Joshua_Chapter 24

Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel in Shechem and called for the elders, chiefs, judges, and officials of Israel, and they stood before God.

Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Your ancestors, Tarah, the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived on the other side of the river and served other gods.”,

I brought your ancestor Abraham from the other side of the river and led him through all the land of Canaan. I also increased the number of his descendants and gave him Isaac.

And he gave Jacob and Esau to Isaac, and gave Mount Seir to Esau as an inheritance. Later, Jacob and his descendants went down to Egypt.

I will send Moses and Aaron, and bring disaster upon Egypt according to what I did in Egypt, and then bring you out.

I led your ancestors out of Egypt, and they came to the Red Sea. The Egyptians led their vehicles and cavalry to chase your ancestors to the Red Sea.

Your ancestors cried out to the Lord, and he caused darkness between you and the Egyptians, and the sea overwhelmed the Egyptians. You have seen with your own eyes what I did in Egypt. You also lived in the wilderness for many years.

I will lead you to the land where the Amorites live east of the Jordan River. They fought with you, and I handed them over to you, and you obtained their land as an inheritance. I will also exterminate them in front of you.

At that time, Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, rose up against the Israelites and sent for Balaam the son of Beor to curse you.

I don’t want to listen to Balan’s words, so he keeps blessing you all. So I will rescue you from the hand of Balak.

You crossed the Jordan River and arrived at Jericho. Jericho, Amorite, Perizzite, Canaanite, Hittite, Gegashite, Hivite, and Jebusite are all at war with you. I will hand them over to you.

I sent a hornet ahead of you to drive out the two kings of the Amorites from before you, not with your sword or bow.

I have given you the land, which is not what you have repaired. I have given you cities that you did not build. You shall dwell in it, and eat the fruits of vineyards and olive groves that are not planted by you.

Now fear the Lord, serve him with sincerity, remove the gods your ancestors served on the other side of the River and in Egypt, and go and serve the Lord.

If it is not good for you to serve the Lord, then today you can choose which God your ancestors served on the other side of the river? Is it the God of the Amorites in this land where you reside? As for me and my family, we will surely serve the Lord.

The people replied, “We will never abandon the Lord to serve other gods.”.

For the Lord our God has brought us and our ancestors out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery, and has performed those great miracles before our eyes, protecting us in our paths and through all the nations we pass through.

The Lord also drove out all the Amorites who were living in this place from before us. Therefore, we will serve the Lord, for he is our God.

Joshua said to the people, You cannot serve the Lord. For he is a holy God, a jealous God, and will not forgive your transgressions and sins.

If you abandon the Lord and serve foreign gods, the Lord will turn and bring disaster upon you after he has blessed you, destroying you.

The people answered Joshua, “No, we will definitely serve the Lord.”.

Joshua said to the people, “You have chosen the Lord to serve him, and you yourselves are witnesses.”. They said, we are willing to bear witness.

Joshua said, “Now take away the foreign gods among you and focus on the Lord, the God of Israel.”.

The people answered Joshua, saying, We will serve the Lord our God and obey his voice.

On that day, Joshua made a covenant with the people and established laws and regulations for them in Shechem.

Joshua wrote all these words in the book of God’s law, and set up a large stone next to the sanctuary of the Lord under the oak tree.

Joshua said to the people, “See, this stone is a witness to us.”. Because we have heard all the words that the Lord has commanded us, if you betray your God, this stone will be a witness to you.

So Joshua sent the people to their respective lands.

After these things, Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of one hundred and ten.

The Israelites buried him in the territory of his inheritance, in Timnath Selah in the mountain range of Ephraim, north of Mount Kashgar.

During Joshua’s lifetime and after his death, while the elders who knew what the Lord had done for the Israelites were still alive, the Israelites served the Lord.

The bones of Joseph, which the Israelites brought from Egypt, were buried in Shechem, the land that Jacob had bought from Shechem’s father, the descendants of Hamor, for a hundred pieces of silver. This became the inheritance of the descendants of Joseph.

Eleazar, the son of Aaron, also died, so he was buried in the small mountain of his son Phinehas, which was obtained in the hill country of Ephraim.