6. They went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal. They spoke to him and the men of Israel. They said, "We've come from a country that's far away. Make a peace treaty with us."
7. The men of Israel spoke to the Hivites. They said, "But suppose you live close to us. If you do, we can't make a peace treaty with you."
8. "We'll serve you," they said to Joshua. But Joshua asked, "Who are you? Where do you come from?"
9. They answered, "We've come from a country that's very far away. We've come because the Lord your God is famous. We've heard reports about him. We've heard about everything he did in Egypt.
10. "We've heard about everything he did to Sihon and Og. They were the two kings of the Amorites. They ruled east of the Jordan River. Sihon was the king of Heshbon. Og was the king of Bashan. He ruled in Ashtaroth.
11. "Our elders and all of the people who are living in our country spoke to us. They said, 'Take supplies for your trip. Go and meet the people of Israel. Say to them, "We'll serve you. Make a peace treaty with us." '
12. "Look at our bread. It was warm when we packed it. We packed it at home on the day we left to come and see you. But look at how dry and moldy it is now.
13. When we filled these wineskins, they were new. But look at how cracked they are now. And our clothes and sandals are worn out because we've traveled so far."
14. The men of Israel looked over the supplies those men had brought. But they didn't ask the Lord what they should do.
15. Joshua made a peace treaty with the men who had come. He agreed to let them live. The leaders of the community took an oath to show that they agreed with the treaty.
16. The people of Israel made a peace treaty with the people of Gibeon. But three days later they heard that the people of Gibeon lived close to them.
17. So the people of Israel started out to go to the cities of those men. On the third day they came to Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth and Kiriath Jearim.
18. But they didn't attack those cities. That's because the leaders of the community had taken an oath and made a peace treaty with them. They had taken the oath in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. The whole community told the leaders they weren't happy with them.
19. But all of the leaders answered, "We've made a peace treaty with them. We've taken an oath in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. So we can't touch them now.
20. "But here is what we'll do to them. We'll let them live. Then the Lord's anger won't fall on us because we didn't keep the oath we took."
21. They continued, "Let them live. But let them cut wood and carry water for the whole community." So the leaders kept their promise to them.