1 The victories of Israel became known to all the kings west of the Jordan — in the hills, in the foothills, and all along the coastal plain of the Mediterranean Sea as far north as Lebanon; these were the kings of the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
2 They all came together and joined forces to fight against Joshua and the Israelites.
3 But the people of Gibeon, who were Hivites, heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai,
4 and they decided to deceive him. They went and got some food and loaded their donkeys with worn-out sacks and patched-up wineskins.
5 They put on ragged clothes and worn-out sandals that had been mended. The bread they took with them was dry and mouldy.
6 Then they went to the camp at Gilgal and said to Joshua and the Israelites, “We have come from a distant land. We want you to make a treaty with us.”