Joshua 9

1 And it comes to pass, when all the kings who [are] beyond the Jordan, in the hill-country, and in the low-country, and in every haven of the Great Sea, toward Lebanon, the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, hear—

Now on hearing the news of these things, all the kings on the west side of Jordan, in the hill-country and the lowlands and by the Great Sea in front of Lebanon, the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites,

2 that they gather themselves together to fight with Joshua, and with Israel—[with] one mouth.

Came together with one purpose, to make war against Joshua and Israel.

3 And the inhabitants of Gibeon have heard that which Joshua has done to Jericho and to Ai,

And the men of Gibeon, hearing what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai,

4 and they work, even they, with subtlety, and go, and feign to be ambassadors, and take old sacks for their donkeys, and wine-bottles, old, and split, and bound up,

Acting with deceit, got food together as if for a long journey; and took old food-bags for their asses, and old and cracked wine-skins kept together with cord;

5 and sandals, old and patched, on their feet, and old garments on them, and all the bread of their provision is dry—it was crumbs.

And put old stitched-up shoes on their feet, and old clothing on their backs; and all the food they had with them was dry and broken up.

6 And they go to Joshua, to the camp at Gilgal, and say to him, and to the men of Israel, “We have come from a far-off land, and now, make a covenant with us”;

And they came to Joshua to the tent-circle at Gilgal, and said to him and to the men of Israel, We have come from a far country: so now make an agreement with us.

7 and the men of Israel say to the Hivite, “It may be [that] you are dwelling in our midst, so how do we make a covenant with you?”

And the men of Israel said to the Hivites, It may be that you are living among us; how then may we make an agreement with you?

8 And they say to Joshua, “We [are] your servants.” And Joshua says to them, “Who [are] you? And where do you come from?”

And they said to Joshua, We are your servants. Then Joshua said to them, Who are you and where do you come from?

9 And they say to him, “Your servants have come from a very far-off land, for the Name of your God YHWH, for we have heard His fame, and all that He has done in Egypt,

And they said to him, Your servants have come from a very far country, because of the name of the Lord your God: for the story of his great name, and of all he did in Egypt has come to our ears,

10 and all that He has done to the two kings of the Amorite who [are] beyond the Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon, and to Og king of Bashan, who [is] in Ashtaroth.

And what he did to the two kings of the Amorites east of Jordan, to Sihon, king of Heshbon, and to Og, king of Bashan, at Ashtaroth.

11 And our elderly, and all the inhabitants of our land speak to us, saying, Take provision in your hand for the way, and go to meet them, and you have said to them: We [are] your servants, and now, make a covenant with us;

So the responsible men and all the people of our country said to us, Take food with you for the journey and go to them, and say to them, We are your servants: so now make an agreement with us.

12 this bread of ours—we provided ourselves with it hot out of our houses, on the day of our coming out to go to you, and now, behold, it is dry, and has been crumbs;

This bread which we have with us for our food, we took warm and new from our houses when starting on our journey to you; but now see, it has become dry and broken up.

13 and these [are] the wine-bottles which we filled, new, and behold, they have split; and these, our garments and our sandals, have become old, from the exceeding greatness of the way.”

And these wine-skins were new when we put the wine in them, and now they are cracked as you see; and our clothing and our shoes have become old because of our very long journey here.

14 And the men take of their provision, and have not asked the mouth of YHWH;

And the men took some of their food, without requesting directions from the Lord.

15 and Joshua makes peace with them, and makes a covenant with them, to keep them alive; and the princes of the congregation swear to them.

So Joshua made peace with them, and made an agreement with them that they were not to be put to death: and the chiefs of the people took an oath to them.

16 And it comes to pass, that at the end of three days after they have made a covenant with them, that they hear that they [are] their neighbors—that they are dwelling in their midst.

Now three days after, when they had made this agreement with them, they had word that these men were their neighbours, living near them.

17 And the sons of Israel journey and come to their cities on the third day—and their cities [are] Gibeon, and Chephirah, and Beeroth, and Kirjath-Jearim—

And the children of Israel went forward on their journey, and on the third day came to their towns. Now their towns were Gibeon and Chephirah and Beeroth and Kiriath-jearim.

18 and the sons of Israel have not struck them, for the princes of the congregation have sworn to them by YHWH, God of Israel, and all the congregation murmur against the princes.

And the children of Israel did not put them to death, because the chiefs of the people had taken an oath to them by the Lord, the God of Israel. And all the people made an outcry against the chiefs.

19 And all the princes say to all the congregation, “We have sworn to them by YHWH, God of Israel; and now, we are not able to come against them;

But all the chiefs said to the people, We have taken an oath to them by the Lord, the God of Israel, and so we may not put our hands on them.

20 we do this to them, and have kept them alive, and wrath is not on us, because of the oath which we have sworn to them.”

This is what we will do to them: we will not put them to death, for fear that wrath may come on us because of our oath to them.

21 And the princes say to them, “They live, and are hewers of wood and drawers of water for all the congregation, as the princes spoke to them.”

Keep them living, and let them be servants, cutting wood and getting water for all the people. And all the people did as the chiefs had said to them.

22 And Joshua calls for them, and speaks to them, saying, “Why have you deceived us, saying, We are very far from you, yet you [are] dwelling in our midst?

Then Joshua sent for them, and said to them, Why have you been false to us, saying, We are very far from you, when you are living among us?

23 And now you are cursed, and none of you is cut off [from being] a servant, even hewers of wood and drawers of water, for the house of my God.”

Now because of this you are cursed, and you will for ever be our servants, cutting wood and getting water for the house of my God.

24 And they answer Joshua and say, “Because it was certainly declared to your servants that your God YHWH commanded His servant Moses to give all the land to you, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you; and we fear greatly for ourselves because of you, and we do this thing;

And, answering Joshua, they said, Because it came to the ears of your servants that the Lord your God had given orders to his servant Moses to give you all this land, and to send destruction on all the people living in it, because of you; so, fearing greatly for our lives because of you, we have done this.

25 and now, behold, we [are] in your hand, as [it is] good, and as [it is] right in your eyes to do to us—do.”

And now we are in your hands: do to us whatever seems good and right to you.

26 And he does to them so, and delivers them from the hand of the sons of Israel, and they have not slain them;

So he kept them safe from the children of Israel, and did not let them be put to death.

27 and on that day Joshua makes them hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation, and for the altar of YHWH, to this day, at the place which He chooses.

And that day Joshua made them servants, cutting wood and getting water for the people and for the altar of the Lord, in the place marked out by him, to this day.