Joshua 24

1 And Joshua gathers all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and calls for [the] elderly of Israel, and for his heads, and for his judges, and for his authorities, and they station themselves before God.

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 And Joshua says to all the people, “Thus said YHWH, God of Israel: Beyond the River your fathers have dwelt of old—Terah father of Abraham and father of Nachor—and they serve other gods;

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 and I take your father Abraham from beyond the River, and cause him to go through all the land of Canaan, and multiply his seed, and give Isaac to him.

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 And I give Jacob and Esau to Isaac; and I give Mount Seir to Esau, to possess it; and Jacob and his sons have gone down to Egypt.

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 And I send Moses and Aaron, and plague Egypt, as I have done in its midst, and afterward I have brought you out.

“‘I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did among them: and afterward I brought you out.

6 And I bring out your fathers from Egypt, and you go to the sea, and the Egyptians pursue after your fathers, with chariot and with horsemen, to the Red Sea;

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 and they cry to YHWH, and He sets thick darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brings the sea over him, and covers them, and your eyes see that which I have done in Egypt; and you dwell in a wilderness [for] many days.

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 And I bring you into the land of the Amorite who is dwelling beyond the Jordan, and they fight with you, and I give them into your hand, and you possess their land, and I destroy them out of your presence.

“‘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 And Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, rises and fights against Israel, and sends and calls for Balaam son of Beor, to revile you,

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 and I have not been willing to listen to Balaam, and he greatly blesses you, and I deliver you out of his hand.

but I would not listen to Balaam; therefore he blessed you still. So I delivered you out of his hand.

11 And you pass over the Jordan, and come to Jericho, and the possessors of Jericho fight against you—the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Girgashite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite—and I give them into your hand.

“‘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 And I send the hornet before you, and it casts them out from your presence—two kings of the Amorite—not by your sword, nor by your bow.

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 And I give a land to you for which you have not labored, and cities which you have not built, and you dwell in them; you are eating of vineyards and olive-yards which you have not planted.

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.’

14 And now, fear YHWH, and serve Him, in perfection and in truth, and turn aside the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, and in Egypt, and serve YHWH;

“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 and if [it is] wrong in your eyes to serve YHWH—choose for yourselves today whom you serve—whether the gods whom your fathers served, which [are] beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorite in whose land you are dwelling; but me and my house—we serve YHWH.”

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 And the people answer and say, “Far be it from us to forsake YHWH, to serve other gods;

The people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD, to serve other gods;

17 for our God YHWH [is] He who is bringing us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, out of a house of servants, and who has done these great signs before our eyes, and keeps us in all the way in which we have gone, and among all the peoples through whose midst we passed;

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 and YHWH casts out the whole of the peoples, even the Amorite inhabiting the land, from our presence; we also serve YHWH, for He [is] our God.”

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 And Joshua says to the people, “You are not able to serve YHWH, for He [is] a most holy God; He [is] a zealous God; He does not bear with your transgression and with your sins.

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.

20 When you forsake YHWH, and have served gods of a stranger, then He has turned back and done harm to you, and consumed you, after that He has done good to you.”

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 And the people say to Joshua, “No, but we serve YHWH!”

The people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve the LORD.”

22 And Joshua says to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves, that you have chosen YHWH for yourselves, to serve Him,” and they say, “Witnesses!”

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 “And now, turn aside the gods of the stranger which [are] in your midst, and incline your heart to YHWH, God of Israel.”

“Now therefore put away the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your heart to the LORD, the God of Israel.”

24 And the people say to Joshua, “We serve our God YHWH, and we listen to His voice.”

The people said to Joshua, “We will serve the LORD our God, and we will listen to his voice.”

25 And Joshua makes a covenant with the people on that day, and lays a statute and an ordinance on it, in Shechem.

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

26 And Joshua writes these words in the Scroll of the Law of God, and takes a great stone, and raises it up there under the oak which [is] in the sanctuary of YHWH.

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 And Joshua says to all the people, “Behold, this stone is for a witness against us, for it has heard all the sayings of YHWH which He has spoken with us, and it has been for a witness against you, lest you lie against your God.”

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 And Joshua sends the people away, each to his inheritance.

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

29 And it comes to pass, after these things, that Joshua son of Nun, servant of YHWH, dies, a son of one hundred and ten years,

After these things, Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being one hundred ten years old.

30 and they bury him in the border of his inheritance, in Timnath-Serah, which [is] in the hill-country of Ephraim, on the north of the hill of Gaash.

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 And Israel serves YHWH all [the] days of Joshua, and all [the] days of the elderly who prolonged days after Joshua, and who knew all the work of YHWH which He did to Israel.

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 And the bones of Joseph, which the sons of Israel brought up out of Egypt, they buried in Shechem, in the portion of the field which Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor father of Shechem, with one hundred kesitah; and they are for an inheritance to the sons of Joseph.

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 And Eleazar son of Aaron died, and they bury him in a hill of his son Phinehas, which was given to him in the hill-country of Ephraim.

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.