Joshua 9

1 And whanne these thingis weren herd, alle the kyngis biyende Jordan, that lyueden in the hilly places, and in `the feeldi places, in the coostis of the see, and in the brynke of the greet see, and thei that dwellen bisidis Liban, Ethei, and Ammorrei, Cananei, and Feresey, Euey, and Jebusey,

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—

2 weren gaderid togidere to fiyte ayens Josue and Israel, with o wille, and the same sentence.

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

3 And thei that dwelten in Gabaon, herden alle thingis whiche Josue hadde do to Jerico, and to Hay; and thei thouyten felli,

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

4 and token to hem silf metis, and puttyden elde sackis on assis, and wyn botels brokun and sewid, and ful elde schoon,

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,

5 whiche weren sewid togidere with patchis, to `the schewyng of eldenesse; and thei weren clothid with elde clothis; also looues, whiche thei baren for lijflode in the weie, weren harde and brokun in to gobetis.

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.

6 And thei yeden to Josue, that dwellide thanne in tentis in Galgala; and thei seiden to hym, and to al Israel togidere, We comen fro a fer lond, and coueyten to make pees with you. And the men of Israel answeriden to hem,

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”;

7 and seiden, Lest perauenture ye dwellen in the lond, which is due to vs bi eritage, and we moun not make bond of pees with you.

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?”

8 And thei seiden to Josue, We ben thi seruauntis. To whiche Josue seide, What men ben ye, and fro whennus camen ye?

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

9 Thei answeriden, Thi seruauntis camen fro a ful fer lond in the name of thi Lord God, for we herden the fame of his power, alle thingis whiche he dide in Egipt,

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,

10 and to twei kyngis of Ammorreis biyendis Jordan; to Seon king of Esebon, and to Og kyng of Basan, that weren in Astroth.

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.

11 And the eldere men and alle the dwelleris of oure lond seiden to vs, Take ye metis in youre hondis, for lengeste weie; and go ye to hem, and seie ye, We ben youre seruauntis; make ye boond of pees with vs.

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;

12 And we token hoote looues, whanne we yeden out of oure housis to come to you; now tho ben maad drye and brokun, for greet eldenesse;

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;

13 we filliden newe botels of wyn; now tho ben brokun and vndoon; the clothis and schoon, with whiche we ben clothid, and whiche we han `in the feet, ben brokun and almost wastid, fro the lengthe of lengere weie.

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.”

14 Therfor `the sones of Israel token of the metis of hem, and thei axiden not `the mouth of the Lord.

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

15 And Josue made pees with hem. And whanne the boond of pees was maad, he bihiyte, that thei schulden not be slayn; and the princes of the multitude sworen to hem.

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.

16 Forsothe aftir thre daies of the boond of pees maad, thei herden, that thei dwelliden in nyy place, and that thei schulden be among hem.

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.

17 And the sones of Israel mouyden tentis, and camen in the thridde dai in to the citees of hem, of whiche citees these ben the names; Gabaon, and Caphira, and Beroth, and Cariathiarym.

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—

18 And thei smytiden not hem, for the princis of the multitude hadden swore to hem in the name of the Lord God of Israel. Therfor al the comyn puple grutchide ayens the princis of Israel;

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.

19 whiche answeriden to hem, We sworen to hem in the name of the Lord God of Israel, and therfor we moun not touche hem;

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;

20 but we schulen do this thing to hem, sotheli be thei reserued that thei lyue, lest the ire of the Lord be stirid ayens vs, if we forsweren to hem;

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.”

21 but so lyue thei, that thei hewe trees, and bere watris, in to the vsis of al the multitude. And while thei spaken these thingis,

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.”

22 Josue clepide Gabonytis, and seide to hem, Whi wolden ye disseyue vs bi fraude, `that ye seiden, We dwellen ful fer fro you, sithen ye ben in the myddis of vs?

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?

23 Therfor ye schulen be `vndur cursyng, and noon schal faile of youre generacioun, hewynge trees and berynge watris, in to the hows of my God.

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.”

24 Whiche answeryden, It was told to vs thi seruauntis, that thi Lord God bihiyte to Moises, his seruaunt, that he schulde bitake to you al the lond, and schulde leese alle the dwelleris therof; therfor we dredden greetli, and purueiden to oure lyues, and weren compellid bi youre drede, and we token this counsel.

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;

25 `Now forsothe we ben in `thin hond; do thou to vs that, that semeth riytful and good to thee.

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.”

26 Therfor Josue dide, as he seide, and delyuerede hem fro the hondis of the sones of Israel, that thei schulden not be slayn.

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

27 And in that dai Josue demyde hem to be in to the seruyce of al the puple, and of the auter of the Lord, and to hewe trees, and to bere watris, `til in to present tyme, in the place which the Lord hadde chose.

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.