Joshua 24
Expanded Bible
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 [C Hebrew: 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 [L plagued 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 [L Sea], and the Egyptians chased them with chariots and men on horses. 7 So the people called out to the Lord. And ·I [L he] brought darkness between you and the Egyptians and made the sea to cover them [Ex. 13–15]. ·You yourselves [L Your eyes] saw what I did ·to the army of [L in] 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 [L arose 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 [L kept blessing you]! I ·saved you and brought you out of his power [L delivered 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 [L gave them into your hand]. 12 I sent ·terror [or the hornet; C the 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 [L It 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.’”
14 Then Joshua said to the people, “Now ·respect [fear; be in awe of] the Lord and serve him ·fully [faithfully; in truth] and sincerely. ·Throw [Put] away the gods that your ancestors worshiped on the other side of the ·Euphrates River [L River] and in Egypt. Serve the Lord. 15 But if ·you don’t want [L it is undesirable/evil in your eyes] to serve the Lord, you must choose for yourselves today whom you will serve. You may serve the gods that your ancestors worshiped when they lived on the other side of the ·Euphrates River [L River], or you may serve the gods of the Amorites who lived in this land. As for me and my ·family [L house], we will serve the Lord.”
16 Then the people answered, “·We will never stop following [L Far be it from us to forsake] the Lord to serve other gods! 17 It was the Lord our God who brought ·our [L us and our] ancestors out of Egypt. ·We were slaves in that land, but […L out of the house of slavery, and] the Lord did great ·things [L signs] for us there. He brought us out and ·protected [preserved] us while we traveled through other lands. 18 Then he ·forced [drove] out all the people living in these lands, even the Amorites. So we will serve the Lord, because he is our God.”
19 Then Joshua said, “You are not able to serve the Lord, because he is a holy God [Lev. 19:2] and a jealous God [Ex. 20:5]. If you ·turn against him [rebel] and sin, he will not forgive you. 20 If you ·leave [forsake; abandon] the Lord and serve ·other [foreign] gods, he will ·send you great trouble [bring disaster on you]. The Lord may have been good to you, but if you turn against him, he will ·destroy [consume] you.”
21 But the people said to Joshua, “No! We will serve the Lord.”
22 Then Joshua said, “You are your own witnesses that you have chosen to serve the Lord.”
The people said, “Yes, we are.”
23 Then Joshua said, “Now throw away the [L foreign] gods that ·you have [are in your midst]. ·Love the Lord, the God of Israel, with all your heart [L Bend your heart toward the Lord, the God of Israel].”
24 Then the people said to Joshua, “We will serve the Lord our God, and we will obey him.”
25 On that day at Shechem Joshua made an ·agreement [covenant; treaty] for the people. He made ·rules [statutes; ordinances; requirements] and ·laws [regulations] for them to follow. 26 Joshua wrote these things in the Book of the ·Teachings [Law] of God. Then he took a large stone and set it up under the oak tree near the Lord’s ·Holy Tent [sanctuary; shrine; holy place].
27 Joshua said to all the people, “·See [T Behold] this stone! It will ·remind you of what we did today [L be a witness against you]. ·It was here the Lord spoke to us today [L It has heard all the words the Lord said to us]. It will ·remind you of what happened so you will not [be a witness against you, lest you] ·turn against [are untrue to; deal falsely with] your God.”
Joshua Dies
28 Then Joshua sent the people back ·to their land [L each to their own inheritance].
29 After that, Joshua son of Nun, the Lord’s servant, died at the age of one hundred ten. 30 They buried him in ·his own land [L the land of his inheritance] at Timnath Serah, in the ·mountains [hill country] of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.
31 The Israelites served the Lord during the lifetime of Joshua and during the lifetimes of the elders who lived after Joshua who had ·seen [experienced; known] what the Lord had done for Israel.
Joseph Comes Home
32 When the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] left Egypt, they carried the bones of Joseph with them [Gen. 50:25; Ex. 13:19; Heb. 11:22]. They buried them at Shechem, in the ·land [piece of ground] Jacob had bought for a hundred pieces of silver from the sons of Hamor (Hamor was the father of Shechem) [Gen. 33:19]. This land ·now belonged to [became the inheritance of] Joseph’s children.
33 And Eleazar son of Aaron died and was buried at Gibeah in the ·mountains [hill country] of Ephraim, which had been given to Eleazar’s son Phinehas.
