1.ANd when all the Kings yͤ were be ^a yond Iordén, in the mountaines & in the valleis, and by all the coaſtes of the ^b great Sea ouer againſt Lebanón (as the Hittites, & yͤ Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hiuites, & the Iebuſites) heard thereof,

2.They gathered them ſelues together, to fight againſt Ioſhúa, & againſt Iſraél with one ^" accord.

3.^* But the inhabitants of Gibeón heard what Ioſhúa had done vnto Ierichó, and to Aí.

4.And therefore they wroght craftely: for they went, and fained them ſelues embaſſadours and toke olde ſackes vpon their aſſes, and olde bottels for wine, bothe rent & ^c bounde vp,

5.And olde ſhooes and clouted vpon their fete: alſo the raiment vpon them was olde, & all their prouiſion of bread was dried, & mouled.

6.So they came vnto Ioſhúa into the hoſte to Gilgál, & ſaid vnto him, and vnto the men of Iſraél, We be come from a farre countrey: now therefore make a league with vs.

7.Thẽ the men of Iſraél ſaid vnto the ^d Hiuites, It may be that thou dwelleſt among vs, how then can I make a league with thee?

8.And they ſaid vnto Ioſhúa, We are thy ſeruãts. Then Ioſhúa ſaid vnto thẽ, Who are ye? & whence come ye?

9.And they anſwered him, From a very far countrey thy ſeruants are come for ^e the Name of the Lord thy God: for we haue hearde his fame & all that he hathe done in Egypt,

10.And all that he hathe done to the two Kings of the Amorites that were beyond Iordén, to Sihón King of Heſhbón, & to Og King of Baſhán, which were at Aſhtaróth.

11.Wherefore our Elders, and all the inhabitants of our coũtrey ſpake to vs, ſaying, ^" Take vitailes with you for the iourney, & go to mete them, & ſay vnto them, We are your ſeruants: now therefore make ye a league with vs.

12.This our ^f bread we toke it hot with vs for vitailes out of our houſes, the day we departed to come vnto you: but now beholde, it is dried, and it is mouled.

13.Alſo theſe bottels of wine which we filled, were new, and lo, they be rent, and theſe our garments and our ſhooes are olde, by reaſon of the exceding great iourney.

14.And the mẽ accepted ^g their tale cõcerning their vitailes, & counſeled not with the mouth of the Lord.

15.So Ioſhúa made peace with them, & made a league with thẽ, that he wolde ſuffer them to liue: alſo the Princes of the Congregacion ſware vnto them.

16.¶ But at the end of thre daies, after they had made a league with them, they heard that they were their neighbours, and that they dwelt among them.

17.And the children of Iſraél toke their iourney, and came vnto their cities the ^h third day, and their cities were Gibeón, & Chephiráh, & Beeróth & Kiriathiearím.

18.And the children of Iſraél ſlewe them not, becauſe the Princes of the Congregacion had ſworne vnto them by the Lord God of Iſraél: wherefore all the Congregacion murmured againſt the Princes.

19.Then all the Princes ſaid vnto all the Congregacion, We haue ſworne vnto thẽ by the Lord God of Iſraél: now therefore we may not ⁱ touche them.

20.But this we wil do to them, & let them liue, leſt the wrath be vpon vs becauſe of the ^k othe which we ſware vnto them.

21.And the Princes ſaid vnto them againe, Let them liue, but they ſhal hewe wood, & drawe water vnto all the Congregacion, as the Princes appoint them.

22.Ioſhúa then called them, and talked ŵ them, and ſaid, Wherefore haue ye beguiled vs, ſaying, We are verie farre from you, when ye dwel among vs?

23.Now therefore ye are curſed, and there ſhal none of you be freed frõ being bondmen, and hewers of wood, and drawers of water for ^l the houſe of my God.

24.And they anſwered Ioſhúa and ſaid, Becauſe it was tolde thy ſeruants, that the Lord thy God had ^* commanded his ſeruant Moſés to giue you all the land, and to deſtroy all the inhabitants of the land out of your ſight, therefore we were exceding ſore afraid for our liues at the preſence of you, & haue done this thing:

25.And beholde now we are in thine hand: do as it ſemeth good & right in thine eies to do vnto vs.

26.Euen ſo did he vnto them, and deliuered them out of the ^m hand of the children of Iſraél, that they ſlewe them not.

27.And Ioſhúa appointed them that ſame daie to be hewers of wood, & drawers of water for the Congregacion, & for the ⁿ altar of the Lord vnto this day, in yͤ place which he ſhulde chuſe.

Joshua 9

Notes