Joshua 24

Review of Israel’s History

24Joshua assembled all the tribes of Israel at Shechem ^band summoned Israel’s elders, leaders, judges, and officers, and they presented themselves before God. ^c2Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Long ago your ancestors, including Terah, ^dthe father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates River and worshiped other gods. ³But I took your father Abraham from the region beyond the Euphrates River, led him throughout the land of Canaan, and multiplied his descendants. ^eI gave him Isaac, ^f4and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. ^gI gave the hill country of Seir to Esau as a possession, ^hbut Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt. ⁱ

⁵“ ‘Then I sent Moses and Aaron; ^jI plagued Egypt by what I did there and afterward I brought you out. ⁶When I brought your fathers out of Egypt and you reached the Red Sea, ^kthe Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen as far as the sea. ⁷Your fathers 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. ^lThey fought against you, but I handed them over to you. You possessed their land, and I annihilated them before you. ⁹Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, ^mset out to fight against Israel. He sent for Balaam son of Beor to curse you, ¹⁰but I would not listen to Balaam. Instead, he repeatedly blessed you, and I delivered you from his hand.

¹¹“ ‘You then crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho. ⁿThe people of Jericho—as well as the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites, and Jebusites—fought against you, but I handed them over to you. ¹²I sent the hornet ^opahead of you, and it drove out the two Amorite kings ^qbefore you. It was not by your sword or bow. ¹³I gave you a land you did not labor for, and cities you did not build, ^rthough you live in them; you are eating from vineyards and olive groves you did not plant.’

The Covenant Renewal

¹⁴“Therefore, fear the Lord and worship Him in sincerity and truth. ^sGet rid of the gods your fathers worshiped ^tbeyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and worship Yahweh. ¹⁵But if it doesn’t please you to worship Yahweh, choose for yourselves today the one you will worship: the gods your fathers worshiped beyond the Euphrates River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. ^uAs for me and my family, we will worship Yahweh.”

¹⁶The people replied, “We will certainly not abandon the Lord to worship other gods! ¹⁷For the Lord our God brought us and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery, ^vand 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 Yahweh, because He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; ^wHe will not remove your transgressions and sins. ^x20If you abandon the Lord and worship foreign gods, He will turn against you, harm you, and completely destroy ^yyou, 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 Yahweh.”

“We are witnesses,” they said.

²³“Then get rid of the foreign gods that are among you and offer 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; ^zhe also took a large stone and set it up there under the oak next to the sanctuary of the Lord. ²⁷And Joshua said to all the people, “You see this stone—it will be a witness against us, ^afor 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.

Burial of Three Leaders

²⁹After these things, the Lord’s servant, Joshua son of Nun, died at the age of 110. ³⁰They buried him in his allotted territory at Timnath-serah, in the hill country of Ephraim ^bnorth of Mount Gaash. ³¹Israel worshiped Yahweh throughout Joshua’s lifetime and during the lifetimes of the elders who outlived Joshua ^cand who had experienced all the works Yahweh had done for Israel.

³²Joseph’s bones, which the Israelites had brought up from Egypt, ^dwere buried at Shechem in the parcel of land Jacob had purchased from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for 100 qesitahs. ^efIt was an inheritance for Joseph’s descendants.

³³And Eleazar son of Aaron died, and they buried him at Gibeah, ^gwhich had been given to his son Phinehas ^hin the hill country of Ephraim.