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Joshua 7-9
Contemporary English Version

Achan Is Punished for Stealing from the Lord

7 The Lord had said that everything in Jericho belonged to him.[a] But Achan[b] from the Judah tribe took some of the things from Jericho for himself. And so the Lord was angry with the Israelites, because one of them had disobeyed him.[c]

2 While Israel was still camped near Jericho, Joshua sent some spies with these instructions: “Go to the town of Ai[d] and find out whatever you can about the region around the town.”

The spies left and went to Ai, which is east of Bethel and near Beth-Aven. 3 They went back to Joshua and reported, “You don't need to send the whole army to attack Ai—2,000 or 3,000 troops will be enough. Why bother the whole army for a town that small?”

4-5 Joshua sent about 3,000 soldiers to attack Ai. But the men of Ai fought back and chased the Israelite soldiers away from the town gate and down the hill to the stone quarries.[e] Thirty-six Israelite soldiers were killed, and the Israelite army felt discouraged.

6 Joshua and the leaders of Israel tore their clothes and put dirt on their heads to show their sorrow. They lay facedown on the ground in front of the sacred chest until sunset. 7 Then Joshua said:

Our Lord, did you bring us across the Jordan River just so the Amorites could destroy us? This wouldn't have happened if we had agreed to stay on the other side of the Jordan. 8 I don't even know what to say to you, since Israel's army has turned and run from the enemy. 9 Everyone will think you weren't strong enough to protect your people. Now the Canaanites and everyone else who lives in the land will surround us and wipe us out.

10 The Lord answered:

Stop lying there on the ground! Get up! 11 I said everything in Jericho belonged to me and had to be destroyed. But the Israelites have kept some of the things for themselves. They stole from me and hid what they took. Then they lied about it. 12 What they stole was supposed to be destroyed, and now Israel itself must be destroyed. I cannot help you anymore until you do exactly what I have said. That's why Israel turns and runs from its enemies instead of standing up to them.

13 Tell the people of Israel, “Tomorrow you will meet with the Lord your God, so make yourselves acceptable to worship him. The Lord says that you have taken things that should have been destroyed. You won't be able to stand up to your enemies until you get rid of those things.

14 “Tomorrow morning everyone must gather near the place of worship. You will come forward tribe by tribe, and the Lord will show which tribe is guilty. Next, the clans in that tribe must come forward, and the Lord will show which clan is guilty. The families in that clan must come, and the Lord will point out the guilty family. Finally, the men in that family must come, 15 and the Lord will show who stole what should have been destroyed. That man must be put to death, his body burned, and his possessions thrown into the fire. He has done a terrible thing by breaking the sacred agreement that the Lord made with Israel.”

16 Joshua got up early the next morning and brought each tribe to the place of worship, where the Lord showed that the Judah tribe was guilty. 17 Then Joshua brought the clans of Judah to the Lord, and the Lord showed that the Zerah clan was guilty. One by one he brought the leader of each family in the Zerah clan to the Lord, and the Lord showed that Zabdi's family was guilty. 18 Finally, Joshua brought each man in Zabdi's family to the Lord, and the Lord showed that Achan was the guilty one.

19 “Achan,” Joshua said, “the Lord God of Israel has decided that you are guilty. So tell me what you did, and don't try to hide anything.”

20 “It's true,” Achan answered. “I sinned and disobeyed the Lord God of Israel. 21-22 While we were in Jericho, I saw a beautiful Babylonian robe, 200 pieces of silver, and a gold bar that weighed the same as 50 pieces of gold. I wanted them for myself, so I took them. I dug a hole under my tent and hid the silver, the gold, and the robe.”

Joshua told some people to run to Achan's tent, where they found the silver, the gold, and the robe. 23 They brought them back and put them in front of the sacred chest, so Joshua and the rest of the Israelites could see them. 24 Then everyone took Achan and the things he had stolen to Trouble Valley.[f] They also took along his sons and daughters, his cattle, donkeys, and sheep, his tent, and everything else that belonged to him.

