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—

All the kings west of the Jordan heard what had happened. These included the kings of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites who lived in the hill country, the lowlands, and along the coast as far as Lebanon.

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

So they gathered to fight together as a united army against Joshua and the Israelites.

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

But when the people of Gibeon heard 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,

they decided on a cunning plan. They sent messengers to Joshua, their donkeys wearing worn-out saddles and carrying old wineskins that were torn and patched.

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.

They put on worn sandals that had been mended and wore old clothes. All their bread was dry and moldy.

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”;

They went to Joshua at the camp in Gilgal and told him and the men of Israel, “We have come from a land far away, so please make a treaty 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?”

But the Israelites said to the Hivites, “Maybe you live close by. If you do, we cannot make a treaty 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?”

“We are your servants,” they replied. “But who are you? Where do you come from?” Joshua asked.

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,

“Your servants have come from a land far away,” they replied. “For we have heard of the reputation of the Lord your God, and reports of all that he did in Egypt,

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 Amorite kings east of the Jordan—to Sihon, king of Heshbon, and Og, king of Bashan, who ruled in 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 our leaders and everyone who lives in our land told us: Take what you need with you for the journey. Go and meet with them, and tell them, ‘We are your servants. Please make a treaty 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;

Look at this bread. It was warm when we took it from our houses on the day we set out to come here. But now it's dry and moldy, as you can see.

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.”

These wineskins were new when we filled them, but look at them now—they're split and damaged. These clothes of ours and our sandals are all worn out because the journey took so long.”

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

The Israelites tried some of the food. However, they did not consult 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.

Then Joshua made a treaty with them, promising to spare their lives, and the leaders of the assembly swore an oath to guarantee it.

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.

Three days after they had made the treaty, the Israelites learned that the Gibeonites lived nearby, right among 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—

The Israelites left to go to the Gibeonite towns, and arrived there on the third day. The towns were Gibeon, Kephirah, 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.

But the Israelites did not attack them because of the treaty sworn by the leaders of the assembly in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. At this all the Israelites protested against the leaders.

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 the leaders replied to the people, “We swore to them by the Lord, the God of Israel, so we cannot lay a hand on them now.

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.”

So this is what we're going to do to them. We'll let them live, so that we won't be punished for breaking the oath that we swore 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.”

The leaders concluded, “Let them live.” So the Gibeonites became woodcutters and water-carriers in service to the entire assembly, as the Israelite leaders had ordered.

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 summoned the Gibeonites and asked them, “Why did you trick us? You told us, ‘We live a long way from you,’ but you live right next door to 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.”

Consequently you are under a curse. From now on you shall forever be servants, woodcutters and water-carriers 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;

They answered Joshua, “We your servants were told very clearly that the Lord your God had ordered Moses to give you all this land, and that all its inhabitants were to be wiped out before you. So we really feared for our lives because of you. That's why we did what we did.

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.”

Now we're in your hands. Do to us what you think is right and just.”

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

Joshua did as he had said. He saved them from the Israelites, so that they did not kill them.

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.

That day Joshua made them woodcutters and water-carriers in service to the entire assembly and for the altar of the Lord wherever the Lord should choose. That is what they do right up to this very day.