Joshua 9:2-4

Contemporary English Version

The People of Gibeon Trick the Leaders of Israel

9 ^1-2 The kings west of the Jordan River heard about Joshua's victories, so they got together and decided to attack Joshua and Israel. These kings were from the hill country and from the foothills to the west, as well as from the Mediterranean seacoast as far north as the Lebanon Mountains. Some of them were Hittites, others were Amorites or Canaanites, and still others were Perizzites, Hivites, or Jebusites.

³ The people of Gibeon had also heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai. ⁴ So they decided that some of their men should pretend to be messengers to Israel from a faraway country.^[a] The men put worn-out bags on their donkeys and found some old wineskins that had cracked and had been sewn back together.