¹ And it cometh to pass, when all the kings who [are] beyond the Jordan, in the hill-country, and in the low-country, and in every haven of the great sea, over-against Lebanon, the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, hear --

² that they gather themselves together to fight with Joshua, and with Israel -- one mouth.

³ And the inhabitants of Gibeon have heard that which Joshua hath done to Jericho and to Ai,

⁴ and they work, even they, with subtilty, and go, and feign to be ambassadors, and take old sacks for their asses, and wine-bottles, old, and rent, and bound up,

⁵ and sandals, old and patched, on their feet, and old garments upon them, and all the bread of their provision is dry -- it was crumbs.

⁶ And they go unto Joshua, unto the camp at Gilgal, and say unto him, and unto the men of Israel, `From a land far off we have come, and now, make with us a covenant;'

⁷ and the men of Israel say unto the Hivite, `It may be in our midst ye are dwelling, and how do we make with thee a covenant?'

⁸ and they say unto Joshua, `Thy servants we [are].' And Joshua saith unto them, `Who [are] ye? and whence come ye?'

⁹ And they say unto him, `From a land very far off have thy servants come, for the name of Jehovah thy God, for we have heard His fame, and all that He hath done in Egypt,

¹⁰ and all that He hath done to the two kings of the Amorite who [are] beyond the Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon, and to Og king of Bashan, who [is] in Ashtaroth.

¹¹ `And our elders, and all the inhabitants of our land speak unto us, saying, Take in your hand provision for the way, and go to meet them, and ye have said unto them, Your servants we [are], and now, make with us a covenant;

¹² this our bread -- hot we provided ourselves with it out of our houses, on the day of our coming out to go unto you, and now, lo, it is dry, and hath been crumbs;

¹³ and these [are] the wine-bottles which we filled, new, and lo, they have rent; and these, our garments and our sandals, have become old, from the exceeding greatness of the way.'

¹⁴ And the men take of their provision, and the mouth of Jehovah have not asked;

¹⁵ and Joshua maketh with them peace, and maketh with them a covenant, to keep them alive; and swear to them do the princes of the company.

¹⁶ And it cometh to pass, at the end of three days after that they have made with them a covenant, that they hear that they [are] their neighbours -- that in their midst they are dwelling.

¹⁷ And the sons of Israel journey and come in unto their cities on the third day -- and their cities [are] Gibeon, and Chephirah, and Beeroth, and Kirjath-Jearim --

¹⁸ and the sons of Israel have not smitten them, for sworn to them have the princes of the company by Jehovah God of Israel, and all the company murmur against the princes.

¹⁹ And all the princes say unto all the company, `We -- we have sworn to them by Jehovah, God of Israel; and now, we are not able to come against them;

²⁰ this we do to them, and have kept them alive, and wrath is not upon us, because of the oath which we have sworn to them.'

²¹ And the princes say unto them, `They live, and are hewers of wood and drawers of water for all the company, as the princes spake to them.'

²² And Joshua calleth for them, and speaketh unto them, saying, `Why have ye deceived us, saying, We are very far from you, and ye in our midst dwelling?

²³ and now, cursed are ye, and none of you is cut off [from being] a servant, even hewers of wood and drawers of water, for the house of my God.'

²⁴ And they answer Joshua and say, `Because it was certainly declared to thy servants, that Jehovah thy God commanded Moses His servant to give to you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you; and we fear greatly for ourselves because of you, and we do this thing;

²⁵ and now, lo, we [are] in thy hand, as [it is] good, and as [it is] right in thine eyes to do to us -- do.'

²⁶ And he doth to them so, and delivereth them from the hand of the sons of Israel, and they have not slain them;

²⁷ and Joshua maketh them on that day hewers of wood and drawers of water for the company, and for the altar of Jehovah, unto this day, at the place which He doth choose.

¹ And the day is, that sons of God come in to station themselves by Jehovah, and there doth come also the Adversary in their midst to station himself by Jehovah.

² And Jehovah saith unto the Adversary, `Whence camest thou?' And the Adversary answereth Jehovah and saith, `From going to and fro in the land, and from walking up and down in it.'

³ And Jehovah saith unto the Adversary, `Hast thou set thy heart unto My servant Job because there is none like him in the land, a man perfect and upright, fearing God and turning aside from evil? and still he is keeping hold on his integrity, and thou dost move Me against him to swallow him up for nought!'

⁴ And the Adversary answereth Jehovah and saith, `A skin for a skin, and all that a man hath he doth give for his life.

⁵ Yet, put forth, I pray Thee, Thy hand, and strike unto his bone and unto his flesh -- if not: unto Thy face he doth bless Thee!'

⁶ And Jehovah saith unto the Adversary, `Lo, he [is] in thy hand; only his life take care of.'

⁷ And the Adversary goeth forth from the presence of Jehovah, and smiteth Job with a sore ulcer from the sole of his foot unto his crown.

⁸ And he taketh to him a potsherd to scrape himself with it, and he is sitting in the midst of the ashes.

⁹ And his wife saith to him, `Still thou art keeping hold on thine integrity: bless God and die.'

¹⁰ And he saith unto her, `As one of the foolish women speaketh, thou speakest; yea, the good we receive from God, and the evil we do not receive.' In all this Job hath not sinned with his lips.

¹¹ And three of the friends of Job hear of all this evil that hath come upon him, and they come in each from his place -- Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite -- and they are met together to come in to bemoan him, and to comfort him;

¹² and they lift up their eyes from afar and have not discerned him, and they lift up their voice and weep, and rend each his robe, and sprinkle dust on their heads -- heavenward.

¹³ And they sit with him on the earth seven days and seven nights, and there is none speaking unto him a word when they have seen that the pain hath been very great.