Joshua 24:14–28

THE COVENANT RENEWAL

¹⁴“Therefore, fear the Lord and worship him in sincerity and truth.^u Get rid of the gods your ancestors worshiped^v beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and worship the Lord. ¹⁵But 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.”

¹⁶The people replied, “We will certainly not abandon the Lord to worship other gods! ¹⁷For 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. ¹⁸The 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.”

¹⁹But 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 destroy^aa you, after he has been good to you.”

²¹“No!” the people answered Joshua. “We will worship the Lord.”

²²Joshua 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.”

²⁴So the people said to Joshua, “We will worship the Lord our God and obey him.”

²⁵On that day Joshua made a covenant for the people at Shechem and established a statute and ordinance for them. ²⁶Joshua 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. ²⁷And 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.” ²⁸Then Joshua sent the people away, each to his own inheritance.