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Joshua 9:3–8

And when the inhabitants of dGibeon eheard what Joshua had done unto Jericho and to Ai, 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; And old shoes and fclouted upon their feet, and old garments upon them; and all the bread of their provision was dry and fmouldy. And they went to Joshua gunto 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. And the men of Israel said unto the hHivites, Peradventure ye dwell among us; and ihow shall we make a league with you? And they said unto Joshua, jWe are thy servants. And Joshua said unto them, Who are ye? and from whence come ye?

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Joshua 9:3–8 — The New International Version (NIV)

However, when the people of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, they resorted to a ruse: They went as a delegation whose donkeys were loaded with worn-out sacks and old wineskins, cracked and mended. They put worn and patched sandals on their feet and wore old clothes. All the bread of their food supply was dry and moldy. Then they went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and the Israelites, “We have come from a distant country; make a treaty with us.”

The Israelites said to the Hivites, “But perhaps you live near us, so how can we make a treaty with you?”

“We are your servants,” they said to Joshua.

But Joshua asked, “Who are you and where do you come from?”

Joshua 9:3–8 — English Standard Version (ESV)

But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai, they on their part acted with cunning and went and made ready provisions and took worn-out sacks for their donkeys, and wineskins, worn-out and torn and mended, with worn-out, patched sandals on their feet, and worn-out clothes. And all their provisions were dry and crumbly. And they went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and to the men of Israel, “We have come from a distant country, so now make a covenant with us.” But the men of Israel said to the Hivites, “Perhaps you live among us; then how can we make a covenant with you?” They said to Joshua, “We are your servants.” And Joshua said to them, “Who are you? And where do you come from?”

Joshua 9:3–8 — New Living Translation (NLT)

But when the people of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, they resorted to deception to save themselves. They sent ambassadors to Joshua, loading their donkeys with weathered saddlebags and old, patched wineskins. They put on worn-out, patched sandals and ragged clothes. And the bread they took with them was dry and moldy. When they arrived at the camp of Israel at Gilgal, they told Joshua and the men of Israel, “We have come from a distant land to ask you to make a peace treaty with us.”

The Israelites replied to these Hivites, “How do we know you don’t live nearby? For if you do, we cannot make a treaty with you.”

They replied, “We are your servants.”

“But who are you?” Joshua demanded. “Where do you come from?”

Joshua 9:3–8 — The New King James Version (NKJV)

But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, they worked craftily, and went and pretended to be ambassadors. And they took old sacks on their donkeys, old wineskins torn and mended, old and patched sandals on their feet, and old garments on themselves; and all the bread of their provision was dry and moldy. And 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.”

Then the men of Israel said to the Hivites, “Perhaps you dwell among us; so how can we make a covenant with you?”

But they said to Joshua, “We are your servants.”

And Joshua said to them, “Who are you, and where do you come from?”

Joshua 9:3–8 — New Century Version (NCV)

When the people of Gibeon heard how Joshua had defeated Jericho and Ai, they decided to trick the Israelites. They gathered old sacks and old leather wine bags that were cracked and mended, and they put them on the backs of their donkeys. They put old sandals on their feet and wore old clothes, and they took some dry, moldy bread. Then they went to Joshua in the camp near Gilgal.

The men said to Joshua and the Israelites, “We have traveled from a faraway country. Make a peace agreement with us.”

The Israelites said to these Hivites, “Maybe you live near us. How can we make a peace agreement with you?”

The Hivites said to Joshua, “We are your servants.”

But Joshua asked, “Who are you? Where do you come from?”

Joshua 9:3–8 — American Standard Version (ASV)

But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done unto Jericho and to Ai, 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, 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. 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. And the men of Israel said unto the Hivites, Peradventure ye dwell among us; and how shall we make a covenant with you? And they said unto Joshua, We are thy servants. And Joshua said unto them, Who are ye? and from whence come ye?