25 Joshua said, “Achan, you caused us a lot of trouble. Now the Lord is paying you back with the same kind of trouble.”

The people of Israel then stoned to death Achan and his family. They made a fire and burned the bodies, together with what Achan had stolen, and all his possessions. 26 They covered the remains with a big pile of rocks, which is still there. Then the Lord stopped being angry with Israel.

That's how the place came to be called Trouble Valley.

Israel Destroys the Town of Ai

8 1-2 The Lord told Joshua:

Don't be afraid, and don't be discouraged by what happened at the town of Ai. Take the army and attack again. But first, order part of the army to set up an ambush on the other side of the town. I will help you defeat the king of Ai and his army, and you will capture the town and the land around it. Destroy Ai and kill its king as you did at Jericho. But you may keep the livestock and everything else you want.

3-4 Joshua quickly got the army ready to attack Ai. He chose 30,000 of his best soldiers and gave them these orders:

Tonight, while it is dark, march to Ai and take up a position behind the town. Get as close to the town as you can without being seen, and be ready to attack.

5-6 The rest of the army will come with me and attack near the gate. When the people of Ai come out to fight, we'll run away and let them chase us. They will think we are running from them just like the first time. But when we've let them chase us far enough away, 7 you come out of hiding. The Lord our God will help you capture the town. 8 Then set it on fire, as the Lord has told us to do. Those are your orders, 9 now go!

The 30,000 soldiers went to a place on the west side of Ai, between Ai and Bethel, where they could hide and wait to attack.

That night, Joshua stayed in camp with the rest of the army. 10 Early the next morning he got his troops ready to move out, and he and the other leaders of Israel led them to Ai. 11 They set up camp in full view of the town, across the valley to the north. 12 Joshua had already sent 5,000 soldiers to the west side of the town to hide and wait to attack. 13 Now all his troops were in place. Part of the army was in the camp to the north of Ai, and the others were hiding to the west, ready to make a surprise attack. That night, Joshua went into the valley.[g]

14-15 The king of Ai saw Joshua's army, so the king and his troops hurried out early the next morning to fight them. Joshua and his army pretended to be beaten, and they let the men of Ai chase them toward the desert. The king and his army were facing the Jordan valley as Joshua had planned.

The king did not realize that some Israelite soldiers were hiding behind the town. 16-17 So he called out every man in Ai to go after Joshua's troops. They all rushed out to chase the Israelite army, and they left the town gates wide open. Not one man was left in Ai or in Bethel.[h]

Joshua let the men of Ai chase him and his army farther and farther away from Ai. 18 Finally, the Lord told Joshua, “Point your sword[i] at the town of Ai, because now I am going to help you defeat it!”

As soon as Joshua pointed his sword at the town, 19 the soldiers who had been hiding jumped up and ran into the town. They captured it and set it on fire.

20-21 When Joshua and his troops saw smoke rising from the town, they knew that the other part of their army had captured it. So they turned and attacked.

The men of Ai looked back and saw smoke rising from their town. But they could not escape, because the soldiers they had been chasing had suddenly turned and started fighting. 22-24 Meanwhile, the other Israelite soldiers had come from the town and attacked the men of Ai from the rear. The Israelites captured the king of Ai and brought him to Joshua. They also chased the rest of the men of Ai into the desert and killed them.[j]

The Israelite army went back to Ai and killed everyone there. 25-26 Joshua kept his sword pointed at the town of Ai until every last one of Ai's 12,000 people was dead. 27 But the Israelites took the animals and the other possessions of the people of Ai, because this was what the Lord had told Joshua to do.

28-29 Joshua made sure every building in Ai was burned to the ground. He told his men to kill the king of Ai and hang his body on a tree. Then at sunset he told the Israelites to take down the body,[k] throw it in the gateway of the town, and cover it with a big pile of rocks. Those rocks are still there, and the town itself has never been rebuilt.

