Joshua 24

Chapter 24

The LORD’s Covenant Renewed

1 Then Joshua summoned all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, including their elders, leaders, judges, and officers. So they came and presented themselves to God.
2 Joshua said to the people, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Long ago your ancestors, including Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates River,t and they worshiped other gods.3 But I took your ancestor Abraham from the land beyond the Euphrates and led him into the land of Canaan. I gave him many descendants through his son Isaac.

4 To Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. To Esau I gave the mountains of Seir, while Jacob and his children went down into Egypt.
5 “Then I sent Moses and Aaron, and I brought terrible plagues on Egypt; and afterward I brought you out as a free people.6 But when your ancestors arrived at the Red Sea,t the Egyptians chased after you with chariots and charioteers.

7 When your ancestors cried out to the LORD, I put darkness between you and the Egyptians. I brought the sea crashing down on the Egyptians, drowning them. With your very own eyes you saw what I did. Then you lived in the wilderness for many years.
8 “Finally, I brought you into the land of the Amorites on the east side of the Jordan. They fought against you, but I destroyed them before you. I gave you victory over them, and you took possession of their land.9 Then Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, started a war against Israel. He summoned Balaam son of Beor to curse you,

10 but I would not listen to him. Instead, I made Balaam bless you, and so I rescued you from Balak.
11 “When you crossed the Jordan River and came to Jericho, the men of Jericho fought against you, as did the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. But I gave you victory over them.12 And I sent terrort ahead of you to drive out the two kings of the Amorites. It was not your swords or bows that brought you victory.

13 I gave you land you had not worked on, and I gave you towns you did not build—the towns where you are now living. I gave you vineyards and olive groves for food, though you did not plant them.
14 “So fear the LORD and serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the LORD alone.

15 But if you refuse to serve the LORD, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the LORD.”
16 The people replied, “We would never abandon the LORD and serve other gods.17 For the LORD our God is the one who rescued us and our ancestors from slavery in the land of Egypt. He performed mighty miracles before our very eyes. As we traveled through the wilderness among our enemies, he preserved us.

18 It was the LORD who drove out the Amorites and the other nations living here in the land. So we, too, will serve the LORD, for he alone is our God.”
19 Then Joshua warned the people, “You are not able to serve the LORD, for he is a holy and jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins.

20 If you abandon the LORD and serve other gods, he will turn against you and destroy you, even though he has been so good to you.”

21 But the people answered Joshua, “No, we will serve the LORD!”

22 “You are a witness to your own decision,” Joshua said. “You have chosen to serve the LORD.”
“Yes,” they replied, “we are witnesses to what we have said.”

23 “All right then,” Joshua said, “destroy the idols among you, and turn your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel.”

24 The people said to Joshua, “We will serve the LORD our God. We will obey him alone.”
25 So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day at Shechem, committing them to follow the decrees and regulations of the LORD.

26 Joshua recorded these things in the Book of God’s Instructions. As a reminder of their agreement, he took a huge stone and rolled it beneath the terebinth tree beside the Tabernacle of the LORD.

27 Joshua said to all the people, “This stone has heard everything the LORD said to us. It will be a witness to testify against you if you go back on your word to God.”

28 Then Joshua sent all the people away to their own homelands.

Leaders Buried in the Promised Land

29 After this, Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of 110.

30 They buried him in the land he had been allocated, at Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.

31 The people of Israel served the LORD throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him—those who had personally experienced all that the LORD had done for Israel.

32 The bones of Joseph, which the Israelites had brought along with them when they left Egypt, were buried at Shechem, in the parcel of ground Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor for 100 pieces of silver.t This land was located in the territory allotted to the descendants of Joseph.

33 Eleazar son of Aaron also died. He was buried in the hill country of Ephraim, in the town of Gibeah, which had been given to his son Phinehas.

JOSHUA 24

We Will Worship //and Obey //the [Lord]

1 Joshua called the tribes of Israel together for a meeting at Shechem. He asked the leaders, including the old men, the judges, and the officials, to come up and stand near the sacred tent.t

2 t Then Joshua told everyone to listen to this message from the [Lord], the God of Israel:
Long ago your ancestors lived on the other side of the Euphrates River, and they worshiped other gods. This continued until the time of your ancestor Terah and his two sons, Abraham and Nahor. 3 t But I brought Abraham across the Euphrates River and led him through the land of Canaan. I blessed him by giving him Isaac, the first in a line of many descendants.

