Joshua 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.
[Many years later], Joshua summoned representatives of all the tribes of Israel. He gathered together the elders, the leaders, the judges, and the other officials at Shechem [city]. He told them to listen to what God wanted to tell them.
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.
Joshua said to all of them, “This is what Yahweh, the God we Israeli people worship, is saying: ‘Long ago, your ancestors, including Abraham’s father Terah and Abraham’s younger brother Nahor, lived on the east side of the Euphrates River.
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.
But I took your ancestor Abraham from that land east of the Euphrates River, and I led him as he lived in various places in this land of Canaan, and I enabled him to have many descendants. First, I enabled him to have a son, 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.
When Isaac grew up, I enabled him to have twin sons, Jacob and Esau. I enabled Esau to live in the hilly area in Seir region, but many years later Jacob and his sons and their families went down to live in 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.
“[Many years later], I sent Moses and his older brother Aaron to help your people, and I caused [the people of] Egypt to suffer very much because of what I did there. Then I enabled your ancestors to leave Egypt.
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.
When I brought your ancestors out of Egypt, they came to the Red Sea. The Egyptian army pursued them, some riding in chariots and others on horses, and they also arrived at 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.
Then [your ancestors] pleaded with me to help them. So he caused (darkness/a very dark cloud) to come between your ancestors and the Egyptian army, so that the Egyptian army could not see your ancestors. I separated the water in the Red Sea so that your ancestors could cross it, but when the Egyptian army tried to cross in the same way to pursue them, I caused the water to come back and cover them, and the Egyptian soldiers all drowned, as your ancestors watched and were amazed [IDM]. But after that, you lived in the desert for many years.
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.
“Then I brought your [ancestors] to the area where the groups who were descendants of Amor lived, east of the Jordan River. They fought against you, but I enabled you to defeat them [IDM]. I [enabled you to] destroy them so that you could live in their land [IDM].
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,
Then, Zippor’s son Balak, the King of Moab, (decided that his army would fight against/opposed) the Israelis. He summoned Beor’s son Balaam and asked him to curse you.
10 but I would not listen to Balaam; therefore he blessed you still. So I delivered you out of his hand.
But I would not do what Balaam asked, so he (blessed/said that I would do great things for) you four times, and I did not enable the army of Moab to defeat you [IDM].
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.
“Then you all crossed the Jordan River and came to Jericho. The people of Jericho prepared to fight against you, [and the armies of] the descendants of Amor, Periz, Canaan, Heth, Girgash, Hiv, and Jebus [all prepared to do the same thing] but I enabled you to defeat [IDM] them all.
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.
I am the one who caused them to panic as you advanced and enabled you to defeat them, as I had enabled you to do earlier to the two kings of the groups who were descendants of Amor. You did not defeat them by using your own bows and arrows and swords; [it was I who defeated them].
13 I gave you a land on which you had not labored, and cities which you did not build, and you live in them. You eat of vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.’
So I gave you a land that you had not tilled/planted, and I gave you cities that you did not build. [Now] you live in those [cities] and you eat the grapes from the grapevines that you did not plant, and you eat olives from trees that you did not 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.
[Then Joshua said to the people], “[Because of all that] Yahweh [has done for you], revere him, and serve/worship him very faithfully. Throw away the idols that your ancestors worshiped on the east/other side of the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve only Yahweh.
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.”
But if you do not want to serve/worship Yahweh, you should decide today what [gods] you will serve/worship. You should decide whether you will serve/worship the gods that your ancestors who lived on the other/east side of the Euphrates River served, or whether you will serve/worship the gods that the descendants of Amor, who previously lived in the land where you are now living, [serve/worship]. But as for me and my family [MTY], we will serve/worship Yahweh!”
16 The people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD, to serve other gods;
The Israeli people answered, “We will never quit [serving/worshiping] Yahweh! We would never [think of] [IDM] serving/worshiping 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.
It was our God, Yahweh, who brought our parents and grandparents up out of Egypt. [He rescued them] from that land where they were slaves. As he rescued them, they saw him perform great miracles. He protected them all the time when they were traveling. He protected them from all the people-groups through whose territory they traveled.
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.”
As our forefathers advanced, Yahweh expelled the descendants of Amor and the other people-groups who lived in this land. Yahweh is our God, so [we are saying that] we also will serve/worship him.”
19 Joshua said to the people, “You cannot serve the LORD, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God. He will not forgive your disobedience nor your sins.
Joshua replied to the people, “[I think that] you are not able to serve/worship Yahweh, because he is a holy God. He will not forgive your sinning and rebelling [against him]. He demands that you serve/worship only him [IDM].
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.”
He has been good to you [in the past], but if you turn away from him and serve/worship foreign/other gods, he will turn [against you] and he will cause you to experience disasters. He will punish [IDM] you severely!”
21 The people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve the LORD.”
But the people replied to Joshua, “No, [we will not turn away from worshiping/serving Yahweh] We will serve/worship Yahweh!”
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.”
Then Joshua said, “You yourselves are saying that you have decided to serve/worship Yahweh.” They replied, “Yes, we are saying that.”
23 “Now therefore put away the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your heart to the LORD, the God of Israel.”
Then Joshua said, “Since [you have decided] that, you must throw away all the other gods/idols that you have among you. You must also promise that you will wholeheartedly give yourselves to Yahweh, the God whom we Israelis [serve/worship].”
24 The people said to Joshua, “We will serve the LORD our God, and we will listen to his voice.”
The people replied, “We will serve/worship Yahweh, our God, and obey him.”
25 So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made for them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.
That day, Joshua established an agreement between the people and Yahweh. He wrote for them all the laws that they were required to obey.
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.
He wrote all those laws on a scroll. He called it ‘The laws of God’. Then he [told some men to] set up a large stone there at Shechem, under the [large] oak tree near the place where [they worshiped] Yahweh.
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.”
He said to all the people, “Look! [It is as though] this stone has heard everything that Yahweh said to you [and that you promised Yahweh]. It will serve as a witness against you if you rebel against your God!”
28 So Joshua sent the people away, each to his own inheritance.
Then Joshua sent the people away, and all of them returned to their own areas/homes.
29 After these things, Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being one hundred ten years old.
Some time after that, Nun’s son Joshua, the faithful servant of Yahweh, died. He was 110 years old when he died.
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.
The Israeli people buried his body on his own property in Timnath-Serah [town] town. It is north of Gaash Mountain in the hilly area of the tribe who were descendants of Ephraim.
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.
The Israeli people served/worshiped Yahweh as long as Joshua was alive. After Joshua died, they continued serving/worshiping Yahweh while the elders who had experienced everything that Yahweh had done for the Israeli people were still alive.
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.
Joseph’s bones, which the Israeli people had brought with them from Egypt, were also buried at Shechem. The people buried them in the piece of land that Jacob had bought long ago for 100 pieces of silver from Hamor, the father of Shechem. That piece of land was in the area that was given to the people who were descendants of Ephraim and Manasseh, Joseph’s sons.
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.
Eleazar, the Supreme Priest, the son of Aaron, also died. They buried his body at Gibeah, in the area that had been given to Eleazar’s son Phinehas, in the hilly area that belonged to the people who were descendants of Ephraim.
