1. When all the kings west of the Jordan River heard about these events,
2. they joined together to fight Joshua and Israel. (They were the kings in the mountains, the foothills, and along the whole Mediterranean coast as far as Lebanon, the kings of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.)
3. When the people living in Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai,
4. they devised a scheme. They posed as messengers. They took worn-out sacks on their donkeys. Their wineskins were old, split, and patched.
5. Their sandals were worn-out and repaired, and their clothes were tattered. All their bread was dried out and crumbling.