Joshua 24
New American Standard Bible
Joshua Reviews Israel’s History
24 Then (A)Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel at Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, their heads, their judges, and their officers; and they presented themselves before God. 2 Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘From ancient times your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates River, namely, (B)Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods. 3 Then (C)I took your father Abraham from beyond the Euphrates River and led him through all the land of Canaan, and (D)multiplied his [a]descendants and gave him (E)Isaac. 4 To Isaac I gave (F)Jacob and Esau, and (G)to Esau I gave Mount Seir, to possess it; but (H)Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt. 5 Then (I)I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt [b]by what I did in its midst; and afterward I brought you out. 6 So I brought your fathers out of Egypt, and (J)you came to the sea; and Egypt pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the [c]Red Sea. 7 But when they cried out to the Lord, He put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them and covered them; and your own eyes saw what I did in Egypt. And (K)you lived in the wilderness for a long time. 8 Then (L)I brought you into the land of the Amorites, who lived beyond the Jordan, and they fought with you; but I handed them over to you, and you took possession of their land when I eliminated them before you. 9 Then (M)Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, rose up and fought against Israel, and he sent messengers and summoned Balaam the son of Beor to curse you. 10 But I (N)was not willing to listen to Balaam. So he had to bless you, and I saved you from his hand. 11 (O)You crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho; and the citizens of Jericho fought against you, and (P)the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Girgashite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. Therefore (Q)I handed them over to you. 12 Then I (R)sent the hornet before you and it [d]drove out the two kings of the Amorites from you—(S)not by your sword nor your bow. 13 And (T)I gave you a land on which you had not labored, and cities which you had not built, and you have lived in them; you are eating of vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.’
“We Will Serve the Lord”
14 “Now, therefore, [e](U)fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and [f]truth; and do away with the gods which your fathers served beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 But if it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served, which were beyond the Euphrates River, or (V)the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
16 The people answered and said, “Far be it from us that we would abandon 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 slaves, and did these great signs in our sight and watched over us through all the way in which we went and among all the peoples through whose midst we passed. 18 The Lord drove out from before us all the peoples, even the Amorites who lived in the land. We also will serve the Lord, for He is our God.”
19 Then Joshua said to the people, “You will not be able to serve the Lord, (W)for He is a holy God. He is (X)a jealous God; (Y)He will not forgive your wrongdoing or your sins. 20 (Z)If you abandon the Lord and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and destroy you after He has done good to you.” 21 And the people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve the Lord.” 22 So Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that (AA)you have chosen for yourselves the Lord, to serve Him.” And they said, “We are witnesses.” 23 “Now then, do away with the foreign gods which are in your midst, and (AB)incline your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.” 24 And (AC)the people said to Joshua, “We will serve the Lord our God and [g]obey His voice.” 25 (AD)So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made for them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. 26 And Joshua (AE)wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God; and he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of the Lord. 27 Then Joshua said to all the people, “Behold, (AF)this stone shall be a witness against us, because it has heard all the words of the Lord which He spoke [h]to us; so it shall be a witness against you, so that you do not deny your God.” 28 Then Joshua dismissed the people, each to his inheritance.
Joshua’s Death and Burial
29 Now it came about after these things that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being 110 years old. 30 And they buried him in the territory of his inheritance, in (AG)Timnath-serah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, on the north of Mount Gaash.
31 (AH)Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who [i]survived Joshua, and had known every deed of the Lord which He had done for Israel.
32 Now (AI)they buried the bones of Joseph, which the sons of Israel brought up from Egypt, at Shechem, in the plot of land (AJ)which Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred [j]pieces of money; and they became the inheritance of Joseph’s sons. 33 And Eleazar the son of Aaron died; and they buried him at Gibeah, the town of his son (AK)Phinehas, which was given to him in the hill country of Ephraim.
Footnotes
- Joshua 24:3 Lit seed
- Joshua 24:5 Lit according to
- Joshua 24:6 Lit Sea of Reeds
- Joshua 24:12 Lit drove them out
- Joshua 24:14 Or revere
- Joshua 24:14 Or faithfulness
- Joshua 24:24 Lit listen to
- Joshua 24:27 Lit with
- Joshua 24:31 Lit prolonged days after
- Joshua 24:32 Heb qesitah
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
