Joshua 9:3-9

³When the people who lived in Gibeon city heard that Joshua's army had defeated the people of Jericho and Ai,

⁴they decided to trick the Israelis. They gathered some old sacks and some old leather wine bags that had been mended after they were cracked, and they put these on the backs of their donkeys.

⁵They put on old sandals that had been patched, and wore old ragged clothes. And they took along bread that was dry and moldy.

⁶They traveled to where Joshua and the other Israelis had set up their tents near Gilgal. They said to Joshua and the other Israeli leaders, “We have traveled from a distant land. We want you to make a peace agreement with us.”

⁷The Israeli leaders said to those men from Gilead who were from the Hiv people-group, “ We do not know if you truly live far from us. If you live near us, we cannot RHQ make a peace agreement with you, because God has commanded us to get rid of the people that are living near us.”

⁸They replied to Joshua, “ If you make a peace agreement with us, we will be your servants.” But Joshua answered, “What people-group are you? Where do you come from?”

⁹The men from Gibeon answered, “We want to be your servants. We have come here from a distant land, because we have heard about the great things that your god has done. We have heard about everything that he did in Egypt to help you.