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They came together in a coalition to fight against Joshua and Israel under a single command.
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The people of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai
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and cooked up a ruse. They posed as travelers: their donkeys loaded with patched sacks and mended wineskins,
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threadbare sandals on their feet, tattered clothes on their bodies, nothing but dry crusts and crumbs for food.
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They came to Joshua at Gilgal and spoke to the men of Israel, "We've come from a far-off country; make a covenant with us."
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The men of Israel said to these Hivites, "How do we know you aren't local people? How could we then make a covenant with you?"
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They said to Joshua, "We'll be your servants." Joshua said, "Who are you now? Where did you come from?"
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They said, "From a far-off country, very far away. Your servants came because we'd heard such great things about God, your God - all those things he did in Egypt!
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And the two Amorite kings across the Jordan, King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan, who ruled in Ashtaroth!
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Our leaders and everybody else in our country told us, 'Pack up some food for the road and go meet them. Tell them, We're your servants; make a covenant with us.'
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"This bread was warm from the oven when we packed it and left to come and see you. Now look at it - crusts and crumbs.
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And our cracked and mended wineskins, good as new when we filled them. And our clothes and sandals, in tatters from the long, hard traveling."
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The men of Israel looked them over and accepted the evidence. But they didn't ask God about it.
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So Joshua made peace with them and formalized it with a covenant to guarantee their lives. The leaders of the congregation swore to it.
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And then, three days after making this covenant, they learned that they were next-door neighbors who had been living there all along!
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The People of Israel broke camp and set out; three days later they reached their towns - Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath Jearim.
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But the People of Israel didn't attack them; the leaders of the congregation had given their word before the God of Israel. But the congregation was up in arms over their leaders.
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The leaders were united in their response to the congregation: "We promised them in the presence of the God of Israel. We can't lay a hand on them now.
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But we can do this: We will let them live so we don't get blamed for breaking our promise."
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Then the leaders continued, "We'll let them live, but they will be woodcutters and water carriers for the entire congregation." And that's what happened; the leaders' promise was kept.
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But Joshua called the Gibeonites together and said, "Why did you lie to us, telling us, 'We live far, far away from you,' when you're our next-door neighbors?