Joshua Reads the Blessings and Curses

(Deuteronomy 27.1-26)

30-32 (A) One day, Joshua led the people of Israel to Mount Ebal, where he told some of his men, “Build an altar for offering sacrifices to the Lord. And use stones that have never been cut with iron tools,[l] because that is what Moses taught in The Book of the Law.”[m]

Joshua offered sacrifices to please the Lord[n] and to ask his blessing.[o] Then with the Israelites still watching, he copied parts of The Book of the Law[p] of Moses onto stones.

33-35 (B) Moses had said that everyone in Israel was to go to the valley between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, where they were to be blessed. So everyone went there, including the foreigners, the leaders, officials, and judges. Half of the people stood on one side of the valley, and half on the other side, with the priests from the Levi tribe standing in the middle with the sacred chest. Then in a loud voice, Joshua read the blessings and curses from The Book of the Law[q] of Moses.[r]

The People of Gibeon Trick the Leaders of Israel

9 1-2 The kings west of the Jordan River heard about Joshua's victories, so they got together and decided to attack Joshua and Israel. These kings were from the hill country and from the foothills to the west, as well as from the Mediterranean seacoast as far north as the Lebanon Mountains. Some of them were Hittites, others were Amorites or Canaanites, and still others were Perizzites, Hivites, or Jebusites.

3 The people of Gibeon had also heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai. 4 So they decided that some of their men should pretend to be messengers to Israel from a faraway country.[s] The men put worn-out bags on their donkeys and found some old wineskins that had cracked and had been sewn back together. 5 Their sandals were old and patched, and their clothes were worn out. They even took along some dry and crumbly bread. 6 Then they went to the Israelite camp at Gilgal, where they said to Joshua and the men of Israel, “We have come from a country that is far from here. Please make a peace treaty with us.”

7-8 (C) The Israelites replied, “But maybe you really live near us. We can't make a peace treaty with you if you live nearby.”[t]

The Gibeonites[u] said, “If you make a peace treaty with us, we will be your servants.”

“Who are you?” Joshua asked. “Where do you come from?”

They answered:

9 We are your servants, and we live far from here. We came because the Lord your God is so famous. We heard what the Lord did in Egypt 10 (D) and what he did to those two Amorite kings on the other side of the Jordan: King Og of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth, and King Sihon of Heshbon.

11 Our leaders and everyone who lives in our country told us to meet with you and tell you that all of us are your servants. They said to ask you to make a peace treaty with our people. They told us to be sure and take along enough food for our journey. 12 See this dry, crumbly bread of ours? It was hot out of the oven when we packed the food on the day we left our homes. 13 These cracked wineskins were new when we filled them, and our clothes and sandals are worn out because we have traveled so far.

14 The Israelites tried some of the food,[v] but they did not ask the Lord if he wanted them to make a treaty. 15 So Joshua made a peace treaty with the messengers and promised that Israel would not kill their people. Israel's leaders swore that Israel would keep this promise.

16-17 A couple of days later,[w] the Israelites found out that these people actually lived in the nearby towns of Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-Jearim.[x] So the Israelites left the place where they had camped and arrived at the four towns two days later.[y] 18 But they did not attack the towns, because the Israelite leaders had sworn in the name of the Lord that they would let these people live.

The Israelites complained about their leaders' decision not to attack, 19-21 but the leaders reminded them, “We promised these people in the name of the Lord God of Israel that we would let them live, so we must not harm them. If we break our promise, God will punish us. We'll let them live, but we'll make them cut wood and carry water for our people.”

22 Joshua told some of his soldiers, “I want to meet with the Gibeonite leaders. Bring them here.”

When the Gibeonites came, Joshua said, “You live close to us. Why did you lie by claiming you lived far away? 23 So now you are under a curse, and from now on your people will have to send workers to cut wood and carry water for the place of worship.”[z]

24 The Gibeonites answered, “The Lord your God told his servant Moses that you were to kill everyone who lives here and take their land for yourselves. We were afraid you would kill us, and so we tricked you into making a peace treaty. But we agreed to be your servants, 25 and you are strong enough to do anything to us that you want. We just ask you to do what seems right.”

