Joshua 9
Common English Bible
The Gibeonites’ trick
9 All the kings on the west side of the Jordan heard about this, including those in the highlands, the lowlands, and along the entire coast of the Mediterranean Sea toward Lebanon. They were Hittites and Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. 2 They formed an alliance to fight Joshua and Israel. 3 In contrast, when the population of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, 4 they acted cleverly. They set out pretending to be messengers.[a] They took worn-out sacks for their donkeys and worn-out wineskins that were split and mended. 5 They had worn-out, patched sandals on their feet and were wearing worn-out clothes. All the bread in their supplies was dry and crumbly.
6 They went to Joshua at the camp at Gilgal. They said to him and to Israel, “We have come from a distant country. So now, make a treaty with us.”
7 Israel said to the Hivites, “Perhaps you live among us. How then could we make a treaty with you?”
8 Then they said to Joshua, “We are your servants.”
Joshua said to them, “Who are you? Where have you come from?”
9 They said to him, “Your servants have come from a very distant country because of the reputation of the Lord your God. We have heard a report about him and everything he did in Egypt. 10 We heard about everything he did to the two kings of the Amorites on the east side of the Jordan, Heshbon’s King Sihon and Bashan’s King Og, who was in Ashtaroth. 11 Our elders and all the population of our land said to us, ‘Take along supplies for the journey. Go meet them and say to them, “We are your servants. So now make a treaty with us.”’ 12 This is our bread. On the day we left to come to you we took it warm from our houses as supplies. But now here it is, dried up and crumbly. 13 These wineskins were new when we filled them. But here they are, split open. These clothes and sandals of ours are worn out from the very long journey.” 14 The Israelites[b] took some of their supplies, but they didn’t ask for any decision from the Lord. 15 Joshua made peace with them. He made a treaty with them to protect their lives. The leaders of the community made a solemn pledge to them.
Israel discovers the trick
16 Three days after the Israelites made a treaty with the Gibeonites, the Israelites heard that they were actually their neighbors and were living among them. 17 So on the third day the Israelites marched out and came to their cities: Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim. 18 But the Israelites didn’t strike at them. This was because the leaders of the community had made a solemn pledge to them by the Lord, the God of Israel. The entire community grumbled against the leaders. 19 Then all the leaders said to the whole community, “We have made a solemn pledge to them by the Lord, the God of Israel. So we can’t touch them now. 20 This is what we’ll do with them. We’ll let them live so that wrath won’t come down on us because of the solemn pledge that we made to them.” 21 The leaders went on to say to them, “Let them live.” So they became woodcutters and water haulers for the whole community, exactly as the leaders had intended for them.
22 Joshua called for the Gibeonites and spoke to them: “Why have you deceived us by saying, ‘We live very far away from you,’ when actually you live among us? 23 So now you are cursed. Some of you will always serve as woodcutters and water haulers for my God’s house.”
24 They answered Joshua, “Your servants had been told that the Lord your God had commanded his servant Moses to give you the entire land and to wipe out all its population on your account. So we feared for our very lives because of you and did this thing. 25 Now, here we are in your power. Do to us whatever seems good and proper to you.” 26 So Joshua treated them in this way. He spared them from the power of the Israelites, and they didn’t kill them. 27 That day Joshua assigned them as woodcutters and water haulers for the community and for the Lord’s altar, located wherever God[c] would choose. That is still the case today.
Footnotes
- Joshua 9:4 Heb uncertain
- Joshua 9:14 Or men
- Joshua 9:27 Or he
Joshua 9
Contemporary English Version
The People of Gibeon Trick the Leaders of Israel
9 1-2 The kings west of the Jordan River heard about Joshua's victories, so they got together and decided to attack Joshua and Israel. These kings were from the hill country and from the foothills to the west, as well as from the Mediterranean seacoast as far north as the Lebanon Mountains. Some of them were Hittites, others were Amorites or Canaanites, and still others were Perizzites, Hivites, or Jebusites.
