VERSE STUDY • KJV

Joshua 9:3-15

³ And when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done unto Jericho and to Ai, ⁴ They 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; ⁵ And old shoes and clouted upon their feet, and old garments upon them; and all the bread of their provision was dry [and] mouldy. ⁶ And 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. ⁷ And the men of Israel said unto the Hivites, Peradventure ye dwell among us; and how shall we make a league with you? ⁸ And they said unto Joshua, We [are] thy servants. And Joshua said unto them, Who [are] ye? and from whence come ye? ⁹ And 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, ¹⁰ And 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. ¹¹ Wherefore 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. ¹² This 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: ¹³ And 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. ¹⁴ And the men took of their victuals, and asked not [counsel] at the mouth of the LORD. ¹⁵ And Joshua made peace with them, and made a league with them, to let them live: and the princes of the congregation sware unto them.

Read it in 5 translations

KJV King James Version

³ And when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done unto Jericho and to Ai, ⁴ They 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; ⁵ And old shoes and clouted upon their feet, and old garments upon them; and all the bread of their provision was dry [and] mouldy. ⁶ And 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. ⁷ And the men of Israel said unto the Hivites, Peradventure ye dwell among us; and how shall we make a league with you? ⁸ And they said unto Joshua, We [are] thy servants. And Joshua said unto them, Who [are] ye? and from whence come ye? ⁹ And 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, ¹⁰ And 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. ¹¹ Wherefore 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. ¹² This 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: ¹³ And 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. ¹⁴ And the men took of their victuals, and asked not [counsel] at the mouth of the LORD. ¹⁵ And Joshua made peace with them, and made a league with them, to let them live: and the princes of the congregation sware unto them.

BSB Berean Standard Bible

³ But the people of Gibeon, having heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, ⁴ acted deceptively and set out as envoys, carrying on their donkeys worn-out sacks and old wineskins, cracked and mended. ⁵ They put worn, patched sandals on their feet and threadbare clothing on their bodies, and their whole supply of bread was dry and moldy. ⁶ They went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and the men of Israel, “We have come from a distant land; please make a treaty with us.” ⁷ But the men of Israel said to the Hivites, “Perhaps you dwell near us. How can we make a treaty with you?” ⁸ “We are your servants,” they said to Joshua. Then Joshua asked them, “Who are you and where have you come from?” ⁹ “Your servants have come from a very distant land,” they replied, “because of the fame of the LORD your God. For we have heard the reports about Him: all that He did in Egypt, ¹⁰ and all that He did to the two kings of the Amorites beyond the Jordan—Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth. ¹¹ So the elders and inhabitants of our land told us, ‘Take provisions for your journey; go to meet them and say to them: We are your servants. Please 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 look, it is now dry and moldy. ¹³ These wineskins were new when we filled them, but look, they are cracked. And these clothes and sandals are worn out from our very long journey.” ¹⁴ Then the men of Israel sampled their provisions but did not seek the counsel of the LORD. ¹⁵ And Joshua made a treaty of peace with them to let them live, and the leaders of the congregation swore an oath to them.

WEB World English Bible

³ But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai, ⁴ they also resorted to a ruse, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors, and took old sacks on their donkeys, and wineskins, old and torn and bound up, ⁵ and old and patched shoes on their feet, and wore old garments. All the bread of their provision was dry and moldy. ⁶ They went to Joshua to the camp at Gilgal, and said to him, and to the men of Israel, “We have come from a far country. Now therefore make a covenant with us.” ⁷ The men of Israel said to the Hivites, “What if you live among us. How could we make a covenant with you?” ⁸ They said to Joshua, “We are your servants.” Joshua said to them, “Who are you? Where do you come from?” ⁹ They said to him, “Your servants have come from a very far country because of the name of Yahweh your God; for we have heard of his fame, all that he did in Egypt, ¹⁰ and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon and to Og king of Bashan, who was at Ashtaroth. ¹¹ Our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spoke to us, saying, ‘Take provision in your hand for the journey, and go to meet them, and tell them, “We are your servants. Now make a covenant with us.”’ ¹² This our bread we took hot for our provision out of our houses on the day we went out to go to you; but now, behold, it is dry, and has become moldy. ¹³ These wineskins, which we filled, were new; and behold, they are torn. These our garments and our shoes have become old because of the very long journey.” ¹⁴ The men sampled their provisions, and didn’t ask counsel from the mouth of Yahweh. ¹⁵ Joshua made peace with them, and made a covenant with them, to let them live. The princes of the congregation swore to them.

