1 And when all the Kings that were beyonde Iorden, in the mountaines and in the valleis, and by all the coastes of the great Sea ouer against Lebanon (as the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hiuites, and the Iebusites) heard thereof, 2 They gathered themselues together, to fight against Ioshua, and against Israel with one accord. 3 But the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Ioshua had done vnto Iericho, and to Ai. 4 And therefore they wrought craftily: for they went, and fayned themselues ambassadours, and tooke olde sackes vpon their asses, and olde bottels for wine, both rent and bound vp, 5 And olde shoes and clouted vpon their feete: also the raiment vpon them was old, and all their prouision of bread was dried, and mouled. 6 So they came vnto Ioshua into the hoste to Gilgal, and said vnto him, and vnto the men of Israel, Wee be come from a farre countrey: nowe therefore make a league with vs. 7 Then the men of Israel said vnto the Hiuites, It may be that thou dwellest among vs, how then can I make a league with thee? 8 And they said vnto Ioshua, We are thy seruants. Then Ioshua saide vnto them, Who are ye? and whence come ye? 9 And they answered him, From a very farre countrey thy seruants are come for the Name of the Lord thy God: for we haue heard his fame and all that he hath done in Egypt, 10 And all that he hath done to the two Kings of the Amorites that were beyonde Iorden, to Sihon King of Heshbon, and to Og King of Bashan, which were at Ashtaroth. 11 Wherefore our elders, and all the inhabitants of our countrey spake to vs, saying, Take vitailes with you for the iourney, and go to meete them, and say vnto them, Wee are your seruants: now therefore make ye a league with vs. 12 This our bread we tooke it hote with vs for vittailes out of our houses, the day we departed to come vnto you: but nowe beholde, it is dried, and it is mouled. 13 Also these bottels of wine which we filled, were newe, and lo, they be rent, and these our garments and our shooes are olde, by reason of the exceeding great iourney. 14 And the men accepted their tale concerning their vittailes, and counselled not with the mouth of the Lord. 15 So Ioshua made peace with them, and made a league with them, that he would suffer them to liue: also the Princes of the Congregation sware vnto them. 16 But at the end of three dayes, after they had made a league with them, they heard that they were their neighbours, and that they dwelt among them. 17 And the children of Israel tooke their iourney, and came vnto their cities the third day, and their cities were Gibeon, and Chephirah, and Beeroth and Kiriath-iearim. 18 And the children of Israel slewe them not, because the Princes of the Congregation had sworne vnto them by the Lord God of Israel: wherefore all the Congregation murmured against the Princes. 19 Then all the Princes said vnto all the Congregation, We haue sworne vnto them by the Lord God of Israel: nowe therefore we may not touch them. 20 But this we wil doe to them, and let them liue, least the wrath be vpon vs because of the othe which we sware vnto them. 21 And the Princes sayd vnto them againe, Let them liue, but they shall hewe wood, and drawe water vnto all the Congregation, as the Princes appoint them. 22 Ioshua then called them, and talked with them, and sayd, Wherefore haue ye beguiled vs, saying, We are very farre from you, when ye dwel among vs? 23 Now therefore ye are cursed, and there shall none of you be freed from being bondmen, and hewers of wood, and drawers of water for the house of my God. 24 And they answered Ioshua, and sayd, Because it was tolde thy seruants, that the Lord thy God had commanded his seruant Moses to giue you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land out of your sight, therefore we were exceeding sore afraid for our liues at the presence of you, and haue done this thing: 25 And beholde nowe, we are in thine hand: doe as it seemeth good and right in thine eyes to doe vnto vs. 26 Euen so did he vnto them, and deliuered them out of the hand of the children of Israel, that they slewe them not. 27 And Ioshua appointed them that same day to be hewers of wood, and drawers of water for the Congregation, and for the altar of the Lord vnto this day, in the place which he should chuse.
The Gibeonites Deceive Joshua
1 The victories of Israel became known to all the kings west of the Jordan—in the hills, in the foothills, and all along the coastal plain of the Mediterranean Sea as far north as Lebanon; these were the kings of the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 2 They all came together and joined forces to fight against Joshua and the Israelites.
3 But the people of Gibeon, who were Hivites, heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, 4 and they decided to deceive him. They went and got some food and loaded their donkeys with worn-out sacks and patched-up wineskins. 5 They put on ragged clothes and worn-out sandals that had been mended. The bread they took with them was dry and moldy. 6 Then they went to the camp at Gilgal and said to Joshua and the Israelites, “We have come from a distant land. We want you to make a treaty with us.”
7 But the Israelites said, “Why should we make a treaty with you? Maybe you live nearby.”
8 They said to Joshua, “We are at your service.”
Joshua asked them, “Who are you? Where do you come from?”
9 Then they told him this story: “We have come from a very distant land, sir, because we have heard of the Lord your God. We have heard about everything that he did in Egypt 10 and what he did to the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan: King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth. 11 Our leaders and all the people that live in our land told us to get some food ready for a trip and to go and meet you. We were told to put ourselves at your service and ask you to make a treaty with us. 12 Look at our bread. When we left home with it and started out to meet you, it was still warm. But look! Now it is dry and moldy. 13 When we filled these wineskins, they were new, but look! They are torn. Our clothes and sandals are worn out from the long trip.”
14 The Israelites accepted some food from them, but did not consult the Lord about it. 15 Joshua made a treaty of friendship with the people of Gibeon and allowed them to live. The leaders of the community of Israel gave their solemn promise to keep the treaty.
16 Three days after the treaty had been made, the Israelites learned that these people did indeed live nearby. 17 So the people of Israel started out and three days later arrived at the cities where these people lived: Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath Jearim. 18 But the Israelites could not kill them, because their leaders had made a solemn promise to them in the name of the Lord, Israel's God. All the people complained to the leaders about this, 19 but they answered, “We have made our solemn promise to them in the name of the Lord God of Israel. Now we cannot harm them. 20 We must let them live because of our promise; if we don't, God will punish us. 21 Let them live, but they will have to cut wood and carry water for us.” This was what the leaders suggested.
22 Joshua ordered the people of Gibeon to be brought to him, and he asked them, “Why did you deceive us and tell us that you were from far away, when you live right here? 23 Because you did this, God has condemned you. Your people will always be slaves, cutting wood and carrying water for the sanctuary of my God.”
24 They answered, “We did it, sir, because we learned that it was really true that the Lord your God had commanded his servant Moses to give you the whole land and to kill the people living in it as you advanced. We did it because we were terrified of you; we were in fear of our lives. 25 Now we are in your power; do with us what you think is right.” 26 So this is what Joshua did: he protected them and did not allow the people of Israel to kill them. 27 But at the same time he made them slaves, to cut wood and carry water for the people of Israel and for the Lord's altar. To this day they have continued to do this work in the place where the Lord has chosen to be worshiped.