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.

Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem and called for the elders of Israel, for their leaders, 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, “This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, 'Your ancestors long ago lived beyond the Euphrates River—Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor—and they worshiped 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.

But I took your father from beyond the Euphrates and led him into the land of Canaan and gave him many descendants through his son 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.

Then to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I gave Esau the hill country of Seir to possess, but Jacob and his children went down to 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 afflicted the Egyptians with plagues. After that, 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 ancestors out of Egypt, and you came to the sea. The Egyptians pursued them with chariots and horsemen as far as the Sea of Reeds.

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 your ancestors called out to Yahweh, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians. He brought the sea to come over them and cover them. You saw what I did in Egypt. Then you lived in the wilderness for a long time.

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 to the land of the Amorites, who lived on the other side of the Jordan. They fought with you, and I gave them into your hand. You took possession of their land, and I destroyed them 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 son of Zippor, king of Moab, got up and attacked Israel. He sent and called for Balaam 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 did not listen to Balaam. Indeed, he blessed you. So I rescued 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 leaders of Jericho fought against you, along with the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. I gave you victory over them and put them under your control.

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 and the two kings of the Amorites out before you. It did not happen by your sword or by 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 land on which you had not worked and cities that you had not built, and now you live in them. You eat the fruit of vineyards and olive orchards that 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 fear Yahweh and worship him with all integrity and faithfulness; get rid of the gods that your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates and in Egypt, and worship Yahweh.

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 wrong in your eyes for you to worship Yahweh, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live. But as for me and my house, we will worship Yahweh.”

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

The people answered and said, “We would never forsake Yahweh 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 Yahweh our God who brought us and our ancestors up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight, and who preserved us in all the way that we went, and among all the nations through 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.”

Then Yahweh drove out before us all the peoples, including the Amorites who lived in the land. So we too will worship Yahweh, 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.

But Joshua said to the people, “You cannot serve Yahweh, for he is a holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions and 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 Yahweh and worship foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm. He will consume you, after he has done good to you.”

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

But the people said to Joshua, “No, we will worship Yahweh.”

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!”

Then Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen for yourselves Yahweh, to worship 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 put away the foreign gods that are with you, and turn your heart to Yahweh, 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 worship Yahweh our God. 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.

Joshua made a covenant with the people that day. He put in place decrees and laws at 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. He took a large stone and set it up there beneath the oak tree that was beside Yahweh's sanctuary.

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, “Look, this stone will be a testimony against us. It has heard all the words Yahweh said to us. So it will be a witness against you, should you ever 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 son of Nun, the servant of Yahweh, died, being 110 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 within the border of his own inheritance, at Timnath Serah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount 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 worshiped Yahweh all of Joshua's days, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, those who had experienced everything that Yahweh had done 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.

The bones of Joseph, which the people of Israel brought up out of Egypt—they buried them at Shechem, in the piece of land that Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem. He bought it for one hundred pieces of silver, and it became an inheritance for the descendants 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 son of Aaron also died. They buried him at Gibeah, the city of Phinehas his son, which had been given to him. It was in the hill country of Ephraim.