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.

Then Joshua got all the tribes of Israel together at Shechem; and he sent for the responsible men of Israel and their chiefs and their judges and their overseers; and they took their place before God.

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

And Joshua said to all the people, These are the words of the Lord, the God of Israel: In the past your fathers, Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor, were living on the other side of the River: and they were worshipping other gods.

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

And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the River, guiding him through all the land of Canaan; I made his offspring great in number, and 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 children went down into Egypt, and became there a great and numerous and mighty nation, and the Egyptians afflicted them.

And to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau: to Esau I gave Mount Seir, as his heritage; 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 its midst; and afterward I brought you out

And I sent Moses and Aaron, troubling Egypt by all the signs I did among them: and after that I took you out.

6 from Egypt. And you came to the sea, and the Egyptians pursued after your fathers with chariots and with horsemen to the Red Sea.

I took your fathers out of Egypt: and you came to the Red Sea; and the Egyptians came after your fathers to the Red Sea, with their war-carriages and their horsemen.

7 When they cried out to YHWH, 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: and you lived in the wilderness many days.

And at their cry, the Lord made it dark between you and the Egyptians, and made the sea go over them, covering them with its waters; your eyes have seen what I did in Egypt: then for a long time you were living in the waste land.

8 I brought you into the land of the Amorites, that lived beyond the Jordan: and they fought with you; and I gave them into your hand. You possessed their land; and I destroyed them from before you.

And I took you into the lands of the Amorites on the other side of Jordan; and they made war on you, and I gave them into your hands and you took their land; and I sent destruction on them before you.

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 Balak, the son of Zippor, king of Moab, went up to war against Israel; and he sent for Balaam, the son of Beor, to put a curse on you:

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

But I did not give ear to Balaam; and so he went on blessing you; and I kept you safe from him.

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

Then you went over Jordan and came to Jericho: and the men of Jericho made war on you, the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Hivites and the Jebusites: and I gave them up into your hands.

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.

And I sent the hornet before you, driving out the two kings of the Amorites before you, not with your sword and your bow.

13 I gave you a land whereon 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.'

And I gave you a land on which you had done no work, and towns not of your building, and you are now living in them; and your food comes from vine-gardens and olive-gardens not of your planting.

14 Now therefore fear YHWH, and serve him in sincerity and in truth. Put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve YHWH.

So now, go in fear of the Lord, and be his servants with true hearts: put away the gods worshipped by your fathers across the River and in Egypt, and be servants of the Lord.

15 If it seems evil to you to serve YHWH, choose this day 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 YHWH."

And if it seems evil to you to be the servants of the Lord, make the decision this day whose servants you will be: of the gods whose servants your fathers were across the River, or of the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living: but I and my house will be the servants of the Lord.

16 The people answered, "Far be it from us that we should forsake YHWH, to serve other gods;

Then the people in answer said, Never will we give up the Lord to be the servants of other gods;

17 for it is YHWH 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 midst of whom we passed.

For it is the Lord our God who has taken us and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, out of the prison-house, and who did all those great signs before our eyes, and kept us safe on all our journeys, and among all the peoples through whom we went:

18 YHWH drove out from before us all the peoples, even the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve YHWH; for he is our God."

And the Lord sent out from before us all the peoples, the Amorites living in the land: so we will be the servants of the Lord, for he is our God.

19 Joshua said to the people, "You can't serve YHWH; for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God. He will not forgive your disobedience nor your sins.

And Joshua said to the people, You are not able to be the servants of the Lord, for he is a holy God, a God who will not let his honour be given to another: he will have no mercy on your wrongdoing or your sins.

20 If you forsake YHWH, and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm, and consume you, after he has done you good."

If you are turned away from the Lord and become the servants of strange gods, then turning against you he will do you evil, cutting you off, after he has done you good.

21 The people said to Joshua, "No; but we will serve YHWH."

And the people said to Joshua, No! But we will be the servants of the Lord.

22 Joshua said to the people, "You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen you YHWH, to serve him." They said, "We are witnesses."

And Joshua said to the people, You are witnesses against yourselves that you have made the decision to be the servants of the Lord. And they said, We are witnesses.

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

Then, he said, put away the strange gods among you, turning your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.

24 The people said to Joshua, "We will serve YHWH our God, and we will listen to his voice."

And the people said to Joshua, We will be the servants of the Lord our God, and we will give ear to his voice.

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

So Joshua made an agreement with the people that day, and gave them a rule and a law in Shechem.

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 YHWH.

And Joshua put these words on record, writing them in the book of the law of God; and he took a great stone, and put it up there under the oak-tree which was in the holy place of the Lord.

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

And Joshua said to all the people, See now, this stone is to be a witness against us; for all the words of the Lord have been said to us in its hearing: so it will be a witness against you if you are false to the Lord your God.

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

Then Joshua let the people go away, every man to his heritage.

29 It happened after these things, that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of YHWH, died, being one hundred ten years old.

Now after these things, the death of Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, took place, he being then a hundred and ten years old.

30 They buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath Serah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, on the north of the mountain of Gaash.

And they put his body in the earth in the land of his heritage in Timnath-serah, in the hill-country of Ephraim, to the north of Mount Gaash.

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

And Israel was true to the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the older men who were still living after Joshua's death, and had seen what the Lord had done for Israel.

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 of the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred kesitahs. They became the inheritance of the descendants of Joseph.

And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel had taken up from Egypt, they put in the earth in Shechem, in the property which Jacob had got from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for a hundred shekels: and they became the heritage of the children of Joseph.

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.

Then the death of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, took place; and his body was put in the earth in the hill of Phinehas his son, which had been given to him in the hill-country of Ephraim.