1 AND when all the kings who were on this side of the Jordan, in the mountains and in the valleys, and on all the coasts of the Great Sea toward Lebanon, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, heard of it;

2 And they gathered themselves together, with one accord, to fight with Joshua and with Israel.

3 And when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai,

4 They worked subtly, and prepared provisions, and laid old sacks upon their asses, and wine skins, old, torn, and patched;

5 They put on old shoes, or bound their feet with sandals, and dressed in old garments; and all the bread of their provision was dry and mouldy.

6 And they went to Joshua to the camp at Gilgal, and said to him and to the men of Israel, We have come from a far country; now therefore make a treaty with us.

7 And the men of Israel said to the Hivites. If you dwell among us, why then should you have a treaty?

8 And they said to Joshua, We are your servants. And Joshua said to them, Who are you? And where do you come from?

9 And they said to him, From a very far country your servants have come because of the name of the LORD your God; for we have heard the fame of him, and all that he did in Egypt.

10 And all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon, and to Og king of Mathnin, who lived at Astaroth.

11 Wherefore our elders and all the inhabitants of our country said to us, Take provisions with you for the journey, and go to meet them, and say to them, We are your servants; therefore now make a treaty with us.

12 Moreover, they also said to Joshua, This bread we took hot out of our houses for our provisions on the day we came forth to go to you; but now, behold, it is dry, and is mouldy.

13 And these wine skins, which we filled, were new; and, behold, they are worn out; and these our garments and our shoes were new when we put them on us, and, behold, now they are old because the journey was very long.

14 And the men took of their provisions and went away, and the Israelites did not ask counsel from the LORD.

15 And Joshua made peace with them, and he made a treaty with them to let them live; and the princes of the congregation swore to them.

16 And at the end of three days after they had made the treaty with them, they heard that they were their neighbors, and that they dwelt among them.

17 And the children of Israel journeyed, and came to their cities on the third day. Now the names of their cities were Gibeon, Chephirah, Aeerooth and Koriath-naarin.

18 And the children of Israel did not kill them, because the princes of the congregation had sworn to them by the LORD God of Israel. And the whole congregation murmured and were in an uproar against the princes.

19 But the princes said to the congregation, We have sworn to them by the LORD God of Israel; now therefore we cannot harm them.

20 This we will do to them: we will let them live, lest wrath be upon us, because of the oaths which we swore to them.

21 And the princes said to the children of Israel, Let them live; but let them become gatherers of wood and drawers of water to all the congregation; so they became gatherers of wood and drawers of water to all the congregation of the land; as the princes had promised them.

22 And Joshua called for them, and he said to them, Why have you deceived us, saying, We are very far from you, when you dwell among us?

23 Now therefore you are cursed, and there shall none of you be freed from being gatherers of wood and drawers of water for the house of God.

24 And they answered and said to Joshua, Because it was certainly told your servants that the LORD your God commanded Moses his servant to give you all the land and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you, therefore we were exceedingly afraid for our lives because of you, and have done this thing.

25 And now, behold, we are in your hands; do to us as it seems good in your sight.

26 And so Joshua did unto them, and delivered them out of the hand of the Israelites, and they did not slay them.

27 And Joshua made them that day gatherers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation and for the altar of the LORD, even to this day, in the place which he should choose.