The Covenant at Shechem^(A)

24 Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to ^(B)Shechem and ^(C)called for the elders of Israel, for their heads, for their judges, and for their officers; and they ^(D)presented themselves before God. ² And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ^(E)‘Your fathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, dwelt on the other side of ^[a]the River in old times; and ^(F)they served other gods. ^3 (G)Then I took your father Abraham from the other side of ^[b]the River, led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his ^[c]descendants and ^(H)gave him Isaac.

¹³ I have given you a land for which you did not labor, and ^(A)cities which you did not build, and you dwell in them; you eat of the vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.’

^14 (B)“Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in ^(C)sincerity and in truth, and ^(D)put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of ^[a]the River and ^(E)in Egypt. Serve the Lord! ¹⁵ And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, ^(F)choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether ^(G)the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of ^[b]the River, or ^(H)the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. ^(I)But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

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 ^(A)you have chosen the Lord for yourselves, to serve Him.”

And they said, “We are witnesses!”

²³ “Now therefore,” he said, ^(B)“put away the foreign gods which are among you, and ^(C)incline your heart to the Lord God of Israel.”

²⁴ And the people ^(D)said to Joshua, “The Lord our God we will serve, and His voice we will obey!”