Joshua 24
Lexham English Bible
Joshua Recounts Their History
24 And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem; he summoned the elders of Israel, their heads, their judges, and their officials, and they presented themselves before God. 2 And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel: ‘Long ago[a] your ancestors[b]—Terah the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor—lived beyond the river,[c] and they served other gods. 3 I took your ancestor[d] Abraham from beyond the river[e] and led him through all the land of Canaan, and I increased his offspring; I gave him Isaac, 4 and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. To Esau I gave the hill country of Seir to possess, but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt. 5 And I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt with what I did in its midst; and afterward I brought you out. 6 When I brought out your ancestors[f] from Egypt, you came to the sea, and the Egyptians pursued after your ancestors[g] with chariots[h] and horsemen to the Red Sea.[i] 7 They cried out to Yahweh, and he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and he brought the sea over them[j] and covered them; your own eyes saw what I did in Egypt. Then you lived in the wilderness for many days. 8 And I brought you to the land of the Amorites[k] who lived beyond the Jordan; they fought you, and I gave them into your hand; you took possession of their land, and I destroyed them before you.[l] 9 Then Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, set out and fought against Israel, and he sent and summoned Balaam son of Beor to curse you, 10 but I was not willing to listen to Balaam, and he richly blessed you. So I rescued you from his hand, 11 and you crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho. And the citizens of Jericho, the Amorites,[m] the Perizzites,[n] the Canaanites,[o] the Hittites,[p] the Girgashites,[q] the Hivites,[r] and the Jebusites,[s] fought against you, and I gave them into your hand. 12 I sent before you the hornet and they drove out before you two kings of the Amorites;[t] but not by your sword or bow. 13 I gave to you a land that you have not labored on, and cities that you have not built, and you live[u] in them; you eat from vineyards and olive groves that you have not planted.’
The Israelites Promise to Serve Yahweh
14 “So now, revere Yahweh and serve him in sincerity and faithfulness; remove the gods that your ancestors[v] served beyond the river[w] and in Egypt, and serve Yahweh. 15 But if it is bad in your eyes to serve Yahweh, choose for yourselves today whom you want to serve, whether it is the gods that your ancestors[x] served beyond the river,[y] or the gods of the Amorites[z] in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve Yahweh.” 16 And the people answered and said, “Far be it from us that we would forsake Yahweh to serve other gods, 17 for Yahweh our God brought us and our ancestors[aa] from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery, and did these great signs before our eyes. He protected us along the entire way that we went, and among all the peoples through whose midst we passed. 18 And Yahweh drove out all the people before us, the Amorites[ab] who live[ac] in the land. We will serve Yahweh, for he is our God.”
19 But Joshua said to the people, “You cannot serve Yahweh, for he is a holy and jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins. 20 If you forsake Yahweh and serve foreign gods, he will turn and bring disaster to you; he will destroy you after he has done good to you.” 21 And the people said to Joshua, “No, we will serve Yahweh.” 22 And Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen for yourselves to serve Yahweh.” And they said, “We are witnesses.” 23 He said, “Remove the foreign gods that are in your midst, and incline your hearts to Yahweh the God of Israel.” 24 And the people said to Joshua, “We will serve Yahweh our God, and we will listen to his voice.” 25 So Joshua made a covenant[ad] with the people on that day, and he established for them a statute and a judgment at Shechem. 26 Then Joshua wrote these words in a scroll of the law of God, and he took a large stone and set it up there under a large tree, which is at the shrine of Yahweh. 27 And Joshua said to all the people, “Look, this stone will be a witness against us, for it has heard all the words of Yahweh that he spoke with us. It will be as a witness against you, so that you do not deny your God.” 28 Then Joshua sent the people away to their inheritance.
29 After these things Joshua son of Nun servant of Yahweh died; he was one hundred and ten years old.[ae] 30 They buried him in the territory of his inheritance, at Timnath-Serah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. 31 Israel served Yahweh all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who lived long after Joshua, and who had known all the work that Yahweh did for Israel.[af] 32 The bones of Jacob, which the Israelites[ag] had brought out from Egypt, they buried at Shechem, in a piece of land that Jacob had bought from the children of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for one hundred pieces of money;[ah] it became an inheritance for the descendants[ai] of Joseph. 33 And Eleazar son of Aaron died; and they buried him in Gibeah in the hill country of Ephraim, which had been given to his son Phinehas.
