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

¹⁶ So the people answered and said: “Far be it from us that we should forsake 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 bondage, who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way that we went and among all the people through whom we passed. ¹⁸ And the Lord drove out from before us all the people, including the Amorites who dwelt in the land. ^(I)We also will serve the Lord, for He is our God.”

¹⁹ But Joshua said to the people, ^(J)“You cannot serve the Lord, for He is a ^(K)holy God. He is ^(L)a jealous God; ^(M)He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. ^20 (N)If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, ^(O)then He will turn and do you harm and consume you, after He has done you good.”

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

And they said, “We are witnesses!”

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

^42 (A)Watch therefore, for you do not know what ^[a]hour your Lord is coming. ^43 (B)But know this, that if the master of the house had known what ^[b]hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. ^44 (C)Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

The Faithful Servant and the Evil Servant^(D)

^45 (E)“Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food ^[c]in due season? ^46 (F)Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. ⁴⁷ Assuredly, I say to you that ^(G)he will make him ruler over all his goods. ⁴⁸ But if that evil servant says in his heart, ‘My master ^(H)is delaying ^[d]his coming,’ ⁴⁹ and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, ⁵⁰ the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is ^(I)not aware of, ⁵¹ and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. ^(J)There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.