Joshua 9:6-8

The Message

^3-6 The people of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai and cooked up a ruse. They posed as travelers: their donkeys loaded with patched sacks and mended wineskins, threadbare sandals on their feet, tattered clothes on their bodies, nothing but dry crusts and crumbs for food. They came to Joshua at Gilgal and spoke to the men of Israel, “We’ve come from a far-off country; make a covenant with us.”

⁷ The men of Israel said to these Hivites, “How do we know you aren’t local people? How could we then make a covenant with you?”

⁸ They said to Joshua, “We’ll be your servants.”

Joshua said, “Who are you now? Where did you come from?”