Joshua 9

1 And it came to pass, when all the kings that were on this side of the Jordan, in the mountain, and in the lowlands, and in all the coast of the great sea opposite Lebanon, the Hittites, and the Emorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, heard this,

There were several kings [who ruled in lands that are] on the west side of the Jordan River. They were the kings of the Heth people-group, the Amor people-group, the Canaan people-group, the Periz people-group, the Hiv people-group, and the Jebus people-group. They lived in the hilly area, in the foothills further west, and [on the plains] along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. They heard [about what happened at Ai].

2 That they assembled themselves all together, to fight with Joshua and with Israel, with one accord.

So they all gathered [their armies] to fight Joshua and the Israeli army.

3 And when the inhabitants of Gib'on heard what Joshua had done unto Jericho and unto 'Ai,

When the people who lived in Gibeon [city] heard that Joshua’s army had defeated the people of Jericho and Ai,

4 They also did work wilily, and went and feigned to be messengers, and took old sacks for their asses, and wine-bottles, old, and rent, and bound up;

they decided to trick the Israelis. They gathered some old sacks and some old leather wine bags that had been mended after they were cracked, and they put these on the backs of their donkeys.

5 And [put] old and patched-up shoes upon their feet, and old garments upon themselves; and all the bread of their provision was dry and mouldy.

They put on old sandals that had been patched, and wore old ragged clothes. And they took along bread that was dry and moldy.

6 And they went to Joshua unto the camp at Gilgal, and said unto him, and to the men of Israel, We are come from a far-off country; and now make ye a covenant with us.

They traveled to where Joshua [and the other Israelis] had set up their tents near Gilgal. They said to Joshua and the other Israeli leaders, “We have traveled from a distant land. We want you to make a peace agreement with us.”

7 And the men of Israel said unto the Hivites, Peradventure ye dwell in the midst of us; and how can we make a covenant with you:

The Israeli leaders said to those men from [Gilead who were from] the Hiv people-group, “[We do not know if you truly live far from us]. If you live near us, we cannot [RHQ] make a peace agreement with you, [because God has commanded us to get rid of the people that are living near us].”

8 And they said unto Joshua, We are thy servants. And Joshua said unto them, Who are ye? and whence come ye!

They replied to Joshua, “[If you make a peace agreement with us], we will be your servants.” But Joshua answered, “What people-group are you? Where do you come from?”

9 And they said unto him, From a very far-off country are thy servants come, because of the name of the Lord thy God; for we have heard his fame, and all that he hath done in Egypt;

The men from Gibeon answered, “[We want to be] your [. We] have come here from a distant land, because we have heard about the great things that your god has done. We have heard about everything that he did in Egypt [to help you].

10 And all that he hath done to the two kings of the Emorites, that were beyond the Jordan, to Sichon the king of Cheshbon, and to 'Og the king of Bashan, who was at 'Ashtaroth.

We have heard that he [enabled you to] defeat [the armies of] two kings of the Amor people-group, on the east side of the Jordan River—Sihon, the king who ruled in Heshbon [city], and Og, the king who ruled in Ashtaroth in the Bashan [area].

11 Wherefore our elders and all the inhabitants of our country said to us, as followeth, Take provisions with you for the journey, and go to meet them, and say unto them, Your servants are we: and now make ye with us a covenant.

So our leaders and the rest of our people said to us, ‘Take some food and go to talk with the Israelis. Tell them, “We want to be your servants. So make a peace agreement with us.”’

12 This our bread we took hot for our provision out of our houses on the day we came forth to go unto you; and now, behold, it is dry, and it is become mouldy:

Look at our bread. It was fresh and warm [from having been baked] on the day that we left our area, but now it is dry and moldy.

13 And these wine-bottles, which we filled, when new, — but behold, they are now become rent; and these our garments and our shoes are become worn out by reason of the very long journey.

Look at our leather wine bags. They were new when we filled them with wine [before we left], but now they are cracked and old. Our clothes and our sandals are worn out from traveling [on the long road] to come here.”

14 And the men took of their provisions, but the decision of the Lord they did not ask.

The Israeli leaders tasted the bread, but they did not ask Yahweh what to do.

15 And Joshua made peace with them, and made a covenant with them, to let them live; and the princes of the congregation swore unto them.

So Joshua agreed to make a peace agreement with the men from Gibeon to not kill them. All the Israeli leaders vowed to do what Joshua said in the agreement. [Then the men from Gibeon returned home].

16 And it came to pass at the end of three days after they had made a covenant with them, that they heard that they were their neighbors, and that they dwelt in the midst of them.

Three days later the Israelis found out that the men from Gibeon lived nearby.

17 And the children of Israel broke up, and came unto their cities on the third day; and their cities were Gib'on, and Kephirah, and Beeroth, and Kiryath-ye'arim.

So they went to where the men from Gibeon lived. After traveling [only] three days, they came to their cities: Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-Jearim.

18 And the children of Israel smote them not; because the princes of the congregation had sworn unto them by the Lord, the God of Israel; but all the congregation murmured against the princes.

But the Israelis did not attack the people of those cities, because they had promised [to live peacefully with them], and Yahweh had heard them promise [to do that]. All the Israeli people grumbled against their leaders [for doing that].

19 And all the princes said unto all the congregation, We have sworn unto them by the Lord the God of Israel: and now we cannot touch them.

But the leaders answered, “We promised to [live peacefully with them], and Yahweh, the God whom we Israelis [worship], heard us promise [to do that]. So now we cannot attack [EUP] them.

20 This will we do to them, and we will let them live, that there be no wrath upon us, on account of the oath which we have sworn unto them.

This is what we will do: We will not kill them. If we kill them, God will be very angry with us [and punish us] because of not doing what we promised to do.

21 And the princes said unto them, Let them live: and they became hewers of wood and drawers of water unto all the congregation, as the princes had spoken unto them.

So we must allow them to live. But they will cut wood for us, and they will carry water for us.” So the Israeli leaders did what they had promised.

22 And Joshua called for them, and he spoke unto them, saying, Wherefore have ye deceived us, saying, We are very far from you: whereas ye dwell in the midst of us?

Then Joshua summoned the men from Gibeon and asked them, “Why did you lie to us? Your land was near to where we had set up our tents, but you told us that you were from a distant land!

23 And now be ye cursed, and there shall not cease to be of you servants and hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God.

So now you will become our slaves. You will always be forced to cut wood and carry water for [us Israeli people who worship in] the temple of our God.”

24 And they answered Joshua, and said, Because it was certainly told thy servants, how that the Lord thy God had commanded his servant Moses to give unto you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you; wherefore we were sore afraid for our lives because of you, and we have done this thing.

The men from Gibeon replied, “We lied to you because we were afraid that you would kill us. We heard that Yahweh, your God, declared to his servant Moses that he would enable you to conquer all the people in this land and to kill all the people who lived in it.

25 And now, behold, we are in thy hand; as it seemeth good and right in thy eyes to do unto us, so do.

So now you can decide what you will do with us. Do what you think is right.”

26 And he did unto them thus; and he delivered them out of the hand of the children of Israel, and they slew them not.

So Joshua saved the lives of the people of Gibeon by not allowing the Israelis to kill them.

27 And Joshua appointed them on that day hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation, and for the altar of the Lord, even unto this day, for the place which he should choose.

Instead, he forced them to become the Israelis’ slaves. They cut wood and carried water for the Israelis. They also brought the wood and water [that was needed for] the sacred altar of Yahweh, to whatever place Yahweh decided that they should build one. And the people of Gibeon are still doing that.