4 t Then I gave Isaac two sons, Jacob and Esau. I gave Esau the hill country of Mount Seir, but your ancestor Jacob and his children went to live in Egypt.
5-6  t Later I sent Moses and his brother Aaron to help your people, and I made all those horrible things happen to the Egyptians. I brought your ancestors out of Egypt, but the Egyptians got in their chariots and on their horses and chased your ancestors, catching up with them at the Red Sea.t

7 Your people cried to me for help, so I put a dark cloud between them and the Egyptians. Then I opened up the sea and let your people walk across on dry ground. But when the Egyptians tried to follow, I commanded the sea to swallow them, and they drowned while you watched.
You lived in the desert for a long time, 8 t then I brought you into the land east of the Jordan River. The Amorites were living there, and they fought you. But with my help, you defeated them, wiped them out, and took their land. 9 t King Balak decided that his nation Moab would go to war against you, so he asked Balaamt to come and put a curse on you.

10 But I wouldn't listen to Balaam, and I rescued you by making him bless you instead of curse you.
11  t You crossed the Jordan River and came to Jericho. The rulers of Jericho fought you, and so did the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. I helped you defeat them all.

12 t Your enemies ran from you, but not because you had swords and bows and arrows. I made your enemies panic and run away, as I had done with the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan River.

13  t You didn't have to work for this land—I gave it to you. Now you live in towns you didn't build, and you eat grapes and olives from vineyards and trees you didn't plant.

14 Then Joshua told the people:
Worship the [Lord], obey him, and always be faithful. Get rid of the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived on the other side of the Euphrates River and in Egypt.

15 But if you don't want to worship the [Lord], then choose here and now! Will you worship the same idols your ancestors did? Or since you're living on land that once belonged to the Amorites, maybe you'll worship their gods. I won't. My family and I are going to worship and obey the [Lord]!

16 The people answered:
We could never worship other gods or stop worshiping the [Lord]. 17 The [Lord] is our God. We were slaves in Egypt as our ancestors had been, but we saw the [Lord] work miracles to set our people free and to bring us out of Egypt. Even though other nations were all around us, the [Lord] protected us wherever we went.

18 And when we fought the Amorites and the other nations that lived in this land, the [Lord] made them run away. Yes, we will worship and obey the [Lord], because the [Lord] is our God.

19 Joshua said:
The [Lord] is fearsome; he is the one true God, and I don't think you are able to worship and obey him in the ways he demands. You would have to be completely faithful, and if you sin or rebel, he won't let you get away with it.

20 If you turn your backs on the [Lord] and worship the gods of other nations, the [Lord] will turn against you. He will make terrible things happen to you and wipe you out, even though he had been good to you before.

21 But the people shouted, “We won't worship any other gods. We will worship and obey only the [Lord]!”

22 Joshua said, “You have heard yourselves say that you will worship and obey the [Lord]. Isn't that true?”
“Yes, it's true,” they answered.

23 Joshua said, “But you still have some idols, like those the other nations worship. Get rid of your idols! You must decide once and for all that you really want to obey the [Lord] God of Israel.”

24 The people said, “The [Lord] is our God, and we will worship and obey only him.”
25 Joshua helped Israel make an agreement with the [Lord] that day at Shechem. Joshua made laws for Israel 26 and wrote them down in The Book of the Law of Godt. Then he set up a large stone under the oak tree at the place of worship in Shechem

27 and told the people, “Look at this stone. It has heard everything that the [Lord] has said to us. Our God can call this stone as a witness if we ever reject him.”

28 Joshua sent everyone back to their homes.

Joshua, Joseph, and Eleazar //Are Buried

30 t The Israelites buried him in his own land at Timnath-Serah, north of Mount Gaash in the hill country of Ephraim.

31 As long as Joshua lived, Israel worshiped and obeyed the [Lord]. There were other leaders old enough to remember everything that the [Lord] had done for Israel. And for as long as these men lived, Israel continued to worship and obey the [Lord].

32  t When the people of Israel left Egypt, they brought the bones of Joseph along with them. They took the bones to the town of Shechem and buried them in the field that Jacob had bought for 100 pieces of silvert from Hamor, the founder of Shechem. The town and the field botht became part of the land belonging to the descendants of Joseph.
33 When Eleazar the priestt died, he was buried in the hill country of Ephraim on a hill that belonged to his son Phinehas.