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Joshua 24
New English Translation

Israel Renews its Commitment to the Lord

24 Joshua assembled all the Israelite tribes at Shechem. He summoned Israel’s elders, rulers, judges, and leaders, and they appeared before God. 2 Joshua told all the people, “This is what the Lord God of Israel has said: ‘In the distant past your ancestors lived beyond the Euphrates River,[a] including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor. They worshiped[b] other gods, 3 but I took your father Abraham from beyond the Euphrates[c] and brought him into[d] the entire land of Canaan. I made his descendants numerous; I gave him Isaac, 4 and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. To Esau I assigned Mount Seir,[e] while Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt. 5 I sent Moses and Aaron, and I struck Egypt down when I intervened in their land.[f] Then I brought you out. 6 When I brought your fathers out of Egypt, you arrived at the sea. The Egyptians chased your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea. 7 Your fathers[g] cried out for help to the Lord; he made the area between you and the Egyptians dark,[h] and then he drowned them in the sea.[i] You witnessed with your very own eyes[j] what I did in Egypt. You lived in the wilderness for a long time.[k] 8 Then I brought you to the land of the Amorites who lived east of the Jordan. They fought with you, but I handed them over to you; you conquered[l] their land, and I destroyed them from before you. 9 Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, launched an attack[m] against Israel. He summoned[n] Balaam son of Beor to call down judgment on[o] you. 10 I refused to respond to Balaam; he kept[p] prophesying good things about[q] you, and I rescued you from his power.[r] 11 You crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho. The leaders[s] of Jericho, as well as the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites, and Jebusites, fought with you, but I handed them over to you. 12 I sent terror[t] ahead of you to drive out before you the two[u] Amorite kings. I gave you the victory; it was not by your swords or bows.[v] 13 I gave you a land in[w] which you had not worked hard; you took up residence in cities you did not build, and you are eating the produce of[x] vineyards and olive groves you did not plant.’

14 “Now[y] obey[z] the Lord and worship[aa] him with integrity and loyalty. Put aside the gods your ancestors[ab] worshiped[ac] beyond the Euphrates[ad] and in Egypt, and worship[ae] the Lord. 15 If you have no desire[af] to worship[ag] the Lord, then choose today whom you will worship,[ah] whether it be the gods whom your ancestors[ai] worshiped[aj] beyond the Euphrates,[ak] or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. But I and my family[al] will worship[am] the Lord.”

16 The people responded, “Far be it from us to abandon the Lord so we can[an] worship[ao] other gods! 17 For the Lord our God took us and our fathers out of slavery[ap] in the land of Egypt[aq] and performed these awesome miracles[ar] before our very eyes. He continually protected us as we traveled and when we passed through nations.[as] 18 The Lord drove out from before us all the nations, including the Amorites who lived in the land. So we too will worship[at] the Lord, for he is our God!”

19 Joshua warned[au] the people, “You will not keep worshiping[av] the Lord, for[aw] he is a holy God.[ax] He is a jealous God who will not forgive[ay] your rebellion or your sins. 20 If[az] you abandon the Lord and worship[ba] foreign gods, he will turn against you;[bb] he will bring disaster on you and destroy you,[bc] though he once treated you well.”[bd]

21 The people said to Joshua, “No! We really will[be] worship[bf] the Lord.” 22 Joshua said to the people, “Do you agree to be witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen to worship the Lord?”[bg] They replied, “We are witnesses!”[bh] 23 Joshua said,[bi] “Now put aside the foreign gods that are among you and submit to[bj] the Lord God of Israel.”

24 The people said to Joshua, “We will worship[bk] the Lord our God and obey him.”[bl]

25 That day Joshua drew up an agreement[bm] for the people, and he established rules and regulations[bn] for them in Shechem. 26 Joshua wrote these words in the Law Scroll of God. He then took a large stone and set it up there under the oak tree near the Lord’s sanctuary. 27 Joshua said to all the people, “Look, this stone will be a witness against us, for it has heard everything the Lord said to us.[bo] It will be a witness against you if[bp] you deny your God.” 28 When Joshua dismissed the people, they went to their allotted portions of land.[bq]

