Joshua 9

1 And it came to pass, when all the kings who [were] on this side Jordan, in the hills, and in the valleys, and in all the coasts of the great sea over against Lebanon, the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite heard [these things],

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, 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 Gibeon heard what Joshua had 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 They did work craftily, and went and made as if they had been embassadors, and took old sacks upon 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 old shoes and patched upon their feet, and old garments upon them; and all the bread of their provision was dry [and] moldy.

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 to the camp at Gilgal, and said to him, and to the men of Israel, We have come from a far country: now therefore make ye a league 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 to the Hivites, It may be ye dwell among us; and how shall we make a league 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 to Joshua, we [are] thy servants. And Joshua said to 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 to him, From a very far country thy servants have come because of the name of the LORD thy God: for we have heard the fame of him, and all that he did 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 did to the two kings of the Amorites, that [were] beyond Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon, and to Og 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 spoke to us, saying, Take provisions with you for the journey, and go to meet them, and say to them, We [are] your servants: therefore now make ye a league 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 our bread we took hot [for] our provision out of our houses on the day we came forth to go to you; but now, behold, it is dry, and it is moldy:

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 bottles of wine which we filled, [were] new, and behold, they are rent: and these our garments and our shoes are become old 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, and asked not [counsel] at the mouth of the LORD.

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 league with them, to let them live: and the princes of the congregation swore 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 came to pass at the end of three days after they had made a league with them, that they heard that they [were] their neighbors, and [that] they dwelt among them.

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

17 And the children of Israel journeyed, and came to their cities on the third day. Now their cities [were] 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 children of Israel smote them not, because the princes of the congregation had sworn to them by the LORD God of Israel. And 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 But all the princes said to all the congregation, We have sworn to them by the LORD God of Israel: now therefore we may not 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 we will do to them; we will even let them live, lest wrath be upon us, because of the oath which we swore 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 said to them, Let them live; but let them be hewers of wood, and drawers of water to all the congregation; as the princes had promised 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 to them, saying, Why have ye deceived us, saying, We [are] very far from you; when ye dwell among 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 Now therefore ye [are] cursed, and there shall none of you be freed from being bond-men, 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 the LORD thy God commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you, therefore we were greatly afraid for our lives because of you, and 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: do as it seemeth good and right to thee to do to us,

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

26 And so did he to them, and delivered them out of the hand of the children of Israel, that 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 made them that day hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation, and for the altar of the LORD, even to this day, in 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.