CHAPTER 24
Then Joshua
assembled
all
the tribes
of Israel
at Shechem.
He summoned
the elders,
leaders,
judges,
and officers
of Israel,
and they presented
themselves before
God.
And Joshua
said
to
all
the people,
“This is what
the LORD,
the God
of Israel,
says:
‘Long ago
your fathers,
including Terah,
the father
of Abraham
and Nahor,
lived
beyond
the Euphrates
and worshiped
other
gods.
But I took
your father
Abraham
from beyond
the Euphrates
and led
him
through all
the land
of Canaan,
and I multiplied
his descendants.
I gave
him Isaac,
and to Isaac
I gave
Jacob
and Esau.
I apportioned
to Esau
the hill country
of Seir,
but Jacob
and his sons
went down
to Egypt.
Then I sent
Moses
and Aaron,
and I afflicted
the Egyptians
by what
I did
there,
and afterward
I brought you out.
When I brought
your fathers
out of Egypt
and you reached
the Red Sea,
the Egyptians
pursued
them
with chariots
and horsemen
as far as the Red Sea.
So your fathers cried out
to
the LORD,
and He put
darkness
between
you and the Egyptians,
over whom
He brought
the sea
and engulfed them.
Your very eyes
saw
what
I did
to the Egyptians.
Then you lived
in the wilderness
for a long
time.
Later, I brought
you to
the land
of the Amorites
who lived
beyond
the Jordan.
They fought
against you,
but I gave
them
into your hands,
that you should possess
their land
when I destroyed them
before you.
Then Balak
son
of Zippor,
the king
of Moab,
set out
to fight
against Israel.
He sent
for Balaam
son
of Beor
to curse you,
but I would
not
listen
to Balaam.
So he blessed you
again and again,
and I delivered
you
from his hand.
After this, you crossed
the Jordan
and came
to
Jericho.
The people
of Jericho
fought against you,
as did the Amorites,
Perizzites,
Canaanites,
Hittites,
Girgashites,
Hivites,
and Jebusites,
and I delivered
them
into your hands.
I sent
the hornet
ahead of you,
and it drove out
the two
Amorite
kings
before you,
but not
by your own sword
or bow.
So I gave
you a land
on which
you did not
toil
and cities
that
you did not
build,
and now you live
in them
and eat
from vineyards
and olive groves
that
you did not
plant.’
Now, therefore,
fear
the LORD
and serve
Him
in sincerity
and truth;
cast aside
the gods
your fathers
served
beyond
the Euphrates
and in Egypt,
and serve
the LORD.
But if
it is unpleasing
in your sight
to serve
the LORD,
choose
for yourselves
this day
whom
you will serve,
whether the gods
your fathers
served
beyond
the Euphrates,
or
the gods
of the Amorites
in whose
land
you
are living.
As for me
and my house,
we will serve
the LORD!"
For
the LORD
our God
brought
us
and
our fathers
out of the land
of Egypt,
out of the house
of slavery,
and performed
these
great
signs
before our eyes.
He also protected
us all
throughout our journey
and among all
the nations
through which
we traveled.
And the LORD
drove out
before us
all
the nations,
including the Amorites
who lived
in the land.
We
too
will serve
the LORD,
because
He
is our God!”
But Joshua
said
to
the people,
“You are not
able
to serve
the LORD,
for
He
is a holy
God;
He
is a jealous
God;
He will not
forgive
your rebellion
or your sins.
If
you forsake
the LORD
and serve
foreign
gods,
He will turn
and bring disaster
on you
and consume
you,
even after
He has been good
to you.”
Then Joshua
told
them,
“You
are witnesses
against yourselves
that
you
have chosen
to serve
the LORD.”
“We are witnesses!”
they said.
“Now, therefore,” he said,
“get rid of
the foreign
gods
among you
and incline
your hearts
to
the LORD,
the God
of Israel.”
On that
day
Joshua
made
a covenant
for the people,
and there at Shechem
he established
for them
a statute
and ordinance.
Joshua
recorded
these
things
in the Book
of the Law
of God.
Then he took
a large
stone
and set it up
there
under
the oak
that was
near the sanctuary
of the LORD.
And Joshua
said
to
all
the people,
“You see
this
stone.
It will be
a witness
against us,
for
it
has heard
all
the words
the LORD
has spoken
to us,
and it will be
a witness against you
if you ever
deny
your God."
And they buried
him
in the land
of his inheritance,
at Timnath-serah
in the hill country
of Ephraim
north
of Mount
Gaash.
Israel
had served
the LORD
through all
the days
of Joshua
and
of the elders
who
outlived
him
and
had experienced
all
the works
the LORD
had done
for Israel.
Also,
the bones
of Joseph,
which
the Israelites
had brought up
out of Egypt,
were buried
at Shechem
in the plot
of land
that
Jacob
had purchased
from the sons
of Hamor,
Shechem’s
father,
for a hundred
pieces of silver.
So it became
an inheritance
for Joseph’s
descendants.
And Eleazar
son
of Aaron
died,
and they buried
him at Gibeah,
which
had been given
to his son
Phinehas
in the hill country
of Ephraim.