Joshua 9:8-24

⁸and they say unto Joshua, 'Thy servants we are.' And Joshua saith unto them, 'Who are ye? and whence come ye?'

⁹And they say unto him, 'From a land very far off have thy servants come, for the name of Jehovah thy God, for we have heard His fame, and all that He hath done in Egypt,

¹⁰and all that He hath done to the two kings of the Amorite who are beyond the Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon, and to Og king of Bashan, who is in Ashtaroth.

¹¹'And our elders, and all the inhabitants of our land speak unto us, saying, Take in your hand provision for the way, and go to meet them, and ye have said unto them, Your servants we are, and now, make with us a covenant;

¹²this our bread — hot we provided ourselves with it out of our houses, on the day of our coming out to go unto you, and now, lo, it is dry, and hath been crumbs;

¹³and these are the wine-bottles which we filled, new, and lo, they have rent; and these, our garments and our sandals, have become old, from the exceeding greatness of the way.'

¹⁴And the men take of their provision, and the mouth of Jehovah have not asked;

¹⁵and Joshua maketh with them peace, and maketh with them a covenant, to keep them alive; and swear to them do the princes of the company.

¹⁶And it cometh to pass, at the end of three days after that they have made with them a covenant, that they hear that they are their neighbours — that in their midst they are dwelling.

¹⁷And the sons of Israel journey and come in unto their cities on the third day — and their cities are Gibeon, and Chephirah, and Beeroth, and Kirjath-Jearim —

¹⁸and the sons of Israel have not smitten them, for sworn to them have the princes of the company by Jehovah God of Israel, and all the company murmur against the princes.

¹⁹And all the princes say unto all the company, 'We — we have sworn to them by Jehovah, God of Israel; and now, we are not able to come against them;

²⁰this we do to them, and have kept them alive, and wrath is not upon us, because of the oath which we have sworn to them.'

²¹And the princes say unto them, 'They live, and are hewers of wood and drawers of water for all the company, as the princes spake to them.'

²²And Joshua calleth for them, and speaketh unto them, saying, 'Why have ye deceived us, saying, We are very far from you, and ye in our midst dwelling?

²³and now, cursed are ye, and none of you is cut off from being a servant, even hewers of wood and drawers of water, for the house of my God.'

²⁴And they answer Joshua and say, 'Because it was certainly declared to thy servants, that Jehovah thy God commanded Moses His servant to give to you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you; and we fear greatly for ourselves because of you, and we do this thing;