JoshuaChapter 24

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¹Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel at Shechem. He called for the elders, leaders, judges, and officers of Israel. They came and stood before God. ²Joshua said to all the people, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'Long ago your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates River. Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor, was one of them. They worshiped other gods. ³But I took your father Abraham from beyond the Euphrates. I led him through all the land of Canaan. I gave him many, many descendants. I gave him Isaac, ⁴and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I gave Esau Mount Seir to be his own. But Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt. ⁵Then I sent Moses and Aaron. I struck the Egyptians with troubles by what I did there. After that I brought you out. ⁶I brought your fathers out of Egypt, and you came to the Red Sea. The Egyptians chased them with chariots and horsemen all the way to the Red Sea. ⁷Then your fathers cried out to the LORD. He put darkness between you and the Egyptians. He brought the sea over the Egyptians and covered them. You saw with your own eyes what I did to the Egyptians. Then you lived in the desert for a long time. ⁸Later I brought you to the land of the Amorites, who lived east of the Jordan. They fought against you, but I handed them over to you. I wiped them out ahead of you, so you could take their land. ⁹Then Balak son of Zippor, the king of Moab, got ready to fight against Israel. He sent for Balaam son of Beor to put a curse on you. ¹⁰But I would not listen to Balaam. So he blessed you again and again. And I saved you from his power. ¹¹After this you crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho. The people of Jericho fought against you. So did the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites, and Jebusites. But I handed them over to you. ¹²I sent the hornet ahead of you. It drove out the two Amorite kings ahead of you. It was not by your own sword or bow. ¹³So I gave you a land you did not work for. I gave you cities you did not build. Now you live in them. You eat from vineyards and olive groves you did not plant.' ¹⁴So now, fear the LORD. Serve him with honest hearts and in truth. Throw away the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates and in Egypt. Serve the LORD. ¹⁵But maybe you do not want to serve the LORD. Then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve. Will it be the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living? But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD!" ¹⁶The people answered, "We would never forsake the LORD to serve other gods! ¹⁷For the LORD our God brought us and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, where we were slaves. He did these great signs before our eyes. He also kept us safe on our whole journey. He kept us safe among all the nations we passed through. ¹⁸The LORD drove out all the nations ahead of us. That includes the Amorites who lived in the land. We will serve the LORD too, because he is our God!" ¹⁹But Joshua said to the people, "You are not able to serve the LORD, because he is a holy God. He is a jealous God. He will not forgive your turning against him or your sins. ²⁰If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, he will turn against you. He will bring disaster on you and wipe you out. He will do this even after he has been good to you." ²¹"No!" the people answered. "We will serve the LORD!" ²²Then Joshua told them, "You are witnesses against yourselves. You have chosen to serve the LORD." "Yes, we are witnesses!" they said. ²³"Then get rid of the foreign gods among you," he said. "Turn your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel." ²⁴The people said to Joshua, "We will serve the LORD our God and obey his voice." ²⁵That day Joshua made a covenant for the people. There at Shechem he gave them rules and laws. ²⁶Joshua wrote these things in the Book of the Law of God. Then he took a large stone. He set it up there under the oak tree near the holy place of the LORD. ²⁷Joshua said to all the people, "Look at this stone. It will be a witness against us, because it has heard every word the LORD has said to us. It will be a witness against you if you ever turn your back on your God." ²⁸Then Joshua sent the people away. Each one went to his own land. ²⁹Some time later, Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died. He was 110 years old. ³⁰They buried him on his own land, at Timnath-serah. It was in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. ³¹Israel served the LORD all through the life of Joshua. They also served him through the lives of the elders who lived longer than Joshua. These elders had seen all the things the LORD had done for Israel. ³²The Israelites had brought the bones of Joseph up out of Egypt. They buried them at Shechem. It was in the piece of land Jacob had bought for a hundred pieces of silver. He bought it from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem. This land became the property of Joseph's descendants. ³³Eleazar son of Aaron also died. They buried him at Gibeah, in the hill country of Ephraim. That town had been given to his son Phinehas.