10. And we heard that he defeated the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan River. This was King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan in the land of Ashtaroth.
11. So our elders and our people said to us, ‘Take enough food for your journey. Go and meet with the Israelites.’ Tell them, ‘We are your servants. Make a peace agreement with us.’
12. “Look at our bread. When we left home, it was warm and fresh. But now you can see that it is dry and old.
13. Look at our wineskins. When we left home, they were new and filled with wine. But now you can see that they are cracked and old. Look at our clothes and sandals. You can see that the long journey has almost destroyed the things we wear.”
14. The men of Israel wanted to know if these men were telling the truth. So they tasted the bread—but they did not ask the Lord what they should do.
15. Joshua agreed to make peace with them. He agreed to let them live. The leaders of Israel agreed with this promise of Joshua.
16. Three days later the Israelites learned that these men lived very near their camp.
17. So the Israelites went to the place where they lived. On the third day the Israelites came to the cities of Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath Jearim.
18. But the army of Israel did not try to fight against those cities. They had made a peace agreement with them. They had made a promise to them before the Lord, the God of Israel. All the people complained against the leaders who made the agreement.
19. But the leaders answered, “We have given our promise. We promised before the Lord, the God of Israel. We cannot fight against them now.
20. This is what we must do. We must let them live. We cannot hurt them or God will be angry with us because we broke the promise we made to them.
21. So let them live, but they will be our servants. They will cut wood for us and carry water for all our people.” So the leaders did not break their promise of peace to them.
22. Joshua called the Gibeonites together. He said, “Why did you lie to us? Your land was near our camp. But you told us you were from a faraway country.