Joshua 24

1 And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers; and they presented themselves before God.

Joshua summoned all the tribes of Israel to Shechem. Then he called the elders, leaders, judges, and officials and they came and stood before the Tabernacle of God.

2 And Joshua said to all the people, Thus says Jehovah, the God of Israel: Your fathers dwelt of old time beyond the River, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods.

Joshua said to all the people, “The Lord, the God of Israel, says this: ‘Long, long ago your forefathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates River, and they worshiped other gods.

3 And I took your father Abraham from beyond the River, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac.

I brought your father Abraham from beyond the Euphrates and led him through all the land of Canaan and gave him many descendants. I gave him Isaac.

4 And I gave to Isaac, Jacob and Esau. And I gave to Esau mount Seir to possess it. And Jacob and his sons went down into Egypt.

I gave to Isaac Jacob and Esau. I gave to Esau the hill country of Seir to own, but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt.

5 And I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did in the midst of it, and afterward I brought you out.

I sent Moses and Aaron, and I brought plagues on the people of Egypt, and I brought you out.

6 And I brought your fathers out of Egypt. And ye came to the sea, and the Egyptians pursued after your fathers with chariots and with horsemen to the Red Sea.

Yes, I brought your forefathers out, but when you arrived at the Red Sea the Egyptians were chasing after your forefathers with chariots and horsemen.

7 And when they cried out to Jehovah, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them, and covered them. And your eyes saw what I did in Egypt, and ye dwelt in the wilderness many days.

Your forefathers called out to the Lord for help, and he placed darkness between you and the Egyptians. Then he brought the sea back over them and they drowned. You saw what I did with your own eyes in Egypt. Then you lived for many years in the wilderness.

8 And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, who dwelt beyond the Jordan. And they fought with you. And I gave them into your hand, and ye possessed their land, and I destroyed them from before you.

After that I brought you to the land of the Amorites who lived on the other side of the Jordan. They fought against you but I handed them over to you to defeat and you took over their land. I destroyed them before you.

9 Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel. And he sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you,

When Balak, son of Zippor, the king of Moab, wanted to fight against Israel, he sent for Balaam, son of Beor, to come and curse you.

10 but I would not hearken to Balaam. Therefore he blessed you greatly. So I delivered you out of his hand.

But I wasn't willing to listen to Balaam, so instead he blessed you repeatedly, and saved you from Balak.

11 And ye went over the Jordan, and came to Jericho. And the men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Girgashite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. And I delivered them into your hand.

You crossed the Jordan and arrived at Jericho where the men of Jericho fought against you. So did the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

12 And I sent the hornet before you, which drove them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites, not with thy sword, nor with thy bow.

But I handed them over to you to defeat. And I sent the hornet before you to drive out the two kings of the Amorites. You did not win using your swords or your bows!

13 And I gave you a land in which thou had not labored, and cities which ye did not build, and ye dwell in it. Ye eat of vineyards and oliveyards which ye did not plant.

I gave you a land you didn't work for and towns you didn't build. Now you live in them and eat from vineyards and olive groves you didn't plant.’

14 Now therefore fear Jehovah, and serve him in sincerity and in truth. And put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, and in Egypt, and serve ye Jehovah.

So respect the Lord and worship him, sincerely and faithfully. Get rid of the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the Euphrates and in Egypt, and worship the Lord.

15 And if it seems evil to you to serve Jehovah, choose you this day whom ye will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served that were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve Jehovah.

But if you don't want to worship the Lord, choose today who you want to worship! Is it going to be the gods your forefathers worshipped beyond the Euphrates? Or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you're now living? But as for me and my family, we will worship the Lord!”

16 And the people answered and said, Far be it from us that we should forsake Jehovah, to serve other gods.

The people responded, “We are never going to give up on the Lord and worship other gods!

17 For Jehovah our God, he it is 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 midst of whom we passed.

For the Lord our God brought us and our forefathers out of slavery in Egypt. He was the one who did great miracles before our very eyes. He looked after us on the way as we traveled through the lands of many nations.

18 And Jehovah drove out from before us all the peoples, even the Amorites who dwelt in the land. Therefore we also will serve Jehovah, for he is our God.

The Lord drove out before us the Amorites and all the other nations who were living in the land. So we will worship the Lord, for he is our God!”

19 And Joshua said to the people, Ye cannot serve Jehovah, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God. He will not forgive your transgression nor your sins.

Joshua told the people, “Remember that the Lord is a holy and jealous God. You won't be able to worship him, and he won't forgive your rebellion and sins

20 If ye forsake Jehovah, and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you evil, and consume you, after he has done you good.

if you give up on him and worship foreign gods. He will turn against you and destroy you despite all the good he has done for you.”

21 And the people said to Joshua, No, but we will serve Jehovah.

“Don't say that!” the people replied. “We will worship the Lord!”

22 And Joshua said to the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen for you, Jehovah, to serve him. And they said, We are witnesses.

Then Joshua cautioned the people, “You have made yourselves witnesses against yourselves by saying that you have chosen to worship the Lord.” “Yes, we are witnesses,” the people replied.

23 Now therefore, he said, put away the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your heart to Jehovah, the God of Israel.

“Then get rid of those foreign gods you have and promise to be loyal only to the Lord, the God of Israel,” Joshua told them.

24 And the people said to Joshua, we will serve Jehovah our God, and we will hearken to his voice.

The people said to Joshua, “We will worship the Lord our God and we will obey him.”

25 So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.

So Joshua made a solemn agreement between the people and the Lord that day in Shechem, obligating them to follow all the Lord's laws and instructions.

26 And 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 Jehovah.

Joshua recorded this in the Book of the Law of God, and he set up a large stone under the oak tree near the Lord's sanctuary.

27 And Joshua said to all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness against us, for it has heard all the words of Jehovah which he spoke to us. It shall be therefore a witness against you, lest ye deny your God.

Joshua said to the people, “Look at this stone. It stands here as a witness against us for it has heard everything the Lord has told us, and it will be a witness against you if you ever deny what you have promised your God.”

28 So Joshua sent the people away, every man to his inheritance.

Then Joshua dismissed the people, sending them to their allotted lands.

29 And it came to pass after these things, that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Jehovah, died, being a hundred and ten years old.

Later, after all this, Joshua, son of Nun, servant of the Lord, died at the age of one hundred and ten.

30 And 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.

They buried him in Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash, the land he had been allocated.

31 And Israel served Jehovah all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, and had known all the work of Jehovah that he had wrought for Israel.

The Israelites continued to worship the Lord throughout Joshua's life, and throughout the lifetimes of the elders who outlived him, those who had seen all that the Lord had done for Israel.

32 And they buried the bones of Joseph, which the sons of Israel brought up out of Egypt, in Sicima, in the portion of the land which Jacob bought from the Amorites who dwelt in Sicima for a hundred ewe-lambs. And he gave it to Joseph for a portion.

The bones of Joseph, which the Israelites had brought with them from Egypt, they buried in Shechem in the piece of ground Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for one hundred pieces of silver. This land was inherited by Joseph's sons.

33 And Eleazar the son of Aaron died. And they buried him in the hill of Phinehas his son, which was given him in the hill-country of Ephraim.

And Eleazar, son of Aaron, died and they buried him at Gibeah, in the hill country of Ephraim, land which had been given to his son Phinehas.