| King James Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1And it came to pass, when all the kings which were on this side Jordan, in the hills, and in the valleys, and in all the coasts of the great sea over against Lebanon, the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, heard thereof; | 1Now all the kings west of the Jordan River heard about what had happened. These were the kings of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who lived in the hill country, in the western foothills, and along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea as far north as the Lebanon mountains. |
| 2That they gathered themselves together, to fight with Joshua and with Israel, with one accord. | 2These kings combined their armies to fight as one against Joshua and the Israelites. |
| 3And when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done unto Jericho and to Ai, | 3But when the people of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, |
| 4They did work wilily, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors, and took old sacks upon their asses, and wine bottles, old, and rent, and bound up; | 4they resorted to deception to save themselves. They sent ambassadors to Joshua, loading their donkeys with weathered saddlebags and old, patched wineskins. |
| 5And old shoes and clouted upon their feet, and old garments upon them; and all the bread of their provision was dry and mouldy. | 5They put on worn-out, patched sandals and ragged clothes. And the bread they took with them was dry and moldy. |
| 6And they went to Joshua unto the camp at Gilgal, and said unto him, and to the men of Israel, We be come from a far country: now therefore make ye a league with us. | 6When they arrived at the camp of Israel at Gilgal, they told Joshua and the men of Israel, “We have come from a distant land to ask you to make a peace treaty with us.” |
| 7And the men of Israel said unto the Hivites, Peradventure ye dwell among us; and how shall we make a league with you? | 7The Israelites replied to these Hivites, “How do we know you don’t live nearby? For if you do, we cannot make a treaty with you.” |
| 8And they said unto Joshua, We are thy servants. And Joshua said unto them, Who are ye? and from whence come ye? | 8They replied, “We are your servants.” “But who are you?” Joshua demanded. “Where do you come from?” |
| 9And they said unto him, From a very far country thy servants are come because of the name of the LORD thy God: for we have heard the fame of him, and all that he did in Egypt, | 9They answered, “Your servants have come from a very distant country. We have heard of the might of the LORD your God and of all he did in Egypt. |
| 10And all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites, that were beyond Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon, and to Og king of Bashan, which was at Ashtaroth. | 10We have also heard what he did to the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan River—King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan (who lived in Ashtaroth). |
| 11Wherefore our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spake to us, saying, Take victuals with you for the journey, and go to meet them, and say unto them, We are your servants: therefore now make ye a league with us. | 11So our elders and all our people instructed us, ‘Take supplies for a long journey. Go meet with the people of Israel and tell them, “We are your servants; please make a treaty with us.”’ |
| 12This our bread we took hot for our provision out of our houses on the day we came forth to go unto you; but now, behold, it is dry, and it is mouldy: | 12“This bread was hot from the ovens when we left our homes. But now, as you can see, it is dry and moldy. |
| 13And these bottles of wine, which we filled, were new; and, behold, they be rent: and these our garments and our shoes are become old by reason of the very long journey. | 13These wineskins were new when we filled them, but now they are old and split open. And our clothing and sandals are worn out from our very long journey.” |
| 14And the men took of their victuals, and asked not counsel at the mouth of the LORD. | 14So the Israelites examined their food, but they did not consult the LORD. |
| 15And Joshua made peace with them, and made a league with them, to let them live: and the princes of the congregation sware unto them. | 15Then Joshua made a peace treaty with them and guaranteed their safety, and the leaders of the community ratified their agreement with a binding oath. |
| 16And it came to pass at the end of three days after they had made a league with them, that they heard that they were their neighbours, and that they dwelt among them. | 16Three days after making the treaty, they learned that these people actually lived nearby! |
| 17And the children of Israel journeyed, and came unto their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, and Chephirah, and Beeroth, and Kirjathjearim. | 17The Israelites set out at once to investigate and reached their towns in three days. The names of these towns were Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim. |
| 18And the children of Israel smote them not, because the princes of the congregation had sworn unto them by the LORD God of Israel. And all the congregation murmured against the princes. | 18But the Israelites did not attack the towns, for the Israelite leaders had made a vow to them in the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. The people of Israel grumbled against their leaders because of the treaty. |
| 19But all the princes said unto all the congregation, We have sworn unto them by the LORD God of Israel: now therefore we may not touch them. | 19But the leaders replied, “Since we have sworn an oath in the presence of the LORD, the God of Israel, we cannot touch them. |
| 20This we will do to them; we will even let them live, lest wrath be upon us, because of the oath which we sware unto them. | 20This is what we must do. We must let them live, for divine anger would come upon us if we broke our oath. |
| 21And the princes said unto them, Let them live; but let them be hewers of wood and drawers of water unto all the congregation; as the princes had promised them. | 21Let them live.” So they made them woodcutters and water carriers for the entire community, as the Israelite leaders directed. |
| 22And Joshua called for them, and he spake unto them, saying, Wherefore have ye beguiled us, saying, We are very far from you; when ye dwell among us? | 22Joshua called together the Gibeonites and said, “Why did you lie to us? Why did you say that you live in a distant land when you live right here among us? |
| 23Now therefore ye are cursed, and there shall none of you be freed from being bondmen, and hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God. | 23May you be cursed! From now on you will always be servants who cut wood and carry water for the house of my God.” |
| 24And they answered Joshua, and said, Because it was certainly told thy servants, how that the LORD thy God commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you, therefore we were sore afraid of our lives because of you, and have done this thing. | 24They replied, “We did it because we—your servants—were clearly told that the LORD your God commanded his servant Moses to give you this entire land and to destroy all the people living in it. So we feared greatly for our lives because of you. That is why we have done this. |
| 25And now, behold, we are in thine hand: as it seemeth good and right unto thee to do unto us, do. | 25Now we are at your mercy—do to us whatever you think is right.” |
| 26And so did he unto them, and delivered them out of the hand of the children of Israel, that they slew them not. | 26So Joshua did not allow the people of Israel to kill them. |
| 27And Joshua made them that day hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation, and for the altar of the LORD, even unto this day, in the place which he should choose. | 27But that day he made the Gibeonites the woodcutters and water carriers for the community of Israel and for the altar of the LORD—wherever the LORD would choose to build it. And that is what they do to this day. |
| King James Bible, text courtesy of BibleProtector.com. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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