One day a band of strange men came to the camp at Gilgal. Their clothes were nearly worn out and their shoes were full of holes. Their donkeys carried on their backs old sacks that were ready to fall in pieces. Even the skin bottles, which these men had used for carrying wine, were old and torn. And the little bit of bread that remained in their sacks was dry and moldy.
These strange men asked to speak with Joshua and with his officers, or princes. They said they had come from a country very far away, and that their people wished to be friends with the Israelites. But the men of Israel answered, “We do not know who you are. You may live here in Canaan, and we can not be friends with these people of Canaan because God has told us to destroy them all.” The men then showed their moldy bread and said, “See, we brought this for our journey and it was hot when we took it from our homes. We are indeed from a far country. When we heard how your God brought you from Egypt and helped you to destroy your enemies, our people became afraid of you and they sent us to ask you to let us live and become your servants.”
Joshua listened to these men. When he saw their worn-out shoes and their dry, moldy bread, he thought, “Surely they have come a long way.” He felt sorry for them. He believed they Were poor people and that they could do no harm to Israel.” Instead of talking to God about these people and asking what to do, Joshua promised to let them live, and sent them back again to their homes.
After this had happened the Israelite soldiers went out again to battle against the people of Canaan. They had not gone very far when they came to the part of the land where the Gibeonites lived. Then they learned that the strange visitors at Gilgal had come from Gibeon. They were near neighbors to the Israelites. They had taken dry, moldy bread and worn-out shoes on purpose to make Joshua and the princes of Israel believe they had come from a country far away. But really, they were Cana unites—people whom God wanted the Israelites to destroy.
Now, it would be wrong for the Israelites to fight against the people they had promised to let live. God would not help them fight if they were breaking their word. The men of Israel were angry because they had been fooled. Joshua sent for the men who had come to Gilgal, and asked, “Why did you not tell us the truth?” The men answered, “When we saw what happened to Jericho and to Ai we were afraid. We knew you Would not promise to let us live if you knew we were near neighbors, so we acted as though we had come a long distance.”
Joshua said, “Because you did not speak true words to us, you and your people can never again own your houses and lands. Now you must be our slaves and do the things we tell you to do. Every day you must gather wood and bring it to the people, and every day you must carry water for us.”
Although the Gibeonites had to work hard to chop wood and to carry water, yet they were glad because they were allowed to live in Canaan. They thought it was better to become servants of the Israelites than to be killed by them.