Joshua 24
Legacy Standard Bible
Joshua Gathers Israel
24 Then (A)Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem and called for the elders of Israel and for their heads and their judges and their officers; and they presented themselves before God. 2 And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘From ancient times your fathers lived beyond the [a]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 [b]River and led him through all the land of Canaan and (D)multiplied his seed 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 smote Egypt [c]by what I did in its midst; and afterward I brought you out. 6 And 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 [d]Red Sea. 7 Then they cried out to Yahweh; 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 many days. 8 Then (L)I brought you into the land of the Amorites who lived beyond the Jordan, and 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 Then (M)Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel, and he sent and summoned Balaam the son of Beor to curse you. 10 But I (N)was not willing to listen to Balaam. So he blessed you repeatedly, and I delivered you from his hand. 11 (O)And you crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho; and the citizens of Jericho fought against you, and (P)the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Girgashite, the Hivite and the Jebusite. Thus (Q)I gave them into your hand. 12 Then I (R)sent the hornet before you, and it [e]drove out the two kings of the Amorites from before you, but (S)not by your sword or your bow. 13 (T)And 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 Yahweh Our God
14 “So now, [f](U)fear Yahweh and serve Him in integrity and [g]truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the [h]River and in Egypt, and serve Yahweh. 15 If it is evil in your sight to serve Yahweh, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River or (V)the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve Yahweh.”
16 And the people answered and said, “Far be it from us that we should forsake Yahweh to serve other gods; 17 for Yahweh our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery, and who did these great signs in our sight and kept us through all the way in which we went and among all the peoples through whose midst we passed. 18 And Yahweh drove out from before us all the peoples, even the Amorites who lived in the land. We also will serve Yahweh, for He is our God.”
19 Then Joshua said to the people, “You will not be able to serve Yahweh, (W)for He is a holy God. He is (X)a jealous God; (Y)He will not forgive your transgression or your sins. 20 (Z)If you forsake Yahweh and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you after He has done good to you.” 21 And the people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve Yahweh.” 22 And Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that (AA)you have chosen for yourselves Yahweh, to serve Him.” And they said, “We are witnesses.” 23 “So now, put away the foreign gods which are in your midst, and (AB)incline your hearts to Yahweh, the God of Israel.” 24 (AC)And the people said to Joshua, “We will serve Yahweh our God, and we will listen to His voice.” 25 (AD)So Joshua cut a covenant with the people that day and made for them a statute and a judgment 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 Yahweh. 27 And Joshua said to all the people, “Behold, (AF)this stone shall be for a witness against us, for it has heard all the words of Yahweh which He spoke [i]to us; thus it shall be for a witness against you, lest you deny your God.” 28 Then Joshua dismissed the people, each to his inheritance.
Joshua’s Death and Burial
29 Now it happened that after these things, Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Yahweh, 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)And Israel served Yahweh all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who [j]survived Joshua, who knew all the work of Yahweh 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 portion of the field (AJ)which Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for one hundred [k]qesitah; and they became the inheritance of Joseph’s sons. 33 And Eleazar the son of Aaron died; and they buried him [l]at Gibeah of (AK)Phinehas his son, which was given him in the hill country of Ephraim.
Footnotes
- Joshua 24:2 The Euphrates River
- Joshua 24:3 The Euphrates River
- Joshua 24:5 Lit according to
- Joshua 24:6 Lit Sea of Reeds
- Joshua 24:12 Lit drove them out
- Joshua 24:14 Or reverence
- Joshua 24:14 Or faithfulness
- Joshua 24:14 The Euphrates River
- Joshua 24:27 Lit with
- Joshua 24:31 Lit prolonged days after
- Joshua 24:32 Ancient currency, cf. Gen 33:19; Job 42:11
- Joshua 24:33 Or on the hill
Joshua 24
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Tribes Renew the Covenant
24 Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel, and they presented themselves before God.(A) 2 And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Long ago your ancestors—Terah and his sons Abraham and Nahor—lived beyond the Euphrates and served other gods.(B) 3 Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River and led him through all the land of Canaan and made his offspring many. I gave him Isaac,(C) 4 and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I gave Esau the hill country of Seir to possess, but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt.(D) 5 Then I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt with what I did in its midst, and afterward I brought you out.(E) 6 When I brought your ancestors out of Egypt, you came to the sea, and the Egyptians pursued your ancestors with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea.[a](F) 7 When they cried out to the Lord, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians and made the sea come upon them and cover them, and your eyes saw what I did to Egypt. Afterward 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; they fought with you, and I handed them over to you, and you took possession of their land, and I destroyed them before you.(G) 9 Then King Balak son of Zippor of Moab set out to fight against Israel. He sent and invited Balaam son of Beor to curse you,(H) 10 but I would not listen to Balaam; therefore he blessed you, so I rescued you out of his hand. 11 When you went over the Jordan and came to Jericho, the citizens of Jericho fought against you, as well as the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I handed them over to you.(I) 12 I sent swarms of hornets[b] ahead of you that drove out before you the two kings of the Amorites; it was not by your sword or by your bow.(J) 13 I gave you a land on which you had not labored and towns that you had not built, and you live in them; you eat the fruit of vineyards and oliveyards that you did not plant.(K)
14 “Now, therefore, revere the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt and serve the Lord.(L) 15 Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living, but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”(M)
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 ancestors up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight. He protected us along 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 cannot serve the Lord, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins.(N) 20 If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm and consume you, after having done you good.”(O) 21 And the people said to Joshua, “No, we will serve the Lord!” 22 Then Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the Lord, to serve him.” And they said, “We are witnesses.” 23 He said, “Then put away the foreign gods that are among you, and incline your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.”(P) 24 The people said to Joshua, “The Lord our God we will serve, and him we will obey.”(Q) 25 So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day and made statutes and ordinances for them at Shechem.(R) 26 Joshua 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 in the sanctuary of the Lord. 27 Joshua said to all the people, “See, this stone shall be a witness against us, for it has heard all the words of the Lord that he spoke to us; therefore it shall be a witness against you if you deal falsely with your God.”(S) 28 So Joshua sent the people away to their inheritances.
Death of Joshua and Eleazar
29 After these things Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being one hundred ten years old.(T) 30 They buried him in his own inheritance at Timnath-serah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.(U)
31 Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua and had known all the work that the Lord did for Israel.(V)
32 The bones of Joseph, which the Israelites had brought up from Egypt, were buried at Shechem, in the portion of ground that Jacob had bought from the children of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for one hundred pieces of money;[c] it became an inheritance of the descendants of Joseph.(W)
33 Eleazar son of Aaron died, and they buried him at Gibeah, the town of his son Phinehas, which had been given him in the hill country of Ephraim.(X)
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New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.