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—
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that they gather themselves together to fight with Joshua, and with Israel—[with] one mouth.
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And the inhabitants of Gibeon have heard that which Joshua has done to Jericho and to Ai,
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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,
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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.
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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”;
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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?”
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And they say to Joshua, “We [are] your servants.” And Joshua says to them, “Who [are] you? And where do you come from?”
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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,
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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.
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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;
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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;
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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.”
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And the men take of their provision, and have not asked the mouth of YHWH;
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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.
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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.
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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—
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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.
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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;
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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.”
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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.”
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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?
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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.”
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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;
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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.”
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And he does to them so, and delivers them from the hand of the sons of Israel, and they have not slain them;
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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.
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