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The Deceit of the Gibeonites
And it came to pass when all the kings who were on this side the Jordan, in the hill-country, and in the lowland, and along all the coast of the great sea as far as opposite to Lebanon, the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, heard [of it],
And it came to pass when all the kings who were on this side the Jordan, in the hill-country, and in the lowland, and along all the coast of the great sea as far as opposite to Lebanon, the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, heard [of it],
The Gibeonites Deceive Israel
Now all the kings west of the Jordan River heard about what had happened. These were the kings of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who lived in the hill country, in the western foothills,a and along the coast of the Mediterranean Seab as far north as the Lebanon mountains.
Now all the kings west of the Jordan River heard about what had happened. These were the kings of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who lived in the hill country, in the western foothills,a and along the coast of the Mediterranean Seab as far north as the Lebanon mountains.
that they assembled together, to fight with Joshua and with Israel, with one accord.
These kings combined their armies to fight as one against Joshua and the Israelites.
And when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai,
But when the people of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai,
then they also acted with craft, and they went prepared as on a journey, and took old sacks upon their asses, and wine-flasks, old and rent and tied up;
they resorted to deception to save themselves. They sent ambassadors to Joshua, loading their donkeys with weathered saddlebags and old, patched wineskins.
and old and patched sandals upon their feet, and old garments upon them; and all the bread of their provision was dry [and] mouldy.
They put on worn-out, patched sandals and ragged clothes. And the bread they took with them was dry and moldy.
And they went to Joshua unto the camp at Gilgal, and said to him, and to the men of Israel, From a far country are we come; and now make a covenant with us.
When they arrived at the camp of Israel at Gilgal, they told Joshua and the men of Israel, “We have come from a distant land to ask you to make a peace treaty with us.”
And the men of Israel said to the Hivite, Perhaps thou dwellest in the midst of us, and how should I make a covenant with thee?
The Israelites replied to these Hivites, “How do we know you don’t live nearby? For if you do, we cannot make a treaty with you.”
And they said unto Joshua, We are thy servants. And Joshua said to them, Who are ye? and from whence come ye?
They replied, “We are your servants.”
“But who are you?” Joshua demanded. “Where do you come from?”
“But who are you?” Joshua demanded. “Where do you come from?”
And they said to him, From a very far country are thy servants come, because of the name of Jehovah thy God; for we have heard the fame of him, and all that he did in Egypt,
They answered, “Your servants have come from a very distant country. We have heard of the might of the LORD your God and of all he did in Egypt.
and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites that were beyond Jordan, to Sihon the king of Heshbon, and to Og the king of Bashan, who was at Ashtaroth.
We have also heard what he did to the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan River — King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan (who lived in Ashtaroth).
And our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spoke to us, saying, Take victuals in your hand for the way, and go to meet them, and say to them, We are your servants, and now make a covenant with us.
So our elders and all our people instructed us, ‘Take supplies for a long journey. Go meet with the people of Israel and tell them, “We are your servants; please make a treaty with us.”’
This our bread we took warm for our provision out of our houses on the day we came forth to go unto you; and now, behold, it is dry, and is become mouldy.
“This bread was hot from the ovens when we left our homes. But now, as you can see, it is dry and moldy.
And these flasks of wine which we filled new, behold, they are rent; and these our garments and our sandals are become old by reason of the very long journey.
These wineskins were new when we filled them, but now they are old and split open. And our clothing and sandals are worn out from our very long journey.”
And the men took of their victuals, but they did not inquire at the mouth of Jehovah.
So the Israelites examined their food, but they did not consult the LORD.
And Joshua made peace with them, and made a covenant with them, to let them live; and the princes of the assembly swore unto them.
Then Joshua made a peace treaty with them and guaranteed their safety, and the leaders of the community ratified their agreement with a binding oath.
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 neighbours, and that they dwelt in their midst.
Three days after making the treaty, they learned that these people actually lived nearby!
And the children of Israel journeyed, and came to their cities on the third day; and their cities were Gibeon, and Chephirah, and Beeroth, and Kirjath-jearim.
The Israelites set out at once to investigate and reached their towns in three days. The names of these towns were Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim.
And the children of Israel did not smite them, because the princes of the assembly had sworn unto them by Jehovah the God of Israel. Then all the assembly murmured against the princes.
But the Israelites did not attack the towns, for the Israelite leaders had made a vow to them in the name of the LORD, the God of Israel.
The people of Israel grumbled against their leaders because of the treaty.
The people of Israel grumbled against their leaders because of the treaty.
And all the princes said to all the assembly, We have sworn unto them by Jehovah the God of Israel, and now we may not touch them.
But the leaders replied, “Since we have sworn an oath in the presence of the LORD, the God of Israel, we cannot touch them.
This we will do to them, and let them live, lest wrath come upon us, because of the oath which we swore unto them.
This is what we must do. We must let them live, for divine anger would come upon us if we broke our oath.
And the princes said to them, Let them live. And they were hewers of wood and drawers of water for all the assembly; as the princes had said to them.
Let them live.” So they made them woodcutters and water carriers for the entire community, as the Israelite leaders directed.
And Joshua called for them, and he spoke to them, saying, Why have ye deceived us, saying, We are very far from you; whereas ye dwell in our midst?
Joshua called together the Gibeonites and said, “Why did you lie to us? Why did you say that you live in a distant land when you live right here among us?
And now ye are cursed, and ye shall never cease to be bondmen, and hewers of wood, and drawers of water for the house of my God.
May you be cursed! From now on you will always be servants who cut wood and carry water for the house of my God.”
And they answered Joshua and said, Because it was certainly told thy servants how that Jehovah thy God commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you; and we feared greatly for our lives because of you, and did this thing.
They replied, “We did it because we — your servants — were clearly told that the LORD your God commanded his servant Moses to give you this entire land and to destroy all the people living in it. So we feared greatly for our lives because of you. That is why we have done this.
And now behold, we are in thy hand: as it is good and right in thine eyes to do to us, do.
Now we are at your mercy — do to us whatever you think is right.”
And he did so to them, and delivered them out of the hand of the children of Israel, and they did not slay them.
So Joshua did not allow the people of Israel to kill them.
And Joshua made them that day hewers of wood and drawers of water for the assembly, and for the altar of Jehovah, to this day, in the place which he should choose.
But that day he made the Gibeonites the woodcutters and water carriers for the community of Israel and for the altar of the LORD — wherever the LORD would choose to build it. And that is what they do to this day.