26 Joshua did not let the Israelites kill the Gibeonites, 27 but he did tell the Gibeonites that they would have to be servants of the nation of Israel. They would have to cut firewood and bring it for the priests to use for burning sacrifices on the Lord's altar, wherever the Lord decided the altar would be. The Gibeonites would also have to carry water for the priests. And that is still the work of the Gibeonites.

Footnotes

  1. 7.1 belonged to him: See the note at 6.17.
  2. 7.1 Achan: The Hebrew text has “Achan, son of Carmi, grandson of Abdi, and great-grandson of Zerah.”
  3. 7.1 the Lord was angry … disobeyed him: Even though only one person had disobeyed, it meant that the Lords instructions to the people of Israel had not been followed, and the whole nation was held responsible.
  4. 7.2 of Ai: Or “called The Ruins.”
  5. 7.4,5 stone quarries: Or “Shebarim.”
  6. 7.24 Trouble Valley: Or “Achor Valley.”
  7. 8.13 valley: This may refer either to the Jordan River valley or to the valley between the Israelite camp and Ai.
  8. 8.16,17 Ai or in Bethel: Hebrew; one ancient translation “Ai.”
  9. 8.18 sword: Or “spear.”
  10. 8.22-24 Joshua. They also chased … them: Or “Joshua. The men of Ai had chased the Israelites into the desert, but the Israelites killed them there.”
  11. 8.28,29 take down the body: See Deuteronomy 21.22,23.
  12. 8.30-32 use stones … iron tools: See Exodus 20.25.
  13. 8.30-32 taught … Law: Or “commanded … Teachings.”
  14. 8.30-32 sacrifices to please the Lord: These sacrifices have been traditionally called “whole burnt offerings” because the whole animal was burned on the altar. A main purpose of such sacrifices was to please the Lord with the smell of the sacrifice, and so in the CEV they are often called “sacrifices to please the Lord.”
  15. 8.30-32 to ask his blessing: These sacrifices have traditionally been called “peace offerings,” or “offerings of well-being.” A main purpose was to ask for the Lord's blessing, and so in the CEV they are often called “sacrifices to ask the Lord's blessing.”
  16. 8.30-32 Law: Or “Teachings.”
  17. 8.33-35 Law: Or “Teachings.”
  18. 8.33-35 the blessings … Moses: Or “all of The Book of the Law of Moses, including the blessings and the curses.”
  19. 9.4 So … country: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  20. 9.7,8 nearby: See Deuteronomy 20.10-18.
  21. 9.7,8 Gibeonites: Hebrew “Hivites.”
  22. 9.14 tried … food: Probably to see if it really was old or to show that they wanted peace.
  23. 9.16,17 A couple … later: The Hebrew text has “At the end of three days,” meaning two days after the day the treaty was made.
  24. 9.16,17 Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-Jearim: These towns were 30 to 50 kilometers west of the Israelite camp at Gilgal.
  25. 9.16,17 A couple of days … later: Or “A couple of days later, the Israelites moved their camp to the area near the towns of Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-Jearim. When they arrived, they realized that they had made a peace treaty with the people of these nearby towns!”
  26. 9.23 the place of worship: The Hebrew text has “God's house,” which at that time was the sacred tent.
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Joshua 7-9
New International Version

Achan’s Sin

7 But the Israelites were unfaithful in regard to the devoted things[a];(A) Achan(B) son of Karmi, the son of Zimri,[b] the son of Zerah,(C) of the tribe of Judah,(D) took some of them. So the Lord’s anger burned(E) against Israel.(F)

2 Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai,(G) which is near Beth Aven(H) to the east of Bethel,(I) and told them, “Go up and spy out(J) the region.” So the men went up and spied out Ai.

3 When they returned to Joshua, they said, “Not all the army will have to go up against Ai. Send two or three thousand men to take it and do not weary the whole army, for only a few people live there.” 4 So about three thousand went up; but they were routed by the men of Ai,(K) 5 who killed about thirty-six(L) of them. They chased the Israelites from the city gate as far as the stone quarries and struck them down on the slopes. At this the hearts of the people melted in fear(M) and became like water.

