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—

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

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

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

When the people who lived in Gibeon [city] heard that Joshua’s army had defeated the people of 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 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 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 old sandals that had been patched, and wore old ragged clothes. And they took along bread that 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 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 say to the Hivite, “It may be [that] you are dwelling in our midst, so how do 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 say to Joshua, “We [are] your servants.” And Joshua says to them, “Who [are] you? And where do you come from?”

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 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,

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 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.

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 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 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 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 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 [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.”

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

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

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

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—

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

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 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;

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 your hand, as [it is] good, and as [it is] right in your eyes to do to us—do.”

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

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

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.