< Joshua 24 >

1 And Josue gaderide alle the lynagis of Israel in to Sechem; and he clepide the grettere men in birthe, and the princes, and iugis, and maistris; and thei stoden in the siyt of the Lord.
And Joshua gathereth all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and calleth for the elders of Israel, and for its heads, and for its judges, and for its authorities, and they station themselves before God.
2 And he spak thus to the puple, The Lord God of Israel seith these thingis, Youre fadris dwelliden at the bigynnyng biyende the flood Eufrates, Thare, the fadir of Abraham, and Nachor, and thei serueden alien goddis.
And Joshua saith unto all the people, 'Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, Beyond the River have your fathers dwelt of old — Terah father of Abraham and father of Nachor — and they serve other gods;
3 Therfor Y took youre fadir Abraham fro the coostis of Mesopotanye, and Y brouyte hym in to the lond of Canaan; and Y multipliede `the seed of hym,
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 to him Isaac.
4 and Y yaf Isaac to hym; and eft Y yaf to Isaac, Jacob, and Esau, of whiche Y yaf to Esau the hil of Seir, to `haue in possessioun; forsothe Jacob and hise sones yeden doun in to Egipt.
And I give to Isaac, Jacob and Esau; and I give to Esau mount Seir, to possess it; and Jacob and his sons have gone down to Egypt.
5 And Y sente Moises and Aaron, and Y smoot Egipt with many signes and wondris,
And I send Moses and Aaron, and plague Egypt, as I have done in its midst, and afterwards I have brought you out.
6 and Y ledde you and youre fadris out of Egipt. And ye camen to the see, and Egipcians pursueden youre fadris with charis, and multitude of knyytis, `til to the Reed See.
And I bring out your fathers from Egypt, and ye go into the sea, and the Egyptians pursue after your fathers, with chariot and with horsemen, to the Red Sea;
7 Forsothe the sones of Israel crieden to the Lord, and he settide derknessis bitwixe you and Egipcians; and he brouyte the see on hem, and hilide hem. Youre iyen sien alle thingis, whiche Y dide in Egipt. And ye dwelliden in wildirnesse in myche tyme.
and they cry unto Jehovah, and He setteth thick darkness between you and the Egyptians, and bringeth on them the sea, and covereth them, and your eyes see that which I have done in Egypt; and ye dwell in a wilderness many days.
8 And Y brouyte you in to the lond of Ammorrei, that dwellide biyende Jordan; and whanne thei fouyten ayens you, Y bitook hem in to youre hondis, and ye hadden in possessioun `the lond of hem, and ye killiden hem.
'And I bring you in unto the land of the Amorite who is dwelling beyond the Jordan, and they fight with you, and I give them into your hand, and ye possess their land, and I destroy them out of your presence.
9 Sotheli Balach, the sone of Sephor, the king of Moab, roos, and fauyt ayens Israel; and he sente, and clepide Balaam, the sone of Beor, that he schulde curse you.
'And Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, riseth and fighteth against Israel, and sendeth and calleth for Balaam son of Beor, to revile you,
10 And Y nolde here hym, but ayenward bi hym Y blesside you, and delyuerede you fro hise hondis.
and I have not been willing to hearken to Balaam, and he doth greatly bless you, and I deliver you out of his hand.
11 And ye passiden Jordan, and camen to Jerico; and men of that citee fouyten ayens you, Ammorrei, and Feresei, and Cananei, Ethei, and Gergesei, and Euei, and Jebusei; and Y bitook hem in to youre hondis.
'And ye pass over the Jordan, and come in unto Jericho, and fight against you do the possessors of Jericho — 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.
12 And Y sente flies with venemouse tongis bifor you, and Y castide hem out of her places; Y kyllide twei kyngis of Ammorreis, not in thi swerd and bowe.
And I send before you the hornet, and it casteth them out from your presence — two kings of the Amorite — not by thy sword, nor by thy bow.
13 And Y yaf to you the lond in which ye traueiliden not, and citees whiche ye bildiden not, that ye schulden dwelle in tho, and vyneris, and places of olyue trees, whiche ye plauntiden not.
'And I give to you a land for which thou hast not laboured, and cities which ye have not built, and ye dwell in them; of vineyards and olive-yards which ye have not planted ye are eating.
14 Now therfor drede ye the Lord, and serue ye hym with perfite herte and moost trewe; and do ye awei the goddis, to whiche youre fadris seruyden in Mesopotanye, and in Egipt; and serue ye the Lord.
'And now, fear ye Jehovah, 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 ye Jehovah;
15 But if it semeth yuel to you, `that ye serue the Lord, chesyng is youun to you; chese ye to you to dai that, that plesith, whom ye owen most to serue; whether to goddis, whiche youre fadris serueden in Mesopotanye, whether to the goddis of Ammorreis, in whose lond ye dwellen; forsothe Y, and myn hows schulen serue the Lord.
and if wrong in your eyes to serve Jehovah — choose for you to-day whom ye do serve; — whether the gods whom your fathers served, which [are] beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorite in whose land ye are dwelling; and I and my house — we serve Jehovah.'
