Joshua 24
English Standard Version
The Covenant Renewal at Shechem
24 Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel (A)to Shechem and (B)summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel. And (C)they presented themselves before God. 2 And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Long ago, (D)your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates,[a] Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and (E)they served other gods. 3 (F)Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River[b] and (G)led him through all the land of Canaan, and made his offspring many. (H)I gave him Isaac. 4 And to Isaac I gave (I)Jacob and Esau. (J)And I gave Esau the hill country of Seir to possess, (K)but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt. 5 (L)And I sent Moses and Aaron, (M)and I plagued Egypt with what I did in the midst of it, and (N)afterward I brought you out.
6 “‘Then (O)I brought your fathers out of Egypt, and (P)you came to the sea. (Q)And the Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea. 7 (R)And when they cried to the Lord, (S)he put darkness between you and the Egyptians (T)and made the sea come upon them and cover them; (U)and your eyes saw what I did in Egypt. (V)And you lived in the wilderness a long time. 8 Then I brought you to the land of the Amorites, who lived on the other side of the Jordan. (W)They fought with you, and I gave them into your hand, and you took possession of their land, and I destroyed them before you. 9 (X)Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel. (Y)And he sent and invited Balaam the son of Beor to curse you, 10 (Z)but I would not listen to Balaam. (AA)Indeed, he blessed you. So I delivered you out of his hand. 11 (AB)And you went over the Jordan and came to Jericho, (AC)and the leaders of Jericho fought against you, and also (AD)the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And I gave them into your hand. 12 And I sent (AE)the hornet before you, which drove them out before you, the two kings of the Amorites; it was (AF)not by your sword or by your bow. 13 I gave you a land on which you had not labored (AG)and cities that you had not built, and you dwell in them. You eat the fruit of vineyards and olive orchards that you did not plant.’
Choose Whom You Will Serve
14 (AH)“Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. (AI)Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 (AJ)And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, (AK)choose this day whom you will serve, whether (AL)the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or (AM)the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. (AN)But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
16 Then the people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods, 17 for it is the Lord our God who brought us and our fathers up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight and preserved us in all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed. 18 And the Lord drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the Lord, for he is our God.”
19 But Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the Lord, for he is (AO)a holy God. He is (AP)a jealous God; (AQ)he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins. 20 (AR)If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then (AS)he will turn and do you harm and consume you, after having done you good.” 21 And the people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve the Lord.” 22 Then Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that (AT)you have chosen the Lord, to serve him.” And they said, “We are witnesses.” 23 He said, “Then (AU)put away the foreign gods that are among you, and incline your heart to the Lord, the God of Israel.” 24 And the people said to Joshua, “The Lord our God we will serve, and his voice we will obey.” 25 So Joshua (AV)made a covenant with the people that day, and put in place (AW)statutes and rules for them at Shechem. 26 And Joshua (AX)wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God. And (AY)he took a large stone and set it up there (AZ)under the terebinth that was by the sanctuary of the Lord. 27 And Joshua said to all the people, “Behold, (BA)this stone shall be a witness against us, for (BB)it has heard all the words of the Lord that he spoke to us. Therefore it shall be a witness against you, lest you deal falsely with your God.” 28 So Joshua (BC)sent the people away, every man to his inheritance.
Joshua's Death and Burial
29 (BD)After these things Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being 110 years old. 30 And they buried him in his own inheritance at (BE)Timnath-serah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gaash.
31 (BF)Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua (BG)and had known all the work that the Lord did for Israel.
32 (BH)As for the bones of Joseph, which the people of Israel brought up from Egypt, they buried them at Shechem, in the piece of land (BI)that Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of money.[c] It became an inheritance of the descendants of Joseph.
33 And Eleazar the son of Aaron died, and they buried him at Gibeah, the town of (BJ)Phinehas his son, which had been given him in (BK)the hill country of Ephraim.
Footnotes
- Joshua 24:2 Hebrew the River
- Joshua 24:3 That is, the Euphrates; also verses 14, 15
- Joshua 24:32 Hebrew for a hundred qesitah; a unit of money of unknown value
Joshua 24
International Standard Version
Joshua’s Final Exhortation
24 Then Joshua assembled together all of the tribes of Israel at Shechem. He called for the leaders, officials, judges, and tribal officers of Israel. They assembled in formation before God, 2 and Joshua told all of the people, “This is what the Lord God of Israel has to say:
‘Long ago your ancestors lived beyond the Euphrates[a] River, including Terah, father of both Abraham and Nahor, where they served other gods. 3 Then I took your ancestor Abraham from the other side of the Euphrates[b] River and led him through the entire land of Canaan. I multiplied his descendants, and gave him his son[c] Isaac. 4 I gave Jacob and Esau to Isaac. And I gave Mount Seir[d] to Esau as his possession, but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt.
5 ‘Later I commissioned Moses and Aaron, and I inflicted plagues on Egypt by what I did among them. Afterwards, I brought all of you[e] out.