An Era Ends

29 After all this[br] Joshua son of Nun, the Lord’s servant, died at the age of 110. 30 They buried him in his allotted territory[bs] in Timnath Serah in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. 31 Israel worshiped[bt] the Lord throughout Joshua’s lifetime and as long as the elderly men who outlived him remained alive.[bu] These men had experienced firsthand everything the Lord had done for Israel.[bv]

32 The bones of Joseph, which the Israelites had brought up from Egypt, were buried at Shechem in the part of the field that Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for 100 pieces of money.[bw] So it became the inheritance of the tribe of Joseph.[bx]

33 Eleazar son of Aaron died, and they buried him in Gibeah in the hill country of Ephraim, where his son Phinehas had been assigned land.[by]

Footnotes

  1. Joshua 24:2 tn Heb “the river,” referring to the Euphrates. This has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  2. Joshua 24:2 tn Or “served.”
  3. Joshua 24:3 tn Heb “the river,” referring to the Euphrates. This has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  4. Joshua 24:3 tn Or “through.”
  5. Joshua 24:4 tn Heb “I gave to Esau Mount Seir to possess it.”
  6. Joshua 24:5 tn Heb “by that which I did in its midst.”
  7. Joshua 24:7 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the fathers) has been specified in the translation for clarity (see the previous verse).
  8. Joshua 24:7 tn Or “put darkness between you and the Egyptians.”
  9. Joshua 24:7 tn Heb “and he brought over them the sea and covered them.”
  10. Joshua 24:7 tn Heb “your eyes saw.”
  11. Joshua 24:7 tn Heb “many days.”
  12. Joshua 24:8 tn Or “took possession of.”
  13. Joshua 24:9 tn Heb “arose and fought.”
  14. Joshua 24:9 tn Heb “sent and called.”
  15. Joshua 24:9 tn Or “to curse.”
  16. Joshua 24:10 tn The infinitive absolute follows the finite verb in the Hebrew text and indicates continuation or repetition of the action. Balaam pronounced several oracles of blessing over Israel (see Num 23-24).
  17. Joshua 24:10 tn Heb “blessing.” Balaam’s “blessings” were actually prophecies of how God would prosper Israel.
  18. Joshua 24:10 tn Heb “hand.”
  19. Joshua 24:11 tn Or perhaps, “citizens.”
  20. Joshua 24:12 tn Traditionally, “the hornet” (so KJV, NKJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV) but the precise meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain (cf. NEB “panic”).
  21. Joshua 24:12 tn The LXX has “twelve,” apparently understanding this as a reference to Amorite kings west of the Jordan (see Josh 5:1, rather than the trans-Jordanian Amorite kings Sihon and Og (see Josh 2:10; 9:10).
  22. Joshua 24:12 tn Heb “and it drove them out from before you, the two kings of the Amorites, not by your sword and not by your bow.” The words “I gave you the victory” are supplied for clarification.
  23. Joshua 24:13 tn Or perhaps, “for.”
  24. Joshua 24:13 tn The words “the produce of” are supplied for clarification.
  25. Joshua 24:14 sn Joshua quotes the Lord’s words in vv. 2b-13 (note that the Lord speaks in the first person in these verses); in vv. 14-15 Joshua himself exhorts the people (note the third person references to the Lord).
  26. Joshua 24:14 tn Heb “fear.”
  27. Joshua 24:14 tn Or “and serve.”
  28. Joshua 24:14 tn Heb “your fathers.”
  29. Joshua 24:14 tn Or “served.”
  30. Joshua 24:14 tn Heb “the river,” referring to the Euphrates. This has been specified in the translation for clarity; see v. 3.
  31. Joshua 24:14 tn Or “and serve.”
  32. Joshua 24:15 tn Heb “if it is bad in your eyes.”
  33. Joshua 24:15 tn Or “to serve.”
  34. Joshua 24:15 tn Or “will serve.”
  35. Joshua 24:15 tn Heb “your fathers.”
  36. Joshua 24:15 tn Or “served.”
  37. Joshua 24:15 tn Heb “the river,” referring to the Euphrates. This has been specified in the translation for clarity; see v. 3.
  38. Joshua 24:15 tn Heb “house.”
  39. Joshua 24:15 tn Or “will serve.”
  40. Joshua 24:16 tn Heb “to.”