6 Then Joshua tore his clothes(N) and fell facedown(O) to the ground before the ark of the Lord, remaining there till evening.(P) The elders of Israel(Q) did the same, and sprinkled dust(R) on their heads. 7 And Joshua said, “Alas, Sovereign Lord, why(S) did you ever bring this people across the Jordan to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us?(T) If only we had been content to stay on the other side of the Jordan! 8 Pardon your servant, Lord. What can I say, now that Israel has been routed by its enemies? 9 The Canaanites and the other people of the country will hear about this and they will surround us and wipe out our name from the earth.(U) What then will you do for your own great name?(V)”

10 The Lord said to Joshua, “Stand up! What are you doing down on your face? 11 Israel has sinned;(W) they have violated my covenant,(X) which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied,(Y) they have put them with their own possessions.(Z) 12 That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies;(AA) they turn their backs(AB) and run(AC) because they have been made liable to destruction.(AD) I will not be with you anymore(AE) unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction.

13 “Go, consecrate the people. Tell them, ‘Consecrate yourselves(AF) in preparation for tomorrow; for this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: There are devoted things among you, Israel. You cannot stand against your enemies until you remove them.

14 “‘In the morning, present(AG) yourselves tribe by tribe. The tribe the Lord chooses(AH) shall come forward clan by clan; the clan the Lord chooses shall come forward family by family; and the family the Lord chooses shall come forward man by man. 15 Whoever is caught with the devoted things(AI) shall be destroyed by fire,(AJ) along with all that belongs to him.(AK) He has violated the covenant(AL) of the Lord and has done an outrageous thing in Israel!’”(AM)

16 Early the next morning Joshua had Israel come forward by tribes, and Judah was chosen. 17 The clans of Judah came forward, and the Zerahites were chosen.(AN) He had the clan of the Zerahites come forward by families, and Zimri was chosen. 18 Joshua had his family come forward man by man, and Achan son of Karmi, the son of Zimri, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah,(AO) was chosen.(AP)

19 Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory(AQ) to the Lord, the God of Israel, and honor him. Tell(AR) me what you have done; do not hide it from me.”

20 Achan replied, “It is true! I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel. This is what I have done: 21 When I saw in the plunder(AS) a beautiful robe from Babylonia,[c] two hundred shekels[d] of silver and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels,[e] I coveted(AT) them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”

22 So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent, and there it was, hidden in his tent, with the silver underneath. 23 They took the things from the tent, brought them to Joshua and all the Israelites and spread them out before the Lord.

24 Then Joshua, together with all Israel, took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the robe, the gold bar, his sons(AU) and daughters, his cattle, donkeys and sheep, his tent and all that he had, to the Valley of Achor.(AV) 25 Joshua said, “Why have you brought this trouble(AW) on us? The Lord will bring trouble on you today.”

Then all Israel stoned him,(AX) and after they had stoned the rest, they burned them.(AY) 26 Over Achan they heaped(AZ) up a large pile of rocks, which remains to this day.(BA) Then the Lord turned from his fierce anger.(BB) Therefore that place has been called the Valley of Achor[f](BC) ever since.

Ai Destroyed

8 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid;(BD) do not be discouraged.(BE) Take the whole army(BF) with you, and go up and attack Ai.(BG) For I have delivered(BH) into your hands the king of Ai, his people, his city and his land. 2 You shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king, except that you may carry off their plunder(BI) and livestock for yourselves.(BJ) Set an ambush(BK) behind the city.”

3 So Joshua and the whole army moved out to attack Ai. He chose thirty thousand of his best fighting men and sent them out at night 4 with these orders: “Listen carefully. You are to set an ambush behind the city. Don’t go very far from it. All of you be on the alert. 5 I and all those with me will advance on the city, and when the men come out against us, as they did before, we will flee from them. 6 They will pursue us until we have lured them away from the city, for they will say, ‘They are running away from us as they did before.’ So when we flee from them, 7 you are to rise up from ambush and take the city. The Lord your God will give it into your hand.(BL) 8 When you have taken the city, set it on fire.(BM) Do what the Lord has commanded.(BN) See to it; you have my orders.”

