Joshua 23:1–24:33
23 A long time after the Lord had given Israel rest from all the enemies around them,h Joshua was old, advanced in age.i 2 So Joshua summoned all Israel, including its elders, leaders, judges, and officers,j and said to them, “I am old, advanced in age, 3 and you have seen for yourselves everything the Lord your God did to all these nations on your account, because it was the Lord your God who was fighting for you.k 4 See, I have allotted these remaining nations to you as an inheritance for your tribes,l including all the nations I have destroyed, from the Jordan westward to the Mediterranean Sea. 5 The Lord your God will force them back on your account and drive them out before you so that you can take possession of their land,m as the Lord your God promised you.
6 “Be very strongn and continue obeying all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, so that you do not turn from it to the right or left 7 and so that you do not associate with these nations remaining among you. Do not call on the names of their gods or make an oath to them;o do not serve them or bow in worship to them. 8 Instead, be loyal to the Lord your God, as you have been to this day.p
9 “The Lord has driven out great and powerful nations before you,q and no one is able to stand against you to this day.r 10 One of you routed a thousands because the Lord your God was fighting for you, as he promised.C,t 11 So diligently watch yourselves! Love the Lord your God! 12 If you ever turn away and become loyal to the rest of these nations remaining among you,u and if you intermarry or associate with themv and they with you, 13 know for certain that the Lord your God will not continue to drive these nations out before you. They will become a snare and a trap for you,a a sharp stickA for your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you disappear from this good land the Lord your God has given you.
14 “I am now going the way of the whole earth,b and you know with all your heart and all your soul that none of the good promises the Lord your God made to you has failed. Everything was fulfilled for you; not one promise has failed.c 15 Since every good thing the Lord your God promised you has come about, so he will bring on you every bad thing until he has annihilated you from this good land the Lord your God has given you.d 16 If you break the covenant of the Lord your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods, and bow in worship to them, the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and you will quickly disappear from this good land he has given you.”
24 Joshua assembled all the tribes of Israel at Shecheme and summoned Israel’s elders, leaders, judges, and officers, and they presented themselves before God.f 2 Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Long ago your ancestors, including Terah,g the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates River and worshiped other gods. 3 But I took your father Abraham from the region beyond the Euphrates River, led him throughout the land of Canaan, and multiplied his descendants.h I gave him Isaac,i 4 and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau.j I gave the hill country of Seir to Esau as a possession.k
“ ‘Jacob and his sons, however, went down to Egypt.l 5 I sent Moses and Aaron,m and I defeated Egypt by what I did within it, and afterward I brought you out. 6 When I brought your ancestors out of Egypt and you reached the Red Sea,n the Egyptians pursued your ancestors with chariots and horsemen as far as the sea. 7 Your ancestors cried out to the Lord, so he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea over them, engulfing them. Your own eyes saw what I did to Egypt. After that, you lived in the wilderness a long time.
8 “ ‘Later, I brought you to the land of the Amorites who lived beyond the Jordan.o They fought against you, but I handed them over to you. You possessed their land, and I annihilated them before you. 9 Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab,p set out to fight against Israel. He sent for Balaam son of Beor to curse you, 10 but I would not listen to Balaam. Instead, he repeatedly blessed you, and I rescued you from him.
11 “ ‘You then crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho.q Jericho’s citizens—as well as the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hethites, Girgashites, Hivites, and Jebusites—fought against you, but I handed them over to you. 12 I sent hornetsB,r ahead of you, and they drove out the two Amorite kingss before you. It was not by your sword or bow. 13 I gave you a land you did not labor for, and cities you did not build,t though you live in them; you are eating from vineyards and olive groves you did not plant.’
14 “Therefore, fear the Lord and worship him in sincerity and truth.u Get rid of the gods your ancestors worshipedv beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and worship the Lord. 15 But if it doesn’t please you to worship the Lord, choose for yourselves today: Which will you worship—the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living?w As for me and my family, we will worship the Lord.”
16 The people replied, “We will certainly not abandon the Lord to worship other gods! 17 For the Lord our God brought us and our ancestors out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery,x and performed these great signs before our eyes. He also protected us all along the way we went and among all the peoples whose lands we traveled through. 18 The Lord drove out before us all the peoples, including the Amorites who lived in the land. We too will worship the Lord, because he is our God.”
19 But Joshua told the people, “You will not be able to worship the Lord, because he is a holy God. He is a jealous God;y he will not forgive your transgressions and sins.z 20 If you abandon the Lord and worship foreign gods, he will turn against you, harm you, and completely destroyaa you, after he has been good to you.”
21 “No!” the people answered Joshua. “We will worship the Lord.”
22 Joshua then told the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you yourselves have chosen to worship the Lord.”
“We are witnesses,” they said.
23 “Then get rid of the foreign gods that are among you and turn your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.”
24 So the people said to Joshua, “We will worship the Lord our God and obey him.”
25 On that day Joshua made a covenant for the people at Shechem and established a statute and ordinance for them. 26 Joshua recorded these things in the book of the law of God;a he also took a large stone and set it up there under the oak at the sanctuary of the Lord. 27 And Joshua said to all the people, “You see this stone—it will be a witness against us,b for it has heard all the words the Lord said to us, and it will be a witness against you, so that you will not deny your God.” 28 Then Joshua sent the people away, each to his own inheritance.
29 After these things, the Lord’s servant, Joshua son of Nun, died at the age of 110. 30 They buried him in his allotted territory at Timnath-serah, in the hill country of Ephraimc north of Mount Gaash. 31 Israel worshiped the Lord throughout Joshua’s lifetime and during the lifetimes of the elders who outlived Joshuad and who had experienced all the works the Lord had done for Israel.
32 Joseph’s bones, which the Israelites had brought up from Egypt,e were buried at Shechem in the parcel of land Jacob had purchased from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for a hundred pieces of silver.A,f It was an inheritance for Joseph’s descendants.
33 And Eleazar son of Aaron died, and they buried him at Gibeah,B which had been given to his son Phinehasg in the hill country of Ephraim.