Joshua 24:16–27

¹⁶The people replied, “We would never leave the Lord to serve other gods! ¹⁷The Lord our God brought our fathers and us out of slavery in Egypt, and we saw the miracles that he performed. He kept us safe wherever we went among all the nations through which we passed. ¹⁸As we advanced into this land, the Lord drove out all the Amorites who lived here. So we also will serve the Lord; he is our God.”

¹⁹Joshua said to the people, “But you may not be able to serve the Lord. He is a holy God and will not forgive your sins. He will tolerate no rivals, ²⁰and if you leave him to serve foreign gods, he will turn against you and punish you. He will destroy you, even though he was good to you before.”

²¹The people said to Joshua, “No! We will serve the Lord.”

²²Joshua said to them, “You are your own witnesses to the fact that you have chosen to serve the Lord.” “Yes,” they said, “we are witnesses.”

²³“Then get rid of those foreign gods that you have,” he demanded, “and pledge your loyalty to the Lord, the God of Israel.”

²⁴The people then said to Joshua, “We will serve the Lord our God. We will obey his commands.”

²⁵So Joshua made a covenant for^q the people that day, and there at Shechem he gave them laws and rules to follow. ²⁶Joshua wrote these commands in the book of the Law of God. Then he took a large stone and set it up under the oak tree in the Lord’s sanctuary. ²⁷He said to all the people, “This stone will be our witness. It has heard all the words that the Lord has spoken to us. So it will be a witness against you, to keep you from rebelling against your God.”