They told Joshua, “We will do everything you say. We will go wherever you send us.

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 

They will attack ¹  us until we have lured them from the city, for they will say, ‘They are retreating from us like before.’ We will retreat from them.

If only we had been satisfied to live on the other side of the Jordan! O Lord, what can I say now that Israel has retreated ¹  before its enemies?

We swear we have done this because we were worried that ¹  in the future your descendants would say to our descendants, ‘What relationship do you have with the Lord God of Israel? ² 

When you capture the city, set it ¹  on fire. Do as the Lord says! See, I have given you orders.” ² 

Now Joshua had instructed the army, ¹  “Do not give a battle cry ²  or raise your voices; say nothing ³  until the day I tell you, ‘Give the battle cry.’ ⁴  Then give the battle cry!” ⁵ 

Joshua told all the people, “Here is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘In the distant past your ancestors ¹  lived beyond the Euphrates River, ²  including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor. They worshiped ³  other gods,

“The entire community of the Lord says, ‘Why have you disobeyed the God of Israel by turning back today from following the Lord? You built an altar for yourselves and have rebelled today against the Lord. ¹ 

He answered, ¹  “Truly I am the commander of the Lord’s army. ²  Now I have arrived!” ³  Joshua bowed down with his face to the ground ⁴  and asked, “What does my master want to say to his servant?”

Any man who rebels against what you say and does not obey all your commands will be executed. ¹  But ²  be strong and brave!”

saying, “Take home ¹  great wealth, a lot of cattle, ²  silver, gold, bronze, iron, and a lot of ³  clothing. Divide up the goods captured from your enemies with your brothers.”

Get up! Ritually consecrate the people and tell them this: ‘Ritually consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, because the Lord God of Israel says, “You are contaminated, ¹  O Israel! You will not be able to stand before your enemies until you remove what is contaminating you.” ² 

We said, ‘If in the future they say such a thing ¹  to us or to our descendants, we will reply, “See the model of the Lord’s altar that our ancestors ²  made, not for burnt offerings or sacrifices, but as a reminder to us and you.”’ ³ 

but as a reminder to us and you, ¹  and to our descendants who follow us, that we will honor the Lord in his very presence ²  with burnt offerings, sacrifices, and tokens of peace. ³  Then in the future your descendants will not be able to say to our descendants, ‘You have no right to worship the Lord.’ ⁴ 

The Lord instructed Joshua:

Joshua instructed ¹  the leaders of the people:

“Have the Israelites select ¹  the cities of refuge ²  that I told you about through Moses.

So Joshua instructed the priests, “Come up from the Jordan!”

Our leaders and all who live in our land told us, ‘Take provisions for your journey and go meet them. Tell them, “We are willing to be your subjects. ¹  Make a treaty with us.”’