ASV American Standard Version

³ But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done unto Jericho and to Ai, ⁴ they also did work wilily, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors, and took old sacks upon their asses, and wine-skins, old and rent and bound up, ⁵ and old and patched shoes upon their feet, and old garments upon them; and all the bread of their provision was dry and was become mouldy. ⁶ And they went to Joshua unto the camp at Gilgal, and said unto him, and to the men of Israel, We are come from a far country: now therefore make ye a covenant with us. ⁷ And the men of Israel said unto the Hivites, Peradventure ye dwell among us; and how shall we make a covenant with you? ⁸ And they said unto Joshua, We are thy servants. And Joshua said unto them, Who are ye? and from whence come ye? ⁹ And they said unto him, From a very far country thy servants are come because of the name of Jehovah thy God: for we have heard the fame of him, and all that he did in Egypt, ¹⁰ and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites, that were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon, and to Og king of Bashan, who was at Ashtaroth. ¹¹ And our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spake to us, saying, Take provision in your hand for the journey, and go to meet them, and say unto them, We are your servants: and now make ye a covenant with us. ¹² This 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 is become mouldy: ¹³ and these wine-skins, which we filled, were new; and, behold, they are rent: and these our garments and our shoes are become old by reason of the very long journey. ¹⁴ And the men took of their provision, and asked not counsel at the mouth of Jehovah. ¹⁵ And Joshua made peace with them, and made a covenant with them, to let them live: and the princes of the congregation sware unto them.

YLT Young’s Literal Translation

³ And the inhabitants of Gibeon have heard that which Joshua hath done to Jericho and to Ai, ⁴ and they work, even they, with subtilty, and go, and feign to be ambassadors, and take old sacks for their asses, and wine-bottles, old, and rent, and bound up, ⁵ and sandals, old and patched, on their feet, and old garments upon them, and all the bread of their provision is dry—it was crumbs. ⁶ And they go unto Joshua, unto the camp at Gilgal, and say unto him, and unto the men of Israel, ‘From a land far off we have come, and now, make with us a covenant;’ ⁷ and the men of Israel say unto the Hivite, ‘It may be in our midst ye are dwelling, and how do we make with thee a covenant?’ ⁸ and they say unto Joshua, ‘Thy servants we are.’ And Joshua saith unto them, ‘Who are ye? and whence come ye?’ ⁹ And 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, ¹⁰ and 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; ¹² this 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; ¹³ and 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.’ ¹⁴ And the men take of their provision, and the mouth of Jehovah have not asked; ¹⁵ and 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.

Surrounding context — Joshua 9

1 And 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];

2 That they gathered themselves together, to fight with Joshua and with Israel, with one accord.

3 And when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done unto Jericho and to Ai,

4 They 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;

5 And old shoes and clouted upon their feet, and old garments upon them; and all the bread of their provision was dry [and] mouldy.

6 And 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.

7 And the men of Israel said unto the Hivites, Peradventure ye dwell among us; and how shall we make a league with you?

8 And they said unto Joshua, We [are] thy servants. And Joshua said unto them, Who [are] ye? and from whence come ye?

9 And 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,

10 And 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.

11 Wherefore 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.

12 This 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:

13 And 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.

14 And the men took of their victuals, and asked not [counsel] at the mouth of the LORD.

15 And Joshua made peace with them, and made a league with them, to let them live: and the princes of the congregation sware unto them.

16 And 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.

17 And 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.

18 And 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.

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