¹And it came to pass that when all the kings who were across the Jordan heard it, in the mountain ranges and the low lying land, and along all the coast of the Great Sea opposite Lebanon – the Hittite and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite – ²that they joined up together to wage war on Joshua and on Israel unanimously. ³And the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, ⁴and they for their part acted craftily, and they set out and pretended to be travellers, and they took worn-out sacks for the donkeys, and worn-out skin bottles for the wine, which were torn and mended, ⁵and they wore shoes that were worn out and patched up on their feet, and they had worn-out clothes on them, and all the bread of their provisions was stale and speckled with mould. ⁶And they came to Joshua at the camp in Gilgal, and they said to him and to the men of Israel, “We have come from a distant land, so make a covenant with us now.” ⁷And the men of Israel said to the Hivite, “It could be that you dwell in my midst. So how can I make a covenant with you?” ⁸And they said to Joshua, “We are your servants”, and Joshua said to them, “Who are you and where do you come from?” ⁹And 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 of his fame and everything that he did in Egypt, ¹⁰and everything he did to the two kings of the Amorites who were across the Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan, who was in Ashtaroth. ¹¹And our elders and all the inhabitants of our land spoke to us and said, ‘Take provisions in your hand for the journey, and go and meet them, and say to them, «We are your servants, so now make a covenant with us.» ’ ¹²This is our bread. We stocked up with it hot from our houses when we departed to go to you, but now look, it is dry, and it has become speckled with mould. ¹³And these are our wine bottles which we filled when they were new, but look, they have become torn, and these clothes and shoes of ours are worn out from the great length of the journey.” ¹⁴And the men took some of their provisions, but they did not ask for the Lord's pronouncement. ¹⁵And Joshua made peace with them, and he made a covenant with them to let them live, and the chiefs of the congregation swore it to them. ¹⁶Then it transpired after three days, after they had made a covenant with them, that they heard that they were their neighbours, and that they lived in their midst. ¹⁷Then the sons of Israel travelled and came to their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, and Chephirah and Beeroth and Kiriath-Jearim. ¹⁸So the sons of Israel did not attack them, because the chiefs of the congregation had sworn to them by the Lord God of Israel. And the whole congregation complained about the chiefs. ¹⁹And all the chiefs said to the whole congregation, “We have sworn to them by the Lord God of Israel, so now we cannot touch them. ²⁰This is what we will do with them, as we let them live, so that there will not be anger on us on account of the oath which we swore to them ...” ²¹And the chiefs said to them, “They shall live ...” And they became hewers of wood and drawers of water for the whole congregation, as the chiefs told them. ²²So Joshua called them and spoke to them, and he said, “Why did you deceive us, saying, ‘We are very distant from you’, whilst you live in our midst? ²³So now, you are cursed, and none of you shall be discharged from being a servant or hewers of wood or drawers of water for the house of my God.” ²⁴Then they answered Joshua and said, “It is because it was definitely told to your servants what the Lord your God commanded Moses his servant, that he would give you all the land and destroy all the inhabitants of the land before you, and we were very afraid of you for our lives, so we did this thing. ²⁵So now, here we are in your hands. Do what is right and proper in your sight to do to us.” ²⁶So he did so to them, and he spared them from the hand of the sons of Israel, and they did not kill them. ²⁷And Joshua appointed them hewers of wood and drawers of water on that day, to the congregation and for the altar of the Lord, as it is up to this day, at the place which he would yet choose.