Joshua 24

1 And Joshua gathered all the tribe of Israel to Selo, and convoked their elders, and their officers, and their judges, and set them before God.

Then Joshua assembled all the tribes of Israel at Shechem. He summoned the elders, leaders, judges, and officers of Israel, and they presented themselves before God.

2 And Joshua said to all the people, Thus says the Lord God of Israel, Your fathers at first sojourned beyond the river, [even] Thara, the father of Abraam and the father of Nachor; and they served other gods.

And Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Long ago your fathers, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates and worshiped other gods.

3 And I took your father Abraam from the other side of the river, and I guided him through all the land, and I multiplied his seed;

But I took your father Abraham from beyond the Euphrates and led him through all the land of Canaan, and I multiplied his descendants. I gave him Isaac,

4 and I gave to him Isaac, and to Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave to Esau mount Seir for him to inherit: and Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt, and became there a great and populous and mighty nation: and the Egyptians afflicted them.

and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I gave Esau Mount Seir to possess, but Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt.

5 And I smote Egypt with the wonders that I wrought among them.

Then I sent Moses and Aaron, and I afflicted the Egyptians by what I did there, and afterward I brought you out.

6 And afterwards [God] brought out our fathers from Egypt, and ye entered into the Red Sea; and the Egyptians pursued after our fathers with chariots and horses into the Red Sea.

When I brought your fathers out of Egypt and you reached the Red Sea, the Egyptians pursued them with chariots and horsemen as far as the Red Sea.

7 And we cried aloud to the Lord; and he put a cloud and darkness between us and the Egyptians, and he brought the sea upon them, and covered them; and your eyes have seen all that the Lord did in the land of Egypt; and ye were in the wilderness many days.

So your fathers cried out to the LORD, and He put darkness between you and the Egyptians, over whom He brought the sea and engulfed them. Your very eyes saw what I did to the Egyptians. Then you lived in the wilderness for a long time.

8 And he brought us into the land of the Amorites that dwelt beyond Jordan, and the Lord delivered them into our hands; and ye inherited their land, and utterly destroyed them from before you.

Later, I brought you to the land of the Amorites who lived beyond the Jordan. They fought against you, but I delivered them into your hand, that you should possess their land when I destroyed them before you.

9 And Balac, king of Moab, son of Sepphor, rose up, and made war against Israel, and sent and called Balaam to curse us.

Then Balak son of Zippor, the king of Moab, set out to fight against Israel. He sent for Balaam son of Beor to curse you,

10 But the Lord thy God would not destroy thee; and he greatly blessed us, and rescued us out of their hands, and delivered them [to us].

but I would not listen to Balaam. So he blessed you again and again, and I delivered you from his hand.

11 And ye crossed over Jordan, and came to Jericho; and the inhabitants of Jericho fought against us, the Amorite, and the Chananite, and the Pherezite, and the Evite, and the Jebusite, and the Chettite, and the Gergesite, and the Lord delivered them into our hands.

After this, you crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho. The people of Jericho fought against you, as did the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites, and Jebusites, and I delivered them into your hand.

12 And he sent forth the hornet before you; and he drove them out from before you, [even] twelve kings of the Amorites, not with thy sword, nor with thy bow.

I sent the hornet ahead of you, and it drove out the two Amorite kings before you, but not by your own sword or bow.

13 And he gave you a land on which ye did not labour, and cities which ye did not build, and ye were settled in them; and ye eat [of] vineyards and oliveyards which ye did not plant.

So I gave you a land on which you did not toil and cities that you did not build, and now you live in them and eat from vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant.’

14 And now fear the Lord, and serve him in righteousness and justice; and remove the strange gods, which our fathers served beyond the river, and in Egypt; and serve the Lord.

Now, therefore, fear the LORD and serve Him in sincerity and truth; cast aside the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.

15 But if it seem not good to you to serve the Lord, choose to yourselves this day whom ye will serve, whether the gods of your fathers that were on the other side of the river, or the gods of the Amorites, among whom ye dwell upon their land: but I and my house will serve the Lord, for he is holy.

