“Now therefore ye are cursed, and there shall none of you be freed from being bondmen, and hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God.”
Servitude as the irrevocable sentence — Therefore you are cursed, and some of you shall always be slaves ('avadim, עֲבָדִים), hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God. The curse (קְלָלָה) takes effect as the Gibeonites become permanent laborers 'for the house of my God' (לְבֵית אֱלֹהַי)—their service, though born of deception, becomes service to the sanctuary. This reframes their punishment: they will serve Israel's God even as they serve Israel.
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