Chapter 9
1
And it happened that when all the kings who were across the Jordan in the hill country and in the Shephelah and in all the coast of the Great Sea opposite Lebanon—the Hittite and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite—
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And they gathered together to fight with Joshua and with Israel with one mouth.
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And the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai.
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They also acted cunningly: they went and disguised themselves, took worn-out sacks for their donkeys, and worn-out wineskins of wine—cracked and bound-up ones.
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and worn-out sandals and patches on their feet and worn-out garments on them and all the bread of their provisions was dry and mottled.
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And they went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal, and they said to him and to the men of Israel, "We have come from a distant land; now cut a covenant with us."
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And a man of Israel said to the Hivite, "Perhaps you are dwelling in my midst, so how shall I cut a covenant for you?"
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And they said to Joshua, "We are your servants." And Joshua said to them, "Who are you, and from where do you come?"
9
And they said to him, "Your servants have come from a very distant land because of the name of the LORD your God, for we have heard the report of all that he did in Egypt."
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and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon and to Og king of Bashan who was in Ashtaroth.
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And they said to us, "Our elders and all the inhabitants of our land said, 'Take provisions for the journey in your hand and go to meet them, and say to them, "We are your servants. And now, cut a covenant for us."'"
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This is our bread; we provisioned ourselves with it hot from our houses on the day we went out to go to you, and now, behold, it is dry and has become moldy.
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And these wineskins that we filled new, and behold, they have split open, and these our garments and our sandals have worn out from the abundance of the way very much.
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And the men took from their provisions, and they did not ask the mouth of the LORD.
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And Joshua made peace with them, and he cut a covenant with them to let them live, and the princes of the congregation swore to them.
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And it was at the end of three days after they had cut a covenant with them that they heard they were their neighbors and dwelling in their midst.
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And the sons of Israel journeyed and came to their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim.
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And the sons of Israel did not strike them because the princes of the Congregation had sworn to them by the LORD God of Israel, and the whole Congregation grumbled against the princes.
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And all the rulers said to all the assembly, "We swore to them by the LORD God of Israel, and now we are not able to touch them."
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This we will do to them: we will let them live, so that wrath will not come upon us because of the oath that we swore to them.
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And the princes said to them, "They shall live, and they shall be woodcutters of wood and water-drawers of water for all the congregation, just as the princes spoke to them."
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And Joshua called to them and said to them, "Why did you deceive us, saying, 'We are very far from you,' but you—you dwell in our midst?"
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And now you are cursed, and you will not be cut off; you shall be servants and cutters of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God.
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And they answered Joshua and said, "Because it was told to your servants how great a thing the LORD your 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 were greatly afraid for our lives because of you, and we did this thing."
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And now, here we are in your hand: whatever seems good and right in your eyes to do to us—do it!
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And he did so to them and delivered them from the hand of the sons of Israel, and they did not kill them.
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And Joshua gave them on that day as cutters of wood and drawers of water for the assembly and for the altar of the LORD, until this day, to the place which he will choose.