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The
Gibeonite Deception
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;
9:2 That they gathered themselves together, to fight with
Joshua and with Israel, with one accord.
9:3 And when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua
had done unto Jericho and to Ai,
9:4 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;
9:5 And old shoes and clouted upon their feet, and old
garments upon them; and all the bread of their provision was
dry and mouldy.
9:6 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.
9:7 And the men of Israel said unto the Hivites,
Peradventure ye dwell among us; and how shall we make a
league with you?
9:8 And they said unto Joshua, We are thy servants. And
Joshua said unto them, Who are ye? and from whence come ye?
9:9 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,
9:10 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.
9:11 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.
9:12 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:
9:13 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.
9:14 And the men took of their victuals, and asked not
counsel at the mouth of the LORD.
9:15 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.
9:16 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 neighbors, and that they dwelt among them.
9:17 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.
9:18 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.
9:19 But 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.
9:20 This 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.
9:21 And 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.
9:22 And 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?
9:23 Now 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.
9:24 And 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.
9:25 And now, behold, we are in thine hand: as it seemeth
good and right unto thee to do unto us, do.
9:26 And so did he unto them, and delivered them out of the
hand of the children of Israel, that they slew them not.
9:27 And 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. |
Cults 
Why Did God Permit Sin?