Joshua 9:3–8 — 1890 Darby Bible (DARBY)

And when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai, then they also acted with craft, and they went prepared as on a journey, and took old sacks upon their asses, and wine-flasks, old and rent and tied up; and old and patched sandals upon their feet, and old garments upon them; and all the bread of their provision was dry and mouldy. And they went to Joshua unto the camp at Gilgal, and said to him, and to the men of Israel, From a far country are we come; and now make a covenant with us. And the men of Israel said to the Hivite, Perhaps thou dwellest in the midst of us, and how should I make a covenant with thee? And they said unto Joshua, We are thy servants. And Joshua said to them, Who are ye? and from whence come ye?

Joshua 9:3–8 — GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

When the people living in Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, they devised a scheme. They posed as messengers. They took worn-out sacks on their donkeys. Their wineskins were old, split, and patched. Their sandals were worn-out and repaired, and their clothes were tattered. All their bread was dried out and crumbling. They came to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal. They told Joshua and the men of Israel, “We have come from a distant country. Make a treaty with us right now.” 

The men of Israel said to the Hivites, “What if you’re living in this area? We wouldn’t be able to make a treaty with you.” 

They responded to Joshua, “We’re at your mercy.” 

Joshua asked them, “Who are you, and where did you come from?” 

Joshua 9:3–8 — The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

When the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, they acted deceptively. They gathered provisions and took worn-out sacks on their donkeys and old wineskins, cracked and mended. They wore old, patched sandals on their feet and threadbare clothing on their bodies. Their entire provision of bread was dry and crumbly. 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.”

The men of Israel replied to the Hivites, “Perhaps you live among us. How can we make a treaty with you?”

They said to Joshua, “We are your servants.”

Then Joshua asked them, “Who are you and where do you come from?”

Joshua 9:3–8 — The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai, they on their part acted with cunning: they went and prepared provisions, and took worn-out sacks for their donkeys, and wineskins, worn-out and torn and mended, with worn-out, patched sandals on their feet, and worn-out clothes; and all their provisions were dry and moldy. They went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal, and said to him and to the Israelites, “We have come from a far country; so now make a treaty with us.” But the Israelites said to the Hivites, “Perhaps you live among us; then how can we make a treaty with you?” They said to Joshua, “We are your servants.” And Joshua said to them, “Who are you? And where do you come from?”

Joshua 9:3–8 — The Lexham English Bible (LEB)

But the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua did to Jericho and Ai, and they acted on their part with cunning: they went and prepared provisions, and took worn-out sacks for their donkeys and old wineskins that were torn and mended. The sandals on their feet were patched and old, their clothes were old, and their food was dry and crumbled. And they went to Joshua at the camp at Gilgal and said to him and to the men of Israel, “We have come from a far land; so then make a covenant with us.” And the men of Israel said to the Hivites, “Perhaps you are living among us; how can we make a covenant with you?” They said to Joshua, “We are your servants.” And Joshua said to them, “Who are you, and from where do you come?”

Joshua 9:3–8 — New International Reader’s Version (1998) (NIrV)

The people of Gibeon heard about what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai. So they decided to trick the people of Israel. They packed supplies as if they were going on a long trip. They loaded their donkeys with old sacks and old wineskins. The wineskins were cracked but had been mended. The men put worn-out sandals on their feet. The sandals had been patched. The men also wore old clothes. All of the bread they took along was dry and moldy.

They went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal. They spoke to him and the men of Israel. They said, “We’ve come from a country that’s far away. Make a peace treaty with us.”

The men of Israel spoke to the Hivites. They said, “But suppose you live close to us. If you do, we can’t make a peace treaty with you.”

“We’ll serve you,” they said to Joshua.

But Joshua asked, “Who are you? Where do you come from?”

Joshua 9:3–8 — New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (NASB95)

When the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai,

they also acted craftily and set out as envoys, and took worn-out sacks on their donkeys, and wineskins worn-out and torn and mended,

and worn-out and patched sandals on their feet, and worn-out clothes on themselves; and all the bread of their provision was dry and had become crumbled.

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.”

The men of Israel said to the Hivites, “Perhaps you are living within our land; how then shall we make a covenant with you?”

But they said to Joshua, “We are your servants.” Then Joshua said to them, “Who are you and where do you come from?”


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