but did not ask counsel from the LORD

Joshua 9:3-6 & 14

But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai, they on their part acted with cunning and went and made ready provisions and took worn-out sacks for their donkeys, and wineskins, worn-out and torn and mended, with worn-out, patched sandals on their feet, and worn-out clothes. And all their provisions were dry and crumbly. And they went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and to the men of Israel, “We have come from a distant country, so now make a covenant with us.”

So the men took some of their provisions, but did not ask counsel from the LORD.

D. A. Carson, For the Love of God (Vol. 1)

[T]he failure depicted in 9:14 has haunted many believers, and not only the ancient Israelites: “The men of Israel sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the LORD.” . . . The fact that their decision was based on their estimate of how far these Gibeonites had comes makes it obvious that they were aware of the danger of treaties with the Canaanites. The failure must therefore not be taken as a mere breach of devotions that day, a hastiness that forgot a magic step. The problem is deeper: there is an unseemly negligence that betrays an overconfidence that does not thing it needs God in this case. Many a Christian leader has made disastrous mistakes when he or she has not taken time to seek God’s perspective, probing Scripture and asking him for the wisdom he has promised to give (James 1:5) (July 7).