Joshua 9

1 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—

And when the kings of the Amorites on the other side of Jordan, who were in the mountain country, and in the plain, and in all the coast of the great sea, and those who were near Antilibanus, and the Chettites, and the Chananites, and the Pherezites, and the Evites, and the Amorites, and the Gergesites, and the Jebusites, heard [of it],

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

they came all together at the same time to make war against Joshua and Israel.

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

And the inhabitants of Gabaon heard of all that the Lord did to Jericho and Gai.

4 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,

And they also wrought craftily, and they went and made provision and prepared themselves; and having taken old sacks on their shoulders, and old and tore and patched bottles of wine,

5 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.

and the upper part of their shoes and their sandals old and clouted on their feet, and their garments old upon them—and the bread of their provision was dry and mouldy and corrupt.

6 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”;

And they came to Joshua into the camp of Israel to Galgala, and said to Joshua and Israel, We are come from a far land: now then make a covenant with us.

7 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?”

And the children of Israel said to the Chorrhaean, Peradventure you dwell amongst us; and how should I make a covenant with you?

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

And they said to Joshua, We are your servants: and Joshua said to them, Whence are you, and whence have you come?

9 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,

And they said, Your servants are come from a very far country in the name of the Lord your God: for we have heard his name, and all that he did in Egypt,

10 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.

and all that he did to the kings of the Amorites, who were beyond Jordan, to Seon king of the Amorites, and Og king of Basan, who lived in Astaroth and in Edrain.

11 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;

And our elders and all that inhabit our land when they heard spoke to us, saying, Take to yourselves provision for the way, and go to meet them; and you shall say to them, We are your servants, and now make a covenant with us.

12 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;

These [are] the loaves—we took them hot for our journey on the day on which we came out to come to you; and now they are dried and become mouldy.

13 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.”

And these [are] the skins of wine which we filled when new, and they are tore; and our garments and our shoes are worn out because of the very long journey.

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

And the chiefs took of their provision, and asked not [counsel of] the Lord.

15 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.

And Joshua made peace with them, and they made a covenant with them to preserve them; and the princes of the congregation sware to them.

16 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.

And it came to pass three days after they had made a covenant with them, they heard that they were near neighbours, and that they lived amongst them.

17 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—

And the children of Israel departed and came to their cities; and their cities [were] Gabaon, and Kephira, and Berot, and the cities of Jarin.

18 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.

Land the children of Israel fought not with them, because all the princes sware to them by the Lord God of Israel; and all the congregation murmured at the princes.

19 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;

And the princes said to all the congregation: We have sworn to them by the Lord God of Israel, and now we shall not be able to touch them.

20 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.”

This we will do; take them alive, and we will preserve them: so there shall not be wrath against us by reason of the oath which we swore to them.

21 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.”

They shall live, and shall be hewers of wood and drawers of water to all the congregation, as the princes said to them.

22 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?

And Joshua called them together and said to them, Why have you deceived me, saying, We live very far from you; whereas you are fellow-countrymen of those who dwell amongst us?

23 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.”

And now you are cursed: there shall not fail of you a slave, or a hewer of wood, or a drawer of water to me and my God.

24 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;

And they answered Joshua, saying, It was reported to us what the Lord your God charged his servant Moses, to give you this land, and to destroy us and all that lived on it from before you; and we feared very much for our lives because of you, and [therefore] we did this thing.

25 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.”

And now, behold, we [are] in your power; do to us as it is pleasing to you, and as it seems [good] to you.

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

And they did so to them; and Joshua rescued them in that day out of the hands of the children of Israel, and they did not kill them.

27 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.

And Joshua made them in that day hewers of wood and drawers of water to the whole congregation, and for the altar of God: therefore the inhabitants of Gabaon became hewers of wood and drawers of water for the altar of God until this day, even for the place which the Lord should choose.