Joshua 9
9
The Gibeonites Deceive Israel
1Now 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,#9:1a Hebrew the Shephelah. and along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea#9:1b Hebrew the Great Sea. as far north as the Lebanon mountains. 2These kings combined their armies to fight as one against Joshua and the Israelites.
3But when the people of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, 4they resorted to deception to save themselves. They sent ambassadors to Joshua, loading their donkeys with weathered saddlebags and old, patched wineskins. 5They put on worn-out, patched sandals and ragged clothes. And the bread they took with them was dry and moldy. 6When 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.”
7The 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.”
8They replied, “We are your servants.”
“But who are you?” Joshua demanded. “Where do you come from?”
9They 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. 10We 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). 11So 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.”’
12“This bread was hot from the ovens when we left our homes. But now, as you can see, it is dry and moldy. 13These 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.”
14So the Israelites examined their food, but they did not consult the Lord. 15Then Joshua made a peace treaty with them and guaranteed their safety, and the leaders of the community ratified their agreement with a binding oath.
16Three days after making the treaty, they learned that these people actually lived nearby! 17The 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. 18But 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. 19But the leaders replied, “Since we have sworn an oath in the presence of the Lord, the God of Israel, we cannot touch them. 20This is what we must do. We must let them live, for divine anger would come upon us if we broke our oath. 21Let them live.” So they made them woodcutters and water carriers for the entire community, as the Israelite leaders directed.
22Joshua 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? 23May you be cursed! From now on you will always be servants who cut wood and carry water for the house of my God.”
24They 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. 25Now we are at your mercy—do to us whatever you think is right.”
26So Joshua did not allow the people of Israel to kill them. 27But 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.
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Joshua 9: NLT
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Joshua 9
9
The Gibeonites Trick Joshua
1All the kings west of the Jordan River heard about these things. They were the kings of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. They lived in the hill country and in the plains. They also lived along the seacoast of the Mediterranean Sea as far as Lebanon. 2All these kings came together and made plans to fight against Joshua and the Israelites.
3The people from the city of Gibeon heard about the way Joshua had defeated Jericho and Ai. 4So they decided to try to trick the Israelites. This was their plan: They gathered together old wineskins that were cracked and broken. They put these old wineskins on the backs of their animals. They put old pieces of cloth on their animals to look as if they had traveled from far away. 5The men put old sandals on their feet and wore old clothes. They found some old bread that was dry and moldy. 6Then they went to the camp of the Israelites. This camp was near Gilgal.
The men went to Joshua and said to him, “We have traveled from a faraway country. We want to make a peace agreement with you.”
7The men of Israel said to these Hivite men, “Maybe you are trying to trick us. Maybe you live near us. We cannot make a peace agreement with you until we know where you are from.”
8The Hivite men said to Joshua, “We are your servants.”
But Joshua asked, “Who are you? Where do you come from?”
9The men answered, “We are your servants. We have come from a faraway country. We came because we heard of the great power of the Lord your God. We heard about what he has done and about everything he did in Egypt. 10And we heard that he defeated the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan River. This was King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan in the land of Ashtaroth. 11So our elders and our people said to us, ‘Take enough food for your journey. Go and meet with the Israelites.’ Tell them, ‘We are your servants. Make a peace agreement with us.’
12“Look at our bread. When we left home, it was warm and fresh. But now you can see that it is dry and old. 13Look at our wineskins. When we left home, they were new and filled with wine. But now you can see that they are cracked and old. Look at our clothes and sandals. You can see that the long journey has almost destroyed the things we wear.”
14The men of Israel wanted to know if these men were telling the truth. So they tasted the bread—but they did not ask the Lord what they should do. 15Joshua agreed to make peace with them. He agreed to let them live. The leaders of Israel agreed with this promise of Joshua.
16Three days later the Israelites learned that these men lived very near their camp. 17So the Israelites went to the place where they lived. On the third day the Israelites came to the cities of Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath Jearim. 18But the army of Israel did not try to fight against those cities. They had made a peace agreement with them. They had made a promise to them before the Lord, the God of Israel.
All the people complained against the leaders who made the agreement. 19But the leaders answered, “We have given our promise. We promised before the Lord, the God of Israel. We cannot fight against them now. 20This is what we must do. We must let them live. We cannot hurt them or God will be angry with us because we broke the promise we made to them. 21So let them live, but they will be our servants. They will cut wood for us and carry water for all our people.” So the leaders did not break their promise of peace to them.
22Joshua called the Gibeonites together. He said, “Why did you lie to us? Your land was near our camp. But you told us you were from a faraway country. 23Now, your people will have many troubles. All of your people will be slaves—they will have to cut wood and carry water for the house of God.#9:23 house of God This might mean the “family of God” (Israel), “the Holy Tent,” or “the Temple.””
24The Gibeonites answered, “We lied to you because we were afraid you would kill us. We heard that God commanded his servant Moses to give you all this land. And God told you to kill all the people who lived in this land. That is why we lied to you. 25Now we are your servants. You can do whatever you think is right.”
26So the Gibeonites became slaves, but Joshua let them live. He did not allow the Israelites to kill them. 27He made them slaves of the Israelites. They cut wood and carried water for the Israelites and for the altar of the Lord—wherever the Lord chose it to be. They are still slaves today.
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