13. Look at our leather wine bags. They were new and filled with wine, but now they are cracked and old. Our clothes and sandals are worn out from the long journey.”
14. The men of Israel tasted the bread, but they did not ask the Lord what to do.
15. So Joshua agreed to make peace with the Gibeonites and to let them live. And the leaders of the Israelites swore an oath to keep the agreement.
16. Three days after they had made the agreement, the Israelites learned that the Gibeonites lived nearby.
17. So the Israelites went to where they lived and on the third day came to their cities: Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath Jearim.
18. But the Israelites did not attack those cities, because they had made a promise to them before the Lord, the God of Israel.All the Israelites grumbled against the leaders.
19. But the leaders answered, “We have given our promise before the Lord, the God of Israel, so we cannot attack them now.