But if it is unpleasing in your sight to serve the LORD, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD!”

16 And the people answered and said, Far be it from us to forsake the Lord, so as to serve other gods.

The people replied, “Far be it from us to forsake the LORD to serve other gods!

17 The Lord our God, he is God; he brought up us and our fathers from Egypt, and kept us in all the way wherein we walked, and among all the nations through whom we passed.

For the LORD our God brought us and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and performed these great signs before our eyes. He also protected us throughout our journey and among all the nations through which we traveled.

18 And the Lord cast out the Amorite, and all the nations that inhabited the land from before us: yea, we will serve the Lord, for he is our God.

And the LORD drove out before us all the nations, including the Amorites who lived in the land. We too will serve the LORD, because He is our God!”

19 And Joshua said to the people, Indeed ye will not be able to serve the Lord, for God is holy; and he being jealous will not forgive your sins and your transgressions.

But Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the LORD, for He is a holy God; He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your rebellion or your sins.

20 Whensoever ye shall forsake the Lord and serve other gods, then he shall come upon you and afflict you, and consume you, because he has done you good.

If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, He will turn and bring disaster on you and consume you, even after He has been good to you.”

21 And the people said to Joshua, Nay, but we will serve the Lord.

“No!” replied the people. “We will serve the LORD!”

22 And Joshua said to the people, Ye [are] witnesses against yourselves, that ye have chosen the Lord to serve him.

Then Joshua told them, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen to serve the LORD.” “We are witnesses!” they said.

23 And now take away the strange gods that are among you, and set your heart right toward the Lord God of Israel.

“Now, therefore,” he said, “get rid of the foreign gods among you and incline your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel.”

24 And the people said to Joshua, We will serve the Lord, and we will hearken to his voice.

So the people said to Joshua, “We will serve the LORD our God and obey His voice.”

25 So Joshua made a covenant with the people on that day, and gave them a law and an ordinance in Selo before the tabernacle of the God of Israel.

On that day Joshua made a covenant for the people, and there at Shechem he established for them a statute and ordinance.

26 And he wrote these words in the book of the laws of God: and Joshua took a great stone, and set it up under the oak before the Lord.

Joshua recorded these things in the Book of the Law of God. Then he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak that was near the sanctuary of the LORD.

27 And Joshua said to the people, Behold, this stone shall be among you for a witness, for it has heard all the words that have been spoken to it by the Lord; for he has spoken to you this day; and this [stone] shall be among you for a witness in the last days, whenever ye shall deal falsely with the Lord my God.

And Joshua said to all the people, “You see this stone. It will be a witness against us, for it has heard all the words the LORD has spoken to us, and it will be a witness against you if you ever deny your God.”

28 And Joshua dismissed the people, and they went every man to his place.

Then Joshua sent the people away, each to his own inheritance.

29 And it came to pass after these things that Joshua the son of Naue the servant of the Lord died, [at the age] of a hundred and ten years.

Some time later, Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of 110.

30 And they buried him by the borders of his inheritance in Thamnasarach in the mount of Ephraim, northward of the mount of Galaad.

And they buried him in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.

31 And Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that lived as long as Joshua, and all that knew all the works of the Lord which he wrought for Israel.

Israel had served the LORD throughout the days of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had experienced all the works that the LORD had done for Israel.

32 And the children of Israel brought up the bones of Joseph out of Egypt, and buried [them] in Sicima, in the portion of the land which Jacob bought of the Amorites who dwelt in Sicima for a hundred ewe-lambs; and he gave it to Joseph for a portion.

And the bones of Joseph, which the Israelites had brought up out of Egypt, were buried at Shechem in the plot of land that Jacob had purchased from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for a hundred pieces of silver. So it became an inheritance for Joseph’s descendants.

33 And it came to pass afterwards that Eleazar the high-priest the son of Aaron died, and was buried in Gabaar of Phinees his son, which he gave him in mount Ephraim.

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