24
1 Joshua
gathered all the
tribes of Israel
to Shechem, and
called for the
elders of Israel,
for their heads,
for their judges,
and for their
officers; and they
presented themselves
before God.
2 Joshua said
to all the
people, “The LORD,
the God of
Israel, says, ‘Your
fathers lived of
old time beyond
the River, even
Terah, the father
of Abraham, and
the father of
Nahor. They served
other gods.
3 I
took your father
Abraham from
beyond the River,
and led him
throughout all the
land of Canaan,
and multiplied his
offspring,
and gave him
Isaac.
4 I
gave to Isaac
Jacob and Esau:
and I gave
to Esau Mount
Seir, to possess
it. Jacob and
his children went
down into Egypt.
5 “ ‘I
sent Moses
and Aaron, and I
plagued Egypt, according
to that which I
did among them:
and afterward I
brought you out.
6 I
brought your fathers
out of Egypt:
and you came
to the sea.
The Egyptians
pursued your fathers
with chariots and
with horsemen to
the Red Sea.
7 When
they cried out
to the LORD,
he put darkness
between you and
the Egyptians, and
brought the sea
on them, and
covered them; and
your eyes saw
what I did
in Egypt. You
lived in the
wilderness many
days.
8 “ ‘I
brought you into
the land of
the Amorites, that
lived beyond the
Jordan. They
fought with you,
and I gave
them into your
hand. You
possessed their
land, and I
destroyed them
from before you.
9 Then
Balak the son
of Zippor, king
of Moab, arose
and fought against
Israel. He sent
and called Balaam
the son of
Beor to curse
you,
10 but
I would not listen
to Balaam; therefore
he blessed you
still. So I
delivered you out
of his hand.
11 “ ‘You
went over the
Jordan, and came
to Jericho. The
men of Jericho
fought against you,
the Amorite, the
Perizzite, the
Canaanite, the
Hittite, the
Girgashite, the
Hivite, and the
Jebusite; and I
delivered them
into your hand.
12 I
sent the hornet
before you, which
drove them out
from before you,
even the two
kings of
the Amorites; not
with your sword,
nor with your
bow.
13 I
gave you a land
on which you
had not labored,
and cities which
you didn’t build,
and you live
in them. You eat
of vineyards and
olive groves which
you didn’t plant.’
14 “Now
therefore fear the
LORD, and serve
him in sincerity
and in truth. Put
away the gods
which your fathers
served beyond the
River, in Egypt;
and serve the
LORD.
15 If it
seems evil to
you to serve
the LORD, choose
today whom you
will serve; whether
the gods which
your fathers served
that were beyond
the River, or
the gods of
the Amorites, in
whose land you
dwell; but as
for me and
my house, we
will serve the
LORD.”
16 The
people answered, “Far
be it from
us that we
should forsake the
LORD, to
serve other gods;
17 for
it is the
LORD our God
who brought us
and our fathers up
out of the
land of Egypt,
from the house
of bondage, and
who did those
great signs in our
sight, and
preserved us in
all the way
in which we
went, and among
all the peoples
through the middle
of whom we
passed.
18 The
LORD drove out
from before us
all the peoples,
even the Amorites
who lived in
the land.
Therefore we also
will serve the
LORD; for he
is our God.”
19 Joshua said
to the people, “You
can’t serve the
LORD, for he
is a holy
God. He is
a jealous God.
He will not
forgive your disobedience
nor your sins.
20 If
you forsake the
LORD, and serve
foreign gods, then
he will turn
and do you
evil, and consume
you, after he
has done you
good.”
21 The
people said to
Joshua, “No, but
we will serve
the LORD.”
22 Joshua said
to the people, “You
are witnesses
against yourselves
that you
have chosen the
LORD yourselves,
to serve him.”
They said, “We
are witnesses.”
23 “Now
therefore put away
the foreign gods
which are among
you, and incline
your heart to
the LORD, the
God of Israel.”
24 The
people said to
Joshua, “We will
serve the LORD
our God, and
we will listen
to his voice.”
25 So
Joshua made a
covenant with the
people that day,
and made for
them a statute
and an ordinance
in Shechem.
26 Joshua
wrote these words
in the book
of the law
of God; and
he took a
great stone, and
set it up
there under the oak
that was by
the sanctuary of
the LORD.
27 Joshua
said to all
the people, “Behold, this stone shall
be a witness
against us, for
it has heard
all the LORD’s
words which he
spoke to us.
It shall be
therefore a
witness against
you, lest you
deny your God.”
28 So
Joshua sent the
people away, each
to his own
inheritance.
29 After
these things,
Joshua the son
of Nun, the
servant of the
LORD, died, being
one hundred ten
years old.
30 They buried
him in the
border of his
inheritance in Timnathserah,
which is in
the hill country
of Ephraim, on the
north of the
mountain of Gaash.
31 Israel
served the LORD
all the days
of Joshua, and
all the days
of the elders
who outlived Joshua,
and had known
all the work
of the LORD,
that he had
worked for Israel.
32 They
buried the bones
of Joseph, which
the children of
Israel brought up
out of Egypt,
in Shechem, in
the parcel of
ground which Jacob
bought from the
sons of Hamor
the father of
Shechem for a
hundred pieces of
silver.
They became the
inheritance of the
children of Joseph.
33 Eleazar the
son of Aaron died.
They buried him
in the hill
of Phinehas his
son, which was
given him in
the hill country
of Ephraim.