  41. Joshua 24:16 tn Or “can serve.”
  42. Joshua 24:17 tn Heb “of the house of slavery.”
  43. Joshua 24:17 tn Heb “for the Lord our God, he is the one who brought up us and our fathers from the land of Egypt, from the house of slaves.”
  44. Joshua 24:17 tn Or “great signs.”
  45. Joshua 24:17 tn Heb “and he guarded us in all the way in which we walked and among all the peoples through whose midst we passed.”
  46. Joshua 24:18 tn Or “will serve.”
  47. Joshua 24:19 tn Heb “said to.”
  48. Joshua 24:19 tn Heb “you are not able to serve.”
  49. Joshua 24:19 sn For an excellent discussion of Joshua’s logical argument here, see T. C. Butler, Joshua (WBC), 274-75.
  50. Joshua 24:19 tn In the Hebrew text both the divine name (אֱלֹהִים, ʾelohim) and the adjective (קְדֹשִׁים, qedoshim, “holy”) are plural. Normally the divine name, when referring to the one true God, takes singular modifiers, but this is a rare exception where the adjective agrees grammatically with the honorific plural noun. See GKC §124.i and IBHS 122.
  51. Joshua 24:19 tn Heb “lift up” or “take away.”sn This assertion obviously needs qualification, for the OT elsewhere affirms that God does forgive. Joshua is referring to the persistent national rebellion against the Mosaic covenant that eventually causes God to decree unconditionally the nation’s exile.
  52. Joshua 24:20 tn Or “when.”
  53. Joshua 24:20 tn Or “and serve.”
  54. Joshua 24:20 tn The words “against you” are added for clarification.
  55. Joshua 24:20 tn Heb “bring you to an end.”
  56. Joshua 24:20 tn Heb “after he did good for you.”
  57. Joshua 24:21 tn The translation assumes that כִּי (ki) is emphatic. Another option is to take it as explanatory, “No, for we will….”
  58. Joshua 24:21 tn Or “will serve.”
  59. Joshua 24:22 tn Heb “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen for yourselves the Lord to serve him.”
  60. Joshua 24:22 sn Like witnesses in a court of law, Israel’s solemn vow to worship the Lord will testify against them in the divine court if the nation ever violates its commitment.
  61. Joshua 24:23 tn The words “Joshua said” are supplied for clarification.
  62. Joshua 24:23 tn Heb “bend your heart toward.” The term לֵבָב (levav, “heart”) probably here refers to the people’s volition or will.
  63. Joshua 24:24 tn Or “will serve.”
  64. Joshua 24:24 tn Heb “and listen to his voice.”
  65. Joshua 24:25 tn Heb “cut a covenant.”
  66. Joshua 24:25 tn Heb “a statute and a judgment.”
  67. Joshua 24:27 tn Heb “all the words of the Lord which he spoke with us.”
  68. Joshua 24:27 tn Or “lest,” “so that you might not.”
  69. Joshua 24:28 tn Heb “And Joshua sent the people away, each to his inheritance.”
  70. Joshua 24:29 tn Heb “after these things.”
  71. Joshua 24:30 tn Heb “in the territory of his inheritance.”
  72. Joshua 24:31 tn Or “served.”
  73. Joshua 24:31 tn Heb “all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who outlived him.”
  74. Joshua 24:31 tn Heb “who knew all the work of the Lord which he had done for Israel.”
  75. Joshua 24:32 tn Heb “one hundred qesitahs.” The Hebrew word קְשִׂיטָה (qesitah) is generally understood to refer to a unit of money, but the value and/or weight is unknown. The word occurs only here and in Gen 33:19 and Job 42:11.
  76. Joshua 24:32 tn Heb “and they became for the sons of Joseph an inheritance.” One might think “bones” is the subject of the verb “they became,” but the verb is masculine, while “bones” is feminine. The translation follows the emendation suggested in the BHS note, which appeals to the Syriac and Vulgate for support. The emended reading understands “the part (of the field)” as the subject of the verb “became.” The emended verb is feminine singular; this agrees with “the part” (of the field), which is feminine in Hebrew.
  77. Joshua 24:33 tn Heb “in Gibeah of Phinehas, his son, which had been given to him in the hill country of Ephraim.”
Close EXB

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.

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