19. but all the leaders told the whole community, “We swore an oath to them in the name of the Lord God of Israel. So now we can’t hurt them!
20. We must let them live so we can escape the curse attached to the oath we swore to them.”
21. The leaders then added, “Let them live.” So they became woodcutters and water carriers for the whole community, as the leaders had decided.
22. Joshua summoned the Gibeonites and said to them, “Why did you trick us by saying, ‘We live far away from you,’ when you really live nearby?