16 Three days after the Israelites made a treaty with the Gibeonites, the Israelites heard that they were actually their neighbors and were living among them.
17 So on the third day the Israelites marched out and came to their cities: Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim.
18 But the Israelites didn’t strike at them. This was because the leaders of the community had made a solemn pledge to them by the Lord, the God of Israel. The entire community grumbled against the leaders.
19 Then all the leaders said to the whole community, "We have made a solemn pledge to them by the Lord, the God of Israel. So we can’t touch them now.
20 This is what we’ll do with them. We’ll let them live so that wrath won’t come down on us because of the solemn pledge that we made to them."
21 The leaders went on to say to them, "Let them live." So they became woodcutters and water haulers for the whole community, exactly as the leaders had intended for them.
22 Joshua called for the Gibeonites and spoke to them: "Why have you deceived us by saying, ‘We live very far away from you,’ when actually you live among us?