They came to Joshua at the camp in Gilgal and said to him and the men of Israel, “We have come from a distant land. Make a treaty with us.”

They told him, “Your subjects ¹  have come from a very distant land because of the reputation ²  of the Lord your God, for we have heard the news about all he did in Egypt ³ 

¹ Joshua summoned the Gibeonites ²  and said to them, “Why did you trick ³  us by saying, ‘We live far away from you,’ when you really live nearby? ⁴ 

But stay about three thousand feet behind it. ¹  Keep your distance ²  so you can see ³  which way you should go, for you have not traveled this way before.”