24 Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel together at Shechem. He called the elders, heads of families, judges, and officers of Israel to ·stand [present themselves] before God.

² Then Joshua said to all the people, “Here’s what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to you: ‘A long time ago your ancestors lived on the other side of the Euphrates River. Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor, worshiped other gods. ³ But I, the Lord, took your ancestor Abraham from the other side of the river and led him through the land of Canaan [Gen. 12:1–3; 17:4–8]. And I ·gave him many children, including [or multiplied his descendants, beginning with] his son Isaac [Gen. 21]. ⁴ I gave Isaac two sons named Jacob and Esau [Gen. 25]. I gave the land around the ·mountains [hill country] of ·Edom [^CHebrew: Seir] to Esau, but Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt [Gen. 46]. ⁵ Then I sent Moses and Aaron to Egypt, where I ·brought many disasters on the Egyptians [^Lplagued Egypt by what I did in their midst; Ex. 1–11]. Afterwards I brought you out [Ex. 12]. ⁶ When I brought your ancestors out of Egypt, they came to the ·Red Sea [^LSea], and the Egyptians chased them with chariots and men on horses. ⁷ So the people called out to the Lord. And ·I [^Lhe] brought darkness between you and the Egyptians and made the sea to cover them [Ex. 13–15]. ·You yourselves [^LYour eyes] saw what I did ·to the army of [^Lin] Egypt. After that, you lived in the ·desert [wilderness] for a long time.

⁸ “‘Then I brought you to the land of the Amorites, east of the Jordan River. They fought against you, but I handed them over to you. I destroyed them before you, and you took ·control [possession] of that land [Num. 21; Deut. 2–3]. ⁹ But the king of Moab, Balak son of Zippor, ·prepared to fight [^Larose and fought] against the Israelites. The king sent for Balaam son of Beor to curse you [Num. 22–24], ¹⁰ but I refused to listen to Balaam. So he ·asked for good things to happen to you [^Lkept blessing you]! I ·saved you and brought you out of his power [^Ldelivered you out of his hand].

¹¹ “‘Then you crossed the Jordan River and came to Jericho, where the ·people [or leaders] of Jericho fought against you. Also, the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites, and Jebusites fought against you. But I ·handed them over to you [^Lgave them into your hand]. ¹² I sent ·terror [or the hornet; ^Cthe meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain] ahead of you to ·force [drive] out two Amorite kings [2:10; Num. 21:21–35]. ·You took the land without using swords and bows [^LIt was not by your sword or by your bow]. ¹³ I gave you that land where you had not worked. I gave you cities that you did not have to build. And now you live in that land and in those cities, and you eat from vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant.’”