Joshua 9:14-17

Contemporary English Version

¹⁴The Israelites tried some of the food,^[a] but they did not ask the Lord if he wanted them to make a treaty. ¹⁵So Joshua made a peace treaty with the messengers and promised that Israel would not kill their people. Israel's leaders swore that Israel would keep this promise.

^16-17A couple of days later,^[b] the Israelites found out that these people actually lived in the nearby towns of Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-Jearim.^[c] So the Israelites left the place where they had camped and arrived at the four towns two days later.^[d]

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Footnotes

9.14 tried … food: Probably to see if it really was old or to show that they wanted peace.
9.16,17 A couple … later: The Hebrew text has “At the end of three days,” meaning two days after the day the treaty was made.
9.16,17 Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-Jearim: These towns were 30 to 50 kilometers west of the Israelite camp at Gilgal.
9.16,17 A couple of days … later: Or “A couple of days later, the Israelites moved their camp to the area near the towns of Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-Jearim. When they arrived, they realized that they had made a peace treaty with the people of these nearby towns!”