16 And al the puple answeride and seide, Fer be it fro vs that we forsake the Lord, and serue alien goddis.
And the people answer and say, 'Far be it from us to forsake Jehovah, to serve other gods;
17 `Oure Lord God hym silf ledde vs and oure fadris out of the lond of Egipt, fro the hows of seruage, and dide grete signes in oure siyt; and he kepte vs in al the weie, bi which we yeden, and in alle puplis, bi whiche we passiden; and he castide out alle folkis,
for Jehovah our God [is] He who is bringing us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, out of a house of servants, and who hath done before our eyes these great signs, and doth keep us in all the way in which we have gone, and among all the peoples through whose midst we passed;
18 Ammorrei, the dwellere of the lond, in to which we entriden. Therfor we schulen serue the Lord, for he is `oure Lord God.
and Jehovah casteth out the whole of the peoples, even the Amorite inhabiting the land, from our presence; we also do serve Jehovah, for He [is] our God.'
19 And Josue seide to the puple, Ye moun not serue the Lord; for God is hooli, and a strong feruent louyere, and he foryyueth not youre trespassis and synnes.
And Joshua saith unto the people, 'Ye are not able to serve Jehovah, for a God most holy He [is]; a zealous God He [is]; He doth not bear with your transgression and with your sins.
20 If ye forsaken the Lord, and seruen alien goddis, the Lord schal turne `hym silf, and schal turment you, and schal distrie, after that he hath youe goodis to you.
When ye forsake Jehovah, and have served gods of a stranger, then He hath turned back and done evil to you, and consumed you, after that He hath done good to you.'
21 And the puple seide to Josue, It schal not be so, as thou spekist, but we schulen serue the Lord.
And the people saith unto Joshua, 'No, but Jehovah we do serve.'
22 And Josue seide to the puple, Ye ben witnessis, that ye han chose the Lord to you, that ye serue him. And thei answeriden, We ben witnessis.
And Joshua saith unto the people, 'Witnesses ye are against yourselves, that ye have chosen for you Jehovah to serve Him (and they say, 'Witnesses!')
23 Therfor, he seide, Now do ye awei alien goddis fro the myddis of you, and bowe ye youre hertis to the Lord God of Israel.
and, now, turn aside the gods of the stranger which [are] in your midst, and incline your heart unto Jehovah, God of Israel.'
24 And the puple seide to Josue, We schulen serue `oure Lord God, and we schulen be obedient to hise heestis.
And the people say unto Joshua, 'Jehovah our God we serve, and to His voice we hearken.'
25 Therfor Josue smoot a boond of pees in that dai, and settide forth to the puple comaundementis and domes in Sichen.
And Joshua maketh a covenant with the people on that day, and layeth on it a statute and an ordinance, in Shechem.
26 And he wroot alle these wordis in the book of Goddis lawe. And he took a greet stoon, and puttide it vndur an ook, that was in the seyntuarie of the Lord.
And Joshua writeth these words in the Book of the Law of God, and taketh a great stone, and raiseth it up there under the oak which [is] in the sanctuary of Jehovah.
27 And he seide to al the puple, Lo! this stoon schal be to you in to witnessing, that ye herden alle the wordis of the Lord, whiche he spak to you, lest perauenture ye wolden denye aftirward, and lye to youre Lord God.
And Joshua saith unto all the people, 'Lo, this stone is against us for a witness, for it hath heard all the sayings of Jehovah which He hath spoken with us, and it hath been against you for a witness, lest ye lie against your God.'
28 And he lefte the puple, ech man in to his possessioun.
And Joshua sendeth the people away, each to his inheritance.
29 And after these thingis Josue, the sone of Nun, the `seruaunt of the Lord, diede, an hundride yeer eld and ten.
And it cometh to pass, after these things, that Joshua son of Nun, servant of Jehovah, dieth, a son of a hundred and ten years,
30 And thei birieden hym in the costis of his possessioun, in Thannath of Sare, which is set in the hil of Effraym, fro the north part of the hil Gaas.
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.
31 And Israel seruede the Lord in alle the daies of Josue, and of the eldre men, that lyueden in long tyme aftir Josue, and whiche eldre men knewen alle the werkis of the Lord, whiche he hadde do in Israel.
And Israel serveth Jehovah all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who prolonged days after Joshua, and who knew all the work of Jehovah which He did to Israel.
32 Also `the sones of Israel birieden the boonys of Joseph, whiche thei baren fro Egipt in Sichen, in the part of the feeld, which feeld Jacob bouyte of the sones of Emor, fadir of Sichen, for an hundrid yonge scheep; and it was in to possessioun of the sones of Joseph.
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 a hundred kesitah; and they are to the sons of Joseph for an inheritance.
33 Also Eliazar, sone of Aaron, preest, diede; and Fynees and hise sones biryden hym in Gabaa, which was youun to hym in the hil of Efraym.
And Eleazar son of Aaron died, and they bury him in the hill of Phinehas his son, which was given to him in the hill-country of Ephraim.

< Joshua 24 >