nations all around you will endure their own insults.

I swear in My zeal and fiery rage: On that day there will be a great earthquake in the land of Israel.

Israel, if you act promiscuously,don’t let Judah become guilty!Do not go to Gilgalor make a pilgrimage to Beth-aven,and do not swear an oath: As the Lord lives!

Those who swear by the guilt of Samariaand say, “As your god lives, Dan,”or “As the way of Beer-sheba lives”—they will fall, never to rise again.

“I will come to you in judgment, and I will be ready to witness against sorcerers and adulterers; against those who swear falsely; against those who oppress the widow and the fatherless, and cheat the wage earner; and against those who deny justice to the foreigner. They do not fear Me,” says the Lord of Hosts.

Neither should you swear by your head, because you cannot make a single hair white or black.

Then he started to curse and to swear with an oath, “I do not know the man!” Immediately a rooster crowed,

Then he started to curse and to swear with an oath, “I don’t know this man you’re talking about!”

And who did He swear to that they would not enter His rest, if not those who disobeyed?

For when God made a promise to Abraham, since He had no one greater to swear by, He swore by Himself:

For men swear by something greater than themselves, and for them a confirming oath ends every dispute.

Now above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. Your “yes” must be “yes,” and your “no” must be “no,” so that you won’t fall under judgment.