² So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them. Now the Gibeonites were not of the people of Israel but ^(A)of the remnant of the Amorites. Although the people of Israel had sworn to spare them, Saul had sought to strike them down in his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah.

¹⁷ They make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out, that you may make much of them.

² For I bear them witness that ^(A)they have a zeal for God, ^(B)but not according to knowledge.

^2 (A)They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, ^(B)the hour is coming when ^(C)whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God.

⁵⁴ And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell ^(A)fire to come down from heaven and consume them?”^{[a] 55} But he turned and rebuked them.^[b]

³¹ But Jehu was not careful to walk in the law of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart. ^(A)He did not turn from the sins of Jeroboam, which he made Israel to sin.

¹⁶ And he said, “Come with me, and see ^(A)my zeal for the Lord.” So he^[a] had him ride in his chariot.

⁸ And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive ^(A)and devoted to destruction all the people with the edge of the sword. ^9 (B)But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fattened calves^[a] and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them. All that was despised and worthless they devoted to destruction.

⁴⁴ And Saul said, ^(A)“God do so to me and more also; ^(B)you shall surely die, Jonathan.”

³ But when the inhabitants of ^(A)Gibeon heard what Joshua had done ^(B)to Jericho and ^(C)to Ai, ⁴ they on their part acted with cunning and went and made ready provisions and took worn-out sacks for their donkeys, and wineskins, worn-out and torn and mended, ⁵ with worn-out, patched sandals on their feet, and worn-out clothes. And all their provisions were dry and crumbly. ⁶ And they went to Joshua in ^(D)the camp at Gilgal and said to him and to the men of Israel, “We have come from a distant country, so now make a covenant with us.” ⁷ But the men of Israel said to ^(E)the Hivites, “Perhaps you live among us; then ^(F)how can we make a covenant with you?” ⁸ They said to Joshua, ^(G)“We are your servants.” And Joshua said to them, “Who are you? And where do you come from?” ⁹ They said to him, ^(H)“From a very distant country your servants have come, because of the name of the Lord your God. ^(I)For we have heard a report of him, and all that he did in Egypt, ^10 (J)and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon the king of Heshbon, and to Og king of Bashan, who lived in ^(K)Ashtaroth. ¹¹ So our elders and all the inhabitants of our country said to us, ‘Take provisions in your hand for the journey and go to meet them and say to them, “We are your servants. Come now, make a covenant with us.”’ ¹² Here is our bread. It was still warm when we took it from our houses as our food for the journey on the day we set out to come to you, but now, behold, it is dry and crumbly. ¹³ These wineskins were new when we filled them, and behold, they have burst. And these garments and sandals of ours are worn out from the very long journey.” ¹⁴ So the men took some of their provisions, but ^(L)did not ask counsel from the Lord. ¹⁵ And Joshua ^(M)made peace with them and made a covenant with them, to let them live, and the leaders of the congregation swore to them.