And they answered Joshua and said, "Because it was told with certainty to your servants that Yahweh your God commanded Moses his servant to give to you all the land and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land before you, so we were very afraid for our lives because of you, and so we did this thing.

he became very afraid because Gibeon [was] a very large city, {like one of the royal cities}, and because it [was] larger than Ai, and all its men [were] mighty warriors.

And Yahweh said to Joshua, "Do not be afraid of them, for I have given them into your hand; {no one will withstand you}.

And Joshua said to them, "Do not be afraid or dismayed! Be strong and bold, for thus Yahweh will do to all your enemies whom you [are] about to fight.

And Yahweh said to Joshua, "Do not be afraid because of their presence, for tomorrow at this time I [will] hand them over slain to Israel; you will hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire."