Ἰησοῦς Nαυῆ 9
1 ὡς δ’ ἤκουσαν οἱ βασιλεῖς τῶν Αμορραίων οἱ ἐν τῷ πέραν τοῦ Ιορδάνου οἱ ἐν τῇ ὀρεινῇ καὶ οἱ ἐν τῇ πεδινῇ καὶ οἱ ἐν πάσῃ τῇ παραλίᾳ τῆς θαλάσσης τῆς μεγάλης καὶ οἱ πρὸς τῷ Ἀντιλιβάνῳ καὶ οἱ Χετταῖοι καὶ οἱ Χαναναῖοι καὶ οἱ Φερεζαῖοι καὶ οἱ Ευαῖοι καὶ οἱ Αμορραῖοι καὶ οἱ Γεργεσαῖοι καὶ οἱ Ιεβουσαῖοι
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 συνήλθοσαν ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ ἐκπολεμῆσαι Ἰησοῦν καὶ Ισραηλ
So they gathered to fight together as a united army against Joshua and the Israelites.
3 καὶ οἱ κατοικοῦντες Γαβαων ἤκουσαν πάντα ὅσα ἐποίησεν κύριος τῇ Ιεριχω καὶ τῇ Γαι
But when the people of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai,
4 καὶ ἐποίησαν καί γε αὐτοὶ μετὰ πανουργίας καὶ ἐλθόντες ἐπεσιτίσαντο καὶ ἡτοιμάσαντο καὶ λαβόντες σάκκους παλαιοὺς ἐπὶ τῶν ὄνων αὐτῶν καὶ ἀσκοὺς οἴνου παλαιοὺς καὶ κατερρωγότας ἀποδεδεμένους
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 καὶ τὰ κοῖλα τῶν ὑποδημάτων αὐτῶν καὶ τὰ σανδάλια αὐτῶν παλαιὰ καὶ καταπεπελματωμένα ἐν τοῖς ποσὶν αὐτῶν καὶ τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτῶν πεπαλαιωμένα ἐπάνω αὐτῶν καὶ ὁ ἄρτος αὐτῶν τοῦ ἐπισιτισμοῦ ξηρὸς καὶ εὐρωτιῶν καὶ βεβρωμένος
They put on worn sandals that had been mended and wore old clothes. All their bread was dry and moldy.
6 καὶ ἤλθοσαν πρὸς Ἰησοῦν εἰς τὴν παρεμβολὴν Ισραηλ εἰς Γαλγαλα καὶ εἶπαν πρὸς Ἰησοῦν καὶ Ισραηλ ἐκ γῆς μακρόθεν ἥκαμεν καὶ νῦν διάθεσθε ἡμῖν διαθήκην
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 καὶ εἶπαν οἱ υἱοὶ Ισραηλ πρὸς τὸν Χορραῖον ὅρα μὴ ἐν ἐμοὶ κατοικεῖς καὶ πῶς σοι διαθῶμαι διαθήκην
But the Israelites said to the Hivites, “Maybe you live close by. If you do, we cannot make a treaty with you.”
8 καὶ εἶπαν πρὸς Ἰησοῦν οἰκέται σού ἐσμεν καὶ εἶπεν πρὸς αὐτοὺς Ἰησοῦς πόθεν ἐστὲ καὶ πόθεν παραγεγόνατε
“We are your servants,” they replied. “But who are you? Where do you come from?” Joshua asked.
9 καὶ εἶπαν ἐκ γῆς μακρόθεν σφόδρα ἥκασιν οἱ παῖδές σου ἐν ὀνόματι κυρίου τοῦ θεοῦ σου ἀκηκόαμεν γὰρ τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ καὶ ὅσα ἐποίησεν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ
“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 καὶ ὅσα ἐποίησεν τοῖς βασιλεῦσιν τῶν Αμορραίων οἳ ἦσαν πέραν τοῦ Ιορδάνου τῷ Σηων βασιλεῖ Εσεβων καὶ τῷ Ωγ βασιλεῖ τῆς Βασαν ὃς κατῴκει ἐν Ασταρωθ καὶ ἐν Εδραϊν
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 καὶ ἀκούσαντες εἶπαν πρὸς ἡμᾶς οἱ πρεσβύτεροι ἡμῶν καὶ πάντες οἱ κατοικοῦντες τὴν γῆν ἡμῶν λέγοντες λάβετε ἑαυτοῖς ἐπισιτισμὸν εἰς τὴν ὁδὸν καὶ πορεύθητε εἰς συνάντησιν αὐτῶν καὶ ἐρεῖτε πρὸς αὐτούς οἰκέται σού ἐσμεν καὶ νῦν διάθεσθε ἡμῖν διαθήκην
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 οὗτοι οἱ ἄρτοι θερμοὺς ἐφωδιάσθημεν αὐτοὺς ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ᾗ ἐξήλθομεν παραγενέσθαι πρὸς ὑμᾶς νῦν δὲ ἐξηράνθησαν καὶ γεγόνασιν βεβρωμένοι
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 καὶ οὗτοι οἱ ἀσκοὶ τοῦ οἴνου οὓς ἐπλήσαμεν καινούς καὶ οὗτοι ἐρρώγασιν καὶ τὰ ἱμάτια ἡμῶν καὶ τὰ ὑποδήματα ἡμῶν πεπαλαίωται ἀπὸ τῆς πολλῆς ὁδοῦ σφόδρα
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 καὶ ἔλαβον οἱ ἄρχοντες τοῦ ἐπισιτισμοῦ αὐτῶν καὶ κύριον οὐκ ἐπηρώτησαν
The Israelites tried some of the food. However, they did not consult the Lord.
