² And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ^(A)‘Your fathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, dwelt on the other side of ^[a]the River in old times; and ^(B)they served other gods.

^12 (A)I sent the hornet before you which drove them out from before you, also the two kings of the Amorites, but ^(B)not with your sword or with your bow. ¹³ I have given you a land for which you did not labor, and ^(C)cities which you did not build, and you dwell in them; you eat of the vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.’

^14 (D)“Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in ^(E)sincerity and in truth, and ^(F)put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of ^[a]the River and ^(G)in Egypt. Serve the Lord! ¹⁵ And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, ^(H)choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether ^(I)the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of ^[b]the River, or ^(J)the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. ^(K)But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

¹⁶ So the people answered and said: “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods; ¹⁷ for the Lord our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way that we went and among all the people through whom we passed. ¹⁸ And the Lord drove out from before us all the people, including the Amorites who dwelt in the land. ^(L)We also will serve the Lord, for He is our God.”