Footnotes
- Joshua 24:2 Literally “from ancient”
- Joshua 24:2 Or “fathers”
- Joshua 24:2 That is, the Euphrates
- Joshua 24:3 Or “father”
- Joshua 24:3 That is, the Euphrates
- Joshua 24:6 Or “fathers”
- Joshua 24:6 Or “fathers”
- Joshua 24:6 Hebrew “chariot”
- Joshua 24:6 Literally “sea of reed”
- Joshua 24:7 That is, the Egyptians
- Joshua 24:8 Hebrew “Amorite”
- Joshua 24:8 Literally “in your presence”
- Joshua 24:11 Hebrew “Amorite”
- Joshua 24:11 Hebrew “Perizzite”
- Joshua 24:11 Hebrew “Canaanite”
- Joshua 24:11 Hebrew “Hittite”
- Joshua 24:11 Hebrew “Girgashite”
- Joshua 24:11 Hebrew “Hivite”
- Joshua 24:11 Hebrew “Jebusite”
- Joshua 24:12 Hebrew “Amorite”
- Joshua 24:13 Or “dwell”
- Joshua 24:14 Or “fathers”
- Joshua 24:14 That is, the Euphrates
- Joshua 24:15 Or “fathers”
- Joshua 24:15 That is, the Euphrates
- Joshua 24:15 Hebrew “Amorite”
- Joshua 24:17 Or “fathers”
- Joshua 24:18 “Hebrew “Amorite”
- Joshua 24:18 Or “dwell”
- Joshua 24:25 Literally “cut a covenant”
- Joshua 24:29 Literally “a son of one hundred and ten years”
- Joshua 24:31 Joshua 24:28–31 is repeated in Judges 2:6–10
- Joshua 24:32 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Joshua 24:32 Hebrew kesitah
- Joshua 24:32 Or “sons”
Joshua 24
New Living Translation
The Lord’s Covenant Renewed
24 Then Joshua summoned all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, including their elders, leaders, judges, and officers. So they came and presented themselves to God.
2 Joshua said to the people, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Long ago your ancestors, including Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates River,[a] and they worshiped other gods. 3 But I took your ancestor Abraham from the land beyond the Euphrates and led him into the land of Canaan. I gave him many descendants through his son Isaac. 4 To Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. To Esau I gave the mountains of Seir, while Jacob and his children went down into Egypt.
5 “Then I sent Moses and Aaron, and I brought terrible plagues on Egypt; and afterward I brought you out as a free people. 6 But when your ancestors arrived at the Red Sea,[b] the Egyptians chased after you with chariots and charioteers. 7 When your ancestors cried out to the Lord, I put darkness between you and the Egyptians. I brought the sea crashing down on the Egyptians, drowning them. With your very own eyes you saw what I did. Then you lived in the wilderness for many years.
8 “Finally, I brought you into the land of the Amorites on the east side of the Jordan. They fought against you, but I destroyed them before you. I gave you victory over them, and you took possession of their land. 9 Then Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, started a war against Israel. He summoned Balaam son of Beor to curse you, 10 but I would not listen to him. Instead, I made Balaam bless you, and so I rescued you from Balak.
11 “When you crossed the Jordan River and came to Jericho, the men of Jericho fought against you, as did the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. But I gave you victory over them. 12 And I sent terror[c] ahead of you to drive out the two kings of the Amorites. It was not your swords or bows that brought you victory. 13 I gave you land you had not worked on, and I gave you towns you did not build—the towns where you are now living. I gave you vineyards and olive groves for food, though you did not plant them.
14 “So fear the Lord and serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord alone. 15 But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.”
16 The people replied, “We would never abandon the Lord and serve other gods. 17 For the Lord our God is the one who rescued us and our ancestors from slavery in the land of Egypt. He performed mighty miracles before our very eyes. As we traveled through the wilderness among our enemies, he preserved us. 18 It was the Lord who drove out the Amorites and the other nations living here in the land. So we, too, will serve the Lord, for he alone is our God.”
19 Then Joshua warned the people, “You are not able to serve the Lord, for he is a holy and jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins. 20 If you abandon the Lord and serve other gods, he will turn against you and destroy you, even though he has been so good to you.”
21 But the people answered Joshua, “No, we will serve the Lord!”
22 “You are a witness to your own decision,” Joshua said. “You have chosen to serve the Lord.”
“Yes,” they replied, “we are witnesses to what we have said.”
23 “All right then,” Joshua said, “destroy the idols among you, and turn your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.”
24 The people said to Joshua, “We will serve the Lord our God. We will obey him alone.”
25 So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day at Shechem, committing them to follow the decrees and regulations of the Lord. 26 Joshua recorded these things in the Book of God’s Instructions. As a reminder of their agreement, he took a huge stone and rolled it beneath the terebinth tree beside the Tabernacle of the Lord.
27 Joshua said to all the people, “This stone has heard everything the Lord said to us. It will be a witness to testify against you if you go back on your word to God.”
28 Then Joshua sent all the people away to their own homelands.
Leaders Buried in the Promised Land
29 After this, Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of 110. 30 They buried him in the land he had been allocated, at Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.
31 The people of Israel served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him—those who had personally experienced all that the Lord had done for Israel.
32 The bones of Joseph, which the Israelites had brought along with them when they left Egypt, were buried at Shechem, in the plot of land Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor for 100 pieces of silver.[d] This land was located in the territory allotted to the descendants of Joseph.
33 Eleazar son of Aaron also died. He was buried in the hill country of Ephraim, in the town of Gibeah, which had been given to his son Phinehas.
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