Joshua 24

1 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.

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 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;

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 to him Isaac.

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 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.

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 afterwards 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 ye go into 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 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.

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 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.

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, riseth and fighteth against Israel, and sendeth and calleth 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 hearken to Balaam, and he doth greatly bless 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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 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;

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 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.'

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 Jehovah, to serve other gods;

The people answered and said, “We would never forsake Yahweh to serve other gods,

17 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;

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 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.'

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 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.

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 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.'

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 saith unto Joshua, 'No, but Jehovah we do serve.'

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

22 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!')

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 unto Jehovah, 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 unto Joshua, 'Jehovah our God we serve, and to His voice we hearken.'

The people said to Joshua, “We will worship Yahweh our God. We will listen to his voice.”

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

Joshua made a covenant with the people that day. He put in place decrees and laws at Shechem.

26 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.

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 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.'

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 sendeth the people away, each to his inheritance.

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

29 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,

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 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.

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 a hundred kesitah; and they are to the sons of Joseph for an inheritance.

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 the hill of Phinehas his son, 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.