Joshua 9

And when the kings of the Amorites heard—those beyond the Jordan, those in the hill country and those in the lowland and those along all the coast of the great sea, and those near Antilibanus, and the Chettites and the Canaanites and the Pherezites and the Hevites and the Amorites and the Gergesites and the Jebusites—

they gathered together in one place to make war on Joshua and Israel, all of them together. Then Joshua built an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, on Mount Gaibal, just as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded the sons of Israel, as it is written in the law of Moses: an altar of whole stones upon which no iron had been laid. And he offered up there whole burnt offerings to the Lord and a sacrifice of deliverance. And Joshua wrote upon the stones the Deuteronomy, the law of Moses, which he wrote before the sons of Israel. And all Israel and their elders and their judges and their scribes passed along on this side and on that side of the ark, opposite it, and the priests and the Levites carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord; and the sojourner and the native-born alike, half of them near Mount Garizin and half of them near Mount Gaibal, just as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded, to bless the people first. And after these things, so Joshua read all the words of this law, the blessings and the curses, according to all that is written in the law of Moses. There was not a word of all that Moses commanded Joshua which Joshua did not read in the ears of the whole assembly of the sons of Israel, to the men and to the women and to the children and to the sojourners who walked along with Israel.

And the inhabitants of Gabaon heard all that the Lord had done to Jericho and to Ai,

and they too acted with cunning: they went and provisioned themselves and made preparation, and they took old sacks upon their donkeys, and wineskins of wine, old and torn and bound up;

and the hollows of their shoes and their sandals were old and patched on their feet, and their garments were worn out upon them; and the bread of their provision was dry and moldy and crumbled.

And they came to Joshua at the camp of Israel at Galgala, and said to Joshua and to Israel: We have come from a distant land; and now make a covenant with us.

And the sons of Israel said to the Chorrite: See, perhaps you dwell among me; and how shall I make a covenant with you?

And they said to Joshua: We are your servants. And Joshua said to them: Where are you from, and from where have you come?

And they said: Your servants have come from a very distant land, in the name of the Lord your God; for we have heard his name and all that he did in Egypt,

and all that he did to the kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Seon king of Esebon and to Og king of Basan, who dwelt in Astaroth and in Edrain.

And when they heard, our elders and all the inhabitants of our land said to us: Take for yourselves provisions for the journey, and go to meet them, and say to them: We are your servants; and now make a covenant with us.

These loaves—we took them hot for our provision on the day we set out to come to you; but now they are dried up and have become crumbled.

And these wineskins of wine, which we filled when they were new—behold, they are torn; and our garments and our shoes have become very old from the very long journey.

And the leaders took of their provisions, but they did not inquire of the Lord.

And Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them to preserve them alive; and the leaders of the congregation swore to them.

And it happened three days after they had made a covenant with them, they heard that they were near them and that they dwelt among them.

And the sons of Israel set out and came to their cities; and their cities were Gabaon and Kephira and Beroth and the city of Iarin.

And the sons of Israel did not fight them, because all the leaders had sworn to them by the Lord, the God of Israel. And the whole congregation murmured against the leaders.

And the leaders said to the whole congregation: We have sworn to them by the Lord, the God of Israel; and now we cannot touch them.

This we will do: spare them alive and preserve them, so that there shall be no wrath against us because of the oath which we swore to them.

They shall live and shall be woodcutters and water-carriers for the whole congregation, just as the leaders said to them.

And Joshua called them together and said to them: Why did you deceive me, saying, We are very far from you, when you are natives of the land, among those who dwell among us?

And now you are cursed; there shall never cease from among you a slave or a woodcutter for me and for my God.

And they answered Joshua, saying: It was reported to us all that the Lord your God commanded Moses his servant, to give you this land and to destroy us and all who dwell upon it from before you; and we feared greatly for our lives before you, and we did this thing.

And now, behold, we are in your hands; as it pleases you and as seems good to you, so do to us.

And they did so to them, and Joshua delivered them on that day out of the hands of the sons of Israel, and they did not kill them.

And Joshua appointed them on that day woodcutters and water-carriers for the whole congregation and for the altar of God. Therefore the inhabitants of Gabaon became woodcutters and water-carriers for the altar of God until this day, and in the place which the Lord should choose.