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—

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,

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

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

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

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

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

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 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.

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 unto the Hivites, Peradventure ye dwell in the midst of us; and how can we make a covenant 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 unto Joshua, We are thy servants. And Joshua said unto them, Who are ye? and whence come ye!

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 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;

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 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.

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;

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.

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 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:

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-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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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 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.

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;

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.

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 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.

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.”

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.

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?

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?

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.”

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.

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 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.

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

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

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

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 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.