15 καὶ ἐποίησεν Ἰησοῦς πρὸς αὐτοὺς εἰρήνην καὶ διέθετο πρὸς αὐτοὺς διαθήκην τοῦ διασῶσαι αὐτούς καὶ ὤμοσαν αὐτοῖς οἱ ἄρχοντες τῆς συναγωγῆς
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 καὶ ἐγένετο μετὰ τρεῖς ἡμέρας μετὰ τὸ διαθέσθαι πρὸς αὐτοὺς διαθήκην ἤκουσαν ὅτι ἐγγύθεν αὐτῶν εἰσιν καὶ ὅτι ἐν αὐτοῖς κατοικοῦσιν
Three days after they had made the treaty, the Israelites learned that the Gibeonites lived nearby, right among them!
17 καὶ ἀπῆραν οἱ υἱοὶ Ισραηλ καὶ ἦλθον εἰς τὰς πόλεις αὐτῶν αἱ δὲ πόλεις αὐτῶν Γαβαων καὶ Κεφιρα καὶ Βηρωθ καὶ πόλις Ιαριν
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 καὶ οὐκ ἐμαχέσαντο αὐτοῖς οἱ υἱοὶ Ισραηλ ὅτι ὤμοσαν αὐτοῖς πάντες οἱ ἄρχοντες κύριον τὸν θεὸν Ισραηλ καὶ διεγόγγυσαν πᾶσα ἡ συναγωγὴ ἐπὶ τοῖς ἄρχουσιν
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 καὶ εἶπαν οἱ ἄρχοντες πάσῃ τῇ συναγωγῇ ἡμεῖς ὠμόσαμεν αὐτοῖς κύριον τὸν θεὸν Ισραηλ καὶ νῦν οὐ δυνησόμεθα ἅψασθαι αὐτῶν
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 τοῦτο ποιήσομεν ζωγρῆσαι αὐτούς καὶ περιποιησόμεθα αὐτούς καὶ οὐκ ἔσται καθ’ ἡμῶν ὀργὴ διὰ τὸν ὅρκον ὃν ὠμόσαμεν αὐτοῖς
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 ζήσονται καὶ ἔσονται ξυλοκόποι καὶ ὑδροφόροι πάσῃ τῇ συναγωγῇ καθάπερ εἶπαν αὐτοῖς οἱ ἄρχοντες
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 καὶ συνεκάλεσεν αὐτοὺς Ἰησοῦς καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς διὰ τί παρελογίσασθέ με λέγοντες μακρὰν ἀπὸ σοῦ ἐσμεν σφόδρα ὑμεῖς δὲ ἐγχώριοί ἐστε τῶν κατοικούντων ἐν ἡμῖν
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 καὶ νῦν ἐπικατάρατοί ἐστε οὐ μὴ ἐκλίπῃ ἐξ ὑμῶν δοῦλος οὐδὲ ξυλοκόπος ἐμοὶ καὶ τῷ θεῷ μου
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 καὶ ἀπεκρίθησαν τῷ Ἰησοῖ λέγοντες ἀνηγγέλη ἡμῖν ὅσα συνέταξεν κύριος ὁ θεός σου Μωυσῇ τῷ παιδὶ αὐτοῦ δοῦναι ὑμῖν τὴν γῆν ταύτην καὶ ἐξολεθρεῦσαι ἡμᾶς καὶ πάντας τοὺς κατοικοῦντας ἐπ’ αὐτῆς ἀπὸ προσώπου ὑμῶν καὶ ἐφοβήθημεν σφόδρα περὶ τῶν ψυχῶν ἡμῶν ἀπὸ προσώπου ὑμῶν καὶ ἐποιήσαμεν τὸ πρᾶγμα τοῦτο
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 καὶ νῦν ἰδοὺ ἡμεῖς ὑποχείριοι ὑμῖν ὡς ἀρέσκει ὑμῖν καὶ ὡς δοκεῖ ὑμῖν ποιήσατε ἡμῖν
Now we're in your hands. Do to us what you think is right and just.”
26 καὶ ἐποίησαν αὐτοῖς οὕτως καὶ ἐξείλατο αὐτοὺς Ἰησοῦς ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ ἐκ χειρῶν υἱῶν Ισραηλ καὶ οὐκ ἀνεῖλον αὐτούς
Joshua did as he had said. He saved them from the Israelites, so that they did not kill them.
27 καὶ κατέστησεν αὐτοὺς Ἰησοῦς ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ ξυλοκόπους καὶ ὑδροφόρους πάσῃ τῇ συναγωγῇ καὶ τῷ θυσιαστηρίῳ τοῦ θεοῦ διὰ τοῦτο ἐγένοντο οἱ κατοικοῦντες Γαβαων ξυλοκόποι καὶ ὑδροφόροι τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου τοῦ θεοῦ ἕως τῆς σήμερον ἡμέρας καὶ εἰς τὸν τόπον ὃν ἐὰν ἐκλέξηται κύριος
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.