3 The people of Gibeon had also heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai. 4 So they decided that some of their men should pretend to be messengers to Israel from a faraway country.[a] The men put worn-out bags on their donkeys and found some old wineskins that had cracked and had been sewn back together. 5 Their sandals were old and patched, and their clothes were worn out. They even took along some dry and crumbly bread. 6 Then they went to the Israelite camp at Gilgal, where they said to Joshua and the men of Israel, “We have come from a country that is far from here. Please make a peace treaty with us.”
7-8 (A) The Israelites replied, “But maybe you really live near us. We can't make a peace treaty with you if you live nearby.”[b]
The Gibeonites[c] said, “If you make a peace treaty with us, we will be your servants.”
“Who are you?” Joshua asked. “Where do you come from?”
They answered:
9 We are your servants, and we live far from here. We came because the Lord your God is so famous. We heard what the Lord did in Egypt 10 (B) and what he did to those two Amorite kings on the other side of the Jordan: King Og of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth, and King Sihon of Heshbon.
11 Our leaders and everyone who lives in our country told us to meet with you and tell you that all of us are your servants. They said to ask you to make a peace treaty with our people. They told us to be sure and take along enough food for our journey. 12 See this dry, crumbly bread of ours? It was hot out of the oven when we packed the food on the day we left our homes. 13 These cracked wineskins were new when we filled them, and our clothes and sandals are worn out because we have traveled so far.
14 The Israelites tried some of the food,[d] but they did not ask the Lord if he wanted them to make a treaty. 15 So Joshua made a peace treaty with the messengers and promised that Israel would not kill their people. Israel's leaders swore that Israel would keep this promise.
16-17 A couple of days later,[e] the Israelites found out that these people actually lived in the nearby towns of Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-Jearim.[f] So the Israelites left the place where they had camped and arrived at the four towns two days later.[g] 18 But they did not attack the towns, because the Israelite leaders had sworn in the name of the Lord that they would let these people live.
The Israelites complained about their leaders' decision not to attack, 19-21 but the leaders reminded them, “We promised these people in the name of the Lord God of Israel that we would let them live, so we must not harm them. If we break our promise, God will punish us. We'll let them live, but we'll make them cut wood and carry water for our people.”
22 Joshua told some of his soldiers, “I want to meet with the Gibeonite leaders. Bring them here.”
When the Gibeonites came, Joshua said, “You live close to us. Why did you lie by claiming you lived far away? 23 So now you are under a curse, and from now on your people will have to send workers to cut wood and carry water for the place of worship.”[h]
24 The Gibeonites answered, “The Lord your God told his servant Moses that you were to kill everyone who lives here and take their land for yourselves. We were afraid you would kill us, and so we tricked you into making a peace treaty. But we agreed to be your servants, 25 and you are strong enough to do anything to us that you want. We just ask you to do what seems right.”
26 Joshua did not let the Israelites kill the Gibeonites, 27 but he did tell the Gibeonites that they would have to be servants of the nation of Israel. They would have to cut firewood and bring it for the priests to use for burning sacrifices on the Lord's altar, wherever the Lord decided the altar would be. The Gibeonites would also have to carry water for the priests. And that is still the work of the Gibeonites.
Footnotes
- 9.4 So … country: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- 9.7,8 nearby: See Deuteronomy 20.10-18.
- 9.7,8 Gibeonites: Hebrew “Hivites.”
- 9.14 tried … food: Probably to see if it really was old or to show that they wanted peace.
- 9.16,17 A couple … later: The Hebrew text has “At the end of three days,” meaning two days after the day the treaty was made.
- 9.16,17 Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-Jearim: These towns were 30 to 50 kilometers west of the Israelite camp at Gilgal.
- 9.16,17 A couple of days … later: Or “A couple of days later, the Israelites moved their camp to the area near the towns of Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-Jearim. When they arrived, they realized that they had made a peace treaty with the people of these nearby towns!”
- 9.23 the place of worship: The Hebrew text has “God's house,” which at that time was the sacred tent.
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