Joshua 9:15-20

9:15 Joshua made a peace treaty with them and agreed to let them live. The leaders of the community ¹  sealed it with an oath. ² 

9:16 Three days after they made the treaty with them, the Israelites found out they were from the local area and lived nearby. ³  9:17 So the Israelites set out and on the third day arrived at their cities – Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath Jearim. 9:18 The Israelites did not attack them because the leaders of the community had sworn an oath to them in the name of the Lord God of Israel. ⁴  The whole community criticized ⁵  the leaders, 9:19 but all the leaders told the whole community, “We swore an oath to them in the name of ⁶  the Lord God of Israel. So now we can’t hurt ⁷  them! 9:20 We must let them live so we can escape the curse attached to the oath we swore to them.” ⁸ 

[9:15]  ¹ tn Or “assembly.”

[9:15]  ² tn Heb “Joshua made peace with them and made a treaty with them to let them live, and the leaders of the community swore an oath to them.”

[9:16]  ³ tn Heb “At the end of three days, after they made the treaty with them, they heard that they were neighbors to them and in their midst they were living.”

[9:18]  ⁴ tn Heb “by the Lord God of Israel.”

[9:18]  ⁵ tn Or “grumbled against.”

[9:19]  ⁶ tn Heb “to them by….”

[9:19]  ⁷ tn Or “touch.”

[9:20]  ⁸ tn Heb “This is what we will do to them, keeping them alive so there will not be upon us anger concerning the oath which we swore to them.”