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And it came to pass, when all the kings who were beyond the Yarden, in the hill country, and in the Shefelah, and along all the coast of the Great Sea toward Levanon—the Chitti, and the Emori, the Kena’ani, the Perizzi, the Chivvi, and the Yevusi—heard,
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that they gathered themselves together as one to fight against Yehoshua and against Yisra’el.
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But the inhabitants of Givon heard what Yehoshua had done to Yericho and to Ai,
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and they also acted with cunning. And they went and made themselves as envoys, and took worn-out sacks upon their donkeys, and worn-out wineskins, torn and bound up,
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and worn-out and patched sandals upon their feet, and worn-out garments upon themselves; and all the bread of their provision was dry and crumbled.
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And they went to Yehoshua at the camp in Gilgal and said to him and to the men of Yisra’el, “From a distant land we have come. And now, cut a covenant with us.”
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And the men of Yisra’el said to the Chivvi, “Perhaps you dwell in our midst. And how shall we cut a covenant with you?”
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And they said to Yehoshua, “Your servants are we.” And Yehoshua said to them, “Who are you, and from where do you come?”
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And they said to him, “From an exceedingly distant land your servants have come because of the name of Yahuah your Elohim, for we have heard His report and all that He did in Mitzrayim,
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and all that He did to the two kings of the Emori who were beyond the Yarden, to Sichon king of Cheshbon and to Og king of Bashan, who was at Ashtarot.
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And our elders and all the inhabitants of our land spoke to us, saying, ‘Take provisions in your hand for the journey, and go to meet them, and say to them, “Your servants are we. And now, cut a covenant with us.”’
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This bread of ours was hot when we took it as provision from our houses on the day we went out to come to you. And now, see, it is dry and crumbled.
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And these wineskins that we filled were new, and see, they are torn; and these garments of ours and our sandals have worn out because of the exceedingly long journey.”
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And the men took from their provisions, but they did not ask from the mouth of Yahuah.
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And Yehoshua made peace with them and cut a covenant with them, to let them live. And the rulers of the congregation swore to them.
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And it came to pass at the end of three days, after they had cut a covenant with them, that they heard that they were near to them and dwelt in their midst.
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And the sons of Yisra’el journeyed and came to their cities on the third day. And their cities were Givon, and Kefirah, and Be’erot, and Qiryat-Yearim.
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And the sons of Yisra’el did not strike them, because the rulers of the congregation had sworn to them by Yahuah, Elohim of Yisra’el. And all the congregation murmured against the rulers.
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And all the rulers said to all the congregation, “We have sworn to them by Yahuah, Elohim of Yisra’el, and now we are not able to touch them.
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This we will do to them: we will let them live, so that wrath does not come upon us because of the oath that we swore to them.”
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And the rulers said concerning them, “Let them live.” And they became cutters of wood and drawers of water for all the congregation, according to what the rulers had spoken concerning them.
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And Yehoshua called them and spoke to them, saying, “Why did you deceive us, saying, ‘We are exceedingly far from you,’ when you dwell in our midst?
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And now, cursed are you, and none from among you shall be cut off from being servants, cutters of wood and drawers of water for the house of my Elohim.”
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And they answered Yehoshua and said, “Because declaring, it was surely declared to your servants that Yahuah your Elohim had commanded Mosheh His servant to give you all the land and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before your face. And we feared exceedingly for our beings because of your face, and we did this thing.
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And now, see, we are in your hand. According to what is good and right in your eyes to do to us, do.”
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And so he did to them, and delivered them from the hand of the sons of Yisra’el, and they did not kill them.
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And Yehoshua made them on that day cutters of wood and drawers of water for the congregation and for the altar of Yahuah, to this day, at the place that He would choose.