9 Then Joshua sent them off, and they went to the place of ambush(BO) and lay in wait between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai—but Joshua spent that night with the people.

10 Early the next morning(BP) Joshua mustered his army, and he and the leaders of Israel(BQ) marched before them to Ai. 11 The entire force that was with him marched up and approached the city and arrived in front of it. They set up camp north of Ai, with the valley between them and the city. 12 Joshua had taken about five thousand men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city. 13 So the soldiers took up their positions—with the main camp to the north of the city and the ambush to the west of it. That night Joshua went into the valley.

14 When the king of Ai saw this, he and all the men of the city hurried out early in the morning to meet Israel in battle at a certain place overlooking the Arabah.(BR) But he did not know(BS) that an ambush had been set against him behind the city. 15 Joshua and all Israel let themselves be driven back(BT) before them, and they fled toward the wilderness.(BU) 16 All the men of Ai were called to pursue them, and they pursued Joshua and were lured away(BV) from the city. 17 Not a man remained in Ai or Bethel who did not go after Israel. They left the city open and went in pursuit of Israel.

18 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Hold out toward Ai the javelin(BW) that is in your hand,(BX) for into your hand I will deliver the city.” So Joshua held out toward the city the javelin that was in his hand.(BY) 19 As soon as he did this, the men in the ambush rose quickly(BZ) from their position and rushed forward. They entered the city and captured it and quickly set it on fire.(CA)

20 The men of Ai looked back and saw the smoke of the city rising up into the sky,(CB) but they had no chance to escape in any direction; the Israelites who had been fleeing toward the wilderness had turned back against their pursuers. 21 For when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city and that smoke was going up from it, they turned around(CC) and attacked the men of Ai. 22 Those in the ambush also came out of the city against them, so that they were caught in the middle, with Israelites on both sides. Israel cut them down, leaving them neither survivors nor fugitives.(CD) 23 But they took the king of Ai alive(CE) and brought him to Joshua.

24 When Israel had finished killing all the men of Ai in the fields and in the wilderness where they had chased them, and when every one of them had been put to the sword, all the Israelites returned to Ai and killed those who were in it. 25 Twelve thousand men and women fell that day—all the people of Ai.(CF) 26 For Joshua did not draw back the hand that held out his javelin(CG) until he had destroyed[g](CH) all who lived in Ai.(CI) 27 But Israel did carry off for themselves the livestock and plunder of this city, as the Lord had instructed Joshua.(CJ)

28 So Joshua burned(CK) Ai[h](CL) and made it a permanent heap of ruins,(CM) a desolate place to this day.(CN) 29 He impaled the body of the king of Ai on a pole and left it there until evening. At sunset,(CO) Joshua ordered them to take the body from the pole and throw it down at the entrance of the city gate. And they raised a large pile of rocks(CP) over it, which remains to this day.

The Covenant Renewed at Mount Ebal

30 Then Joshua built on Mount Ebal(CQ) an altar(CR) to the Lord, the God of Israel, 31 as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded the Israelites. He built it according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses—an altar of uncut stones, on which no iron tool(CS) had been used. On it they offered to the Lord burnt offerings and sacrificed fellowship offerings.(CT) 32 There, in the presence of the Israelites, Joshua wrote on stones a copy of the law of Moses.(CU) 33 All the Israelites, with their elders, officials and judges, were standing on both sides of the ark of the covenant of the Lord, facing the Levitical(CV) priests who carried it. Both the foreigners living among them and the native-born(CW) were there. Half of the people stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal,(CX) as Moses the servant of the Lord had formerly commanded when he gave instructions to bless the people of Israel.

34 Afterward, Joshua read all the words of the law—the blessings and the curses—just as it is written in the Book of the Law.(CY) 35 There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded that Joshua did not read to the whole assembly of Israel, including the women and children, and the foreigners who lived among them.(CZ)

The Gibeonite Deception

9 Now when all the kings west of the Jordan heard about these things—the kings in the hill country,(DA) in the western foothills, and along the entire coast of the Mediterranean Sea(DB) as far as Lebanon(DC) (the kings of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites,(DD) Hivites(DE) and Jebusites)(DF)— 2 they came together to wage war against Joshua and Israel.

