Joshua 9 When the kings of the Amorites, who dwelt on the border of the Jordan, and those in the hilly country, and those in the plain, and those along the coast of the great sea, and those bordering on Antilibanus, namely the Chettites, and the Chananites, and the Pherezites, and the Evites, and the Amorites, and the Gergasites, and the Jebusites, heard of these things,

Thomson⁽ⁱ⁾ ¹ When the kings of the Amorites, who dwelt on the border of the Jordan, and those in the hilly country, and those in the plain, and those along the coast of the great sea, and those bordering on Antilibanus, namely the Chettites, and the Chananites, and the Pherezites, and the Evites, and the Amorites, and the Gergasites, and the Jebusites, heard of these things, ² they assembled together to attack Joshua and Israel, all at the same time. ³ Now when the inhabitants of Gabaon heard all that the Lord had done to Jericho, and Gai, they acted with subtilty. ⁴ They went and furnished themselves with provisions, and made other suitable preparations, and taking old bags on their shoulders, and old skins of wine which were cracked, and bound up, ⁵ and shoes for their feet, the under part of which were hollow, and the upper part old and clouted, and the garments they put on being worn out, and the bread for their journey dry, mouldy, and worm eaten, ⁶ they came to Joshua, to the camp of Israel, at Galgala, and said to Joshua and Israel, We are come from a far distant land, now therefore make a covenant with us. ⁷ And the children of Israel said to the Chorrite, Perhaps thou dwellest near me; how then can I make a covenant with thee? ⁸ Thereupon they said to Joshua, We are thy servants. And Joshua said to them, Whence are you? And whence come you? ⁹ And they said, Thy servants are come from a very far distant country, because of the name of the Lord thy God; for we have heard of his name, and of all that he hath done in Egypt, ¹⁰ and what he hath done to the kings of the Amorites, who were on the border of the Jordan, to Seon king of the Amorites, and to Og the king of Basan, who dwelt at Asteroth and Edrain. ¹¹ At the news of which, our elders and all the inhabitants of our land spoke to us saying, Take for yourselves provisions for the journey, and go and meet them, and say to them, We are thy servants; make a covenant with us. ¹² These loaves we took hot for our journey, on the day we set out to come to you; but now they are dry, and become mouldy; ¹³ these skins of wine were filled new; but they are cracked; and these our garments, and our shoes, are worn out with the length of the journey. ¹⁴ Then the rulers took some of their provisions, and did not consult the Lord. ¹⁵ And Joshua made peace with them, and they entered into a covenant with them to save their lives; and the chiefs of the congregation sword to them. ¹⁶ But three days after they had entered into covenant with them, they heard that they were in the neighbourhood, and dwelt close by them. ¹⁷ Whereupon the children of Israel removed, and came to their cities. Now their cities were Gabaon, and Kephira, and Berot, and the cities of Jarim; ¹⁸ But the children of Israel did not make war on them, because all the chiefs had sworn to them by the Lord the God of Israel. ¹⁹ When all the congregation murmured at the chiefs, the chiefs said to all the congregation, We have sworn to them by the Lord the God of Israel; now therefore we cannot touch them. ²⁰ This we will do. We will let them live and protect them; that there may be no wrath against us because of the oath which we have sworn to them. ²¹ They shall live; but they shall be hewers of wood, and drawers of water for all the congregation, as the chiefs have said to them. ²² For Joshua had called them, and said to them, Why did you impose upon me saying, We are far distant from thee, seeing you are our nearest neighbour? ²³ Now therefore you are cursed, and not one of you shall escape servitude; from being a hewer of wood, and a drawer of water, for me and my God. ²⁴ And they answered Joshua saying, We were told all that the Lord thy God commanded his servant Moses, to give yon this land, and to extirpate us, and all the inhabitants thereof from before you, therefore we were in great terror for our lives because of you, and we did this. ²⁵ And now behold we are in your power, deal with us as you please, and as it seemeth good to you. ²⁶ So they dealt with them in this manner, and Joshua saved them that day out of the hand of the Israelites, and they did not destroy them. ²⁷ And on that day Joshua made them hewers of wood, and drawers of water, for the whole congregation, and for the altar of God. For this cause the inhabitants of Gabaon are hewers of wood, and drawers of water, for the altar of God, even at this day, and are to be so for the place which the Lord will chuse.