Joshua 9:11-21

11Our leaders and all our people told us to come to meet you. Our leaders said, “Take food and drink for your journey. Go to meet them, and say to them, ‘We want to be your servants. Please promise not to fight against us.’ ”

12We have come a very long way. This bread was warm when we put it in our bags on the day that we left home. But see how hard and dry it has become.

13These bags of wine were new, but see how old and spoiled they are now. Our clothes and our shoes have become old as we made our long journey.’

14The Israelite men tasted some of the Gibeonites' food, but they did not ask the Lord what they should do.

15So Joshua agreed that they would not kill the people of Gibeon. The Israelite leaders also said that they would obey this agreement.

16Three days after they made this agreement, the Israelites discovered that the Gibeonites lived near to them.

17So the Israelites left Gilgal to find the cities where the Hivites lived. After three days they arrived at their cities: Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth and Kiriath-Jearim.

18The Israelites did not attack them, because of the promise that their leaders had made. They had made a strong promise in the name of the Lord God of Israel that they would not kill the Gibeonites. The Israelite people were angry with their leaders, because of the agreement.

19But all the leaders said to them, ‘We have made a strong promise to the Lord, Israel's God. So now we cannot hurt the Gibeonites.

20But this is what we will do. We will let them live, because we made a strong promise to do that. Then God will not punish us.

21We will let them live, but they will become our servants. They will cut wood and they will fetch water for all the Israelite people.’ That is what the Israelite leaders decided to do.