3 However, when the people of Gibeon(DG) heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai,(DH) 4 they resorted to a ruse: They went as a delegation whose donkeys were loaded[i] with worn-out sacks and old wineskins, cracked and mended. 5 They put worn and patched sandals on their feet and wore old clothes. All the bread of their food supply was dry and moldy. 6 Then they went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal(DI) and said to him and the Israelites, “We have come from a distant country;(DJ) make a treaty(DK) with us.”

7 The Israelites said to the Hivites,(DL) “But perhaps you live near us, so how can we make a treaty(DM) with you?”

8 “We are your servants,(DN)” they said to Joshua.

But Joshua asked, “Who are you and where do you come from?”

9 They answered: “Your servants have come from a very distant country(DO) because of the fame of the Lord your God. For we have heard reports(DP) of him: all that he did in Egypt,(DQ) 10 and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan—Sihon king of Heshbon,(DR) and Og king of Bashan,(DS) who reigned in Ashtaroth.(DT) 11 And our elders and all those living in our country said to us, ‘Take provisions for your journey; go and meet them and say to them, “We are your servants; make a treaty with us.”’ 12 This bread of ours was warm when we packed it at home on the day we left to come to you. But now see how dry and moldy it is. 13 And these wineskins that we filled were new, but see how cracked they are. And our clothes and sandals are worn out by the very long journey.”

14 The Israelites sampled their provisions but did not inquire(DU) of the Lord. 15 Then Joshua made a treaty of peace(DV) with them to let them live,(DW) and the leaders of the assembly ratified it by oath.

16 Three days after they made the treaty with the Gibeonites, the Israelites heard that they were neighbors, living near(DX) them. 17 So the Israelites set out and on the third day came to their cities: Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth(DY) and Kiriath Jearim.(DZ) 18 But the Israelites did not attack them, because the leaders of the assembly had sworn an oath(EA) to them by the Lord, the God of Israel.

The whole assembly grumbled(EB) against the leaders, 19 but all the leaders answered, “We have given them our oath by the Lord, the God of Israel, and we cannot touch them now. 20 This is what we will do to them: We will let them live, so that God’s wrath will not fall on us for breaking the oath(EC) we swore to them.” 21 They continued, “Let them live,(ED) but let them be woodcutters and water carriers(EE) in the service of the whole assembly.” So the leaders’ promise to them was kept.

22 Then Joshua summoned the Gibeonites and said, “Why did you deceive us by saying, ‘We live a long way(EF) from you,’ while actually you live near(EG) us? 23 You are now under a curse:(EH) You will never be released from service as woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God.”

24 They answered Joshua, “Your servants were clearly told(EI) how the Lord your God had commanded his servant Moses to give you the whole land and to wipe out all its inhabitants from before you. So we feared for our lives because of you, and that is why we did this. 25 We are now in your hands.(EJ) Do to us whatever seems good and right(EK) to you.”

26 So Joshua saved them from the Israelites, and they did not kill them. 27 That day he made the Gibeonites(EL) woodcutters and water carriers(EM) for the assembly, to provide for the needs of the altar of the Lord at the place the Lord would choose.(EN) And that is what they are to this day.

Footnotes

  1. Joshua 7:1 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them; also in verses 11, 12, 13 and 15.
  2. Joshua 7:1 See Septuagint and 1 Chron. 2:6; Hebrew Zabdi; also in verses 17 and 18.
  3. Joshua 7:21 Hebrew Shinar
  4. Joshua 7:21 That is, about 5 pounds or about 2.3 kilograms
  5. Joshua 7:21 That is, about 1 1/4 pounds or about 575 grams
  6. Joshua 7:26 Achor means trouble.
  7. Joshua 8:26 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them.
  8. Joshua 8:28 Ai means the ruin.
  9. Joshua 9:4 Most Hebrew manuscripts; some Hebrew manuscripts, Vulgate and Syriac (see also Septuagint) They prepared provisions and loaded their donkeys
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