6 ‘Then I brought your ancestors out of Egypt, and you came to the Sea, and the Egyptians followed your ancestors with chariots and horsemen to the Reed[f] Sea. 7 But when they cried out to the Lord, he placed darkness between you and the Egyptians, brought the sea upon the Egyptians,[g] and swallowed them up. Your own eyes saw what I did in Egypt. Then you lived in the desert for a long time.
8 ‘I brought you into the territory of the Amorites, who lived on the other side of the Jordan River. They fought you, but I gave them into your control, and you took possession of their land. I destroyed them from your presence.
9 ‘Then Zippor’s son, King Balak of Moab, showed up and fought against Israel. He sent word[h] to Balaam, summoning Beor’s son to put a curse on you. 10 But I wasn’t willing to listen to Balaam. So he had to bless you, and I delivered you from his control.
11 ‘Next, you crossed the Jordan River and arrived at Jericho. But the citizens of Jericho fought you, as did the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites, and the Jebusites, so I gave them into your control.
12 ‘Then I sent hornets ahead of you to drive out two kings of the Amorites before you without your using either sword or bow. 13 I gave you a land for which you never worked and cities that you didn’t build, but that you have lived in. You’re eating from vineyards and olive groves that you didn’t plant.’
14 “Now you must fear the Lord and serve him in faithfulness and truth. Throw away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates[i] River and in Egypt. Instead, serve the Lord. 15 If you think it’s the wrong thing for you to serve the Lord, then choose for yourselves today whom you will serve—the gods whom your ancestors served on the other side of the Euphrates[j] River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose territories you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
The Response of the People
16 In response, the people said, “Far be it from us that we should abandon the Lord to serve other gods, 17 since the Lord our God is the one who brought us and our ancestors up from the land of Egypt, from a life of slavery. He did those great things right in front of us, preserving us along the way that we traveled and among all the peoples through whose territory we passed. 18 The Lord expelled all the people before us, including the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore, we also will serve the Lord, since he is our God.”
19 So Joshua told the people, “You will not be able to serve the Lord, because he is a God of Holiness. He is a jealous God, and he will forgive neither your transgressions nor your sins. 20 If you abandon the Lord and serve foreign deities, then he will turn and do you harm, consuming you after all[k] the good he has done for you.”
21 “No,” the people replied to Joshua. “We will serve the Lord.”
22 Joshua responded, “You are giving testimony against yourselves, that you have chosen to serve the Lord.”
They replied, “We are witnesses!”
23 Joshua said,[l] “Therefore abandon the foreign gods that are among you, and turn your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.”
24 The people replied,[m] “We will serve the Lord our God and obey his voice.”
25 So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, making statutes and ordinances in Shechem. 26 He[n] wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God, took a large stone, moved it under the shade of[o] the oak tree that was near the sanctuary of the Lord, 27 and then[p] told all of the people, “Look! This stone will testify for us, because it has heard everything that the Lord has spoken to us. So it will stand as a witness against you in the event that you deny your God.” 28 Then Joshua dismissed the people, and each man returned[q] to his territorial inheritance.
The Death of Joshua(A)
29 Some time later, Joshua servant of the Lord died at the age of 110 years, and 30 they buried him in his territorial inheritance at Timnath-serah in the mountainous region[r] of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. 31 Israel served the Lord for the entire lifetimes of Joshua and of the officials who outlived Joshua, that is, the ones who had personally known everything that the Lord had done for Israel. 32 They also buried the bones of Joseph, which the Israelis brought up from Egypt, in the parcel of ground at Shechem that Jacob had purchased from the descendants of Shechem’s father Hamor, for 100 pieces of silver. It became part of the inheritance of the descendants of Joseph.
The Death of Eleazar the Priest
33 Later, Aaron’s son Eleazar also died, and they buried him at Gibeah, which belonged to his son Phinehas, and which had been given to him in the mountainous region[s] of Ephraim.
Footnotes
- Joshua 24:2 The Heb. lacks Euphrates
- Joshua 24:3 The Heb. lacks Euphrates
- Joshua 24:3 The Heb. lacks his son
- Joshua 24:4 This mountain, the modern Jebel esh-sherá, is located in the mountain range that extends south of the Dead Sea toward the Gulf of Aqaba, and is bordered by the Arabah Valley to the west.
- Joshua 24:5 Lit. brought you (pl.)
- Joshua 24:6 So MT; LXX reads Red
- Joshua 24:7 Lit. upon them
- Joshua 24:9 The Heb. lacks word
- Joshua 24:14 The Heb. lacks Euphrates
- Joshua 24:15 The Heb. lacks Euphrates
- Joshua 24:20 The Heb. lacks all
- Joshua 24:23 The Heb. lacks Joshua said
- Joshua 24:24 Lit. replied to Josh
- Joshua 24:26 Lit. Josh
- Joshua 24:26 The Heb. lacks the shade of
- Joshua 24:27 Lit. Josh
- Joshua 24:28 The Heb. lacks returned
- Joshua 24:30 Or the hill country
- Joshua 24:33 Or the hill country
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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