1. Now when all the kings who were west of the Jordan, in the hill country, in the lowland and along the shore of the Great Sea to the vicinity of Lebanon—the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites—heard about it,
2. they gathered themselves together as a unified alliance to fight against Joshua and Israel.
3. But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai,
4. they acted craftily. They went and traveled as ambassadors, took worn-out sacks for their donkeys and worn-out wine skins, cracked and patched up,
5. along with worn-out, patched up sandals on their feet and worn-out clothes on them. All the bread of their provision was dry and had become crumbly.
6. Then they went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal, and said to him and to the men of Israel, “We have come from a far country. So now, make a treaty-covenant with us.”
7. Then the men of Israel said to the Hivites: “Perhaps you are living among us. How then should we make a covenant with you?”