Joshua 24
Good News Translation
Joshua Speaks to the People at Shechem
24 Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel together at Shechem. He called the elders, the leaders, the judges, and the officers of Israel, and they came into the presence of God. 2 (A)Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, has to say: ‘Long ago your ancestors lived on the other side of the Euphrates River and worshiped other gods. One of those ancestors was Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor. 3 (B)Then I took Abraham, your ancestor, from the land across the Euphrates and led him through the whole land of Canaan. I gave him many descendants. I gave him Isaac, 4 (C)and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I gave Esau the hill country of Edom as his possession, but your ancestor Jacob and his children went down to Egypt. 5 (D)Later I sent Moses and Aaron, and I brought great trouble on Egypt. But I led you out; 6 (E)I brought your ancestors out of Egypt, and the Egyptians pursued them with chariots and cavalry. But when your ancestors got to the Red Sea 7 they cried out to me for help, and I put darkness between them and the Egyptians. I made the sea come rolling over the Egyptians and drown them. You know what I did to Egypt.
“‘You lived in the desert a long time. 8 (F)Then I brought you to the land of the Amorites, who lived on the east side of the Jordan. They fought you, but I gave you victory over them. You took their land, and I destroyed them as you advanced. 9 (G)Then the king of Moab, Balak son of Zippor, fought against you. He sent word to Balaam son of Beor and asked him to put a curse on you. 10 But I would not listen to Balaam, so he blessed you, and in this way I rescued you from Balak. 11 (H)You crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho. The men of Jericho fought 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 all. 12 (I)As you advanced, I threw them into panic in order to drive out the two Amorite kings. Your swords and bows had nothing to do with it. 13 (J)I gave you a land that you had never worked and cities that you had not built. Now you are living there and eating grapes from vines that you did not plant, and olives from trees that you did not plant.’
14 “Now then,” Joshua continued, “honor the Lord and serve him sincerely and faithfully. Get rid of the gods which your ancestors used to worship in Mesopotamia and in Egypt, and serve only the Lord. 15 If you are not willing to serve him, decide today whom you will serve, the gods your ancestors worshiped in Mesopotamia or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are now living. As for my family and me, we will serve the Lord.”
16 The people replied, “We would never leave the Lord to serve other gods! 17 The Lord our God brought our fathers and us out of slavery in Egypt, and we saw the miracles that he performed. He kept us safe wherever we went among all the nations through which we passed. 18 As we advanced into this land, the Lord drove out all the Amorites who lived here. So we also will serve the Lord; he is our God.”
19 Joshua said to the people, “But you may not be able to serve the Lord. He is a holy God and will not forgive your sins. He will tolerate no rivals, 20 and if you leave him to serve foreign gods, he will turn against you and punish you. He will destroy you, even though he was good to you before.”
21 The people said to Joshua, “No! We will serve the Lord.”
22 Joshua told them, “You are your own witnesses to the fact that you have chosen to serve the Lord.”
“Yes,” they said, “we are witnesses.”
23 “Then get rid of those foreign gods that you have,” he demanded, “and pledge your loyalty to the Lord, the God of Israel.”
24 The people then said to Joshua, “We will serve the Lord our God. We will obey his commands.”
25 So Joshua made a covenant for[a] the people that day, and there at Shechem he gave them laws and rules to follow. 26 Joshua wrote these commands in the book of the Law of God. Then he took a large stone and set it up under the oak tree in the Lord's sanctuary. 27 He said to all the people, “This stone will be our witness. It has heard all the words that the Lord has spoken to us. So it will be a witness against you, to keep you from rebelling against your God.” 28 Then Joshua sent the people away, and everyone returned to their own part of the land.
Joshua and Eleazar Die
29 After that, the Lord's servant Joshua son of Nun died at the age of a hundred and ten. 30 (K)They buried him on his own land at Timnath Serah in the hill country of Ephraim north of Mount Gaash.
31 As long as Joshua lived, the people of Israel served the Lord, and after his death they continued to do so as long as those leaders were alive who had seen for themselves everything that the Lord had done for Israel.
32 (L)The body of Joseph, which the people of Israel had brought from Egypt, was buried at Shechem, in the piece of land that Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for a hundred pieces of silver. This land was inherited by Joseph's descendants.
33 Eleazar son of Aaron died and was buried at Gibeah, the town in the hill country of Ephraim which had been given to his son Phinehas.
Footnotes
- Joshua 24:25 for; or with.
Joshua 24
New King James Version
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. 4 To Isaac I gave (I)Jacob and Esau. To (J)Esau I gave the mountains of Seir to possess, (K)but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt. 5 (L)Also I sent Moses and Aaron, and (M)I plagued Egypt, according to what I did among them. Afterward I brought you out.
6 ‘Then I (N)brought your fathers out of Egypt, and you came to the sea; and the Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea. 7 So they cried out to the Lord; and He put (O)darkness between you and the Egyptians, brought the sea upon them, and covered them. And (P)your eyes saw what I did in Egypt. Then you dwelt in the wilderness (Q)a long time. 8 And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, who dwelt on the other side of the Jordan, (R)and they fought with you. But I gave them into your hand, that you might possess their land, and I destroyed them from before you. 9 Then (S)Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose to make war against Israel, and (T)sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you. 10 (U)But I would not listen to Balaam; (V)therefore he continued to bless you. So I delivered you out of his hand. 11 Then (W)you went over the Jordan and came to Jericho. And (X)the men of Jericho fought against you—also the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. But I delivered them into your hand. 12 (Y)I sent the hornet before you which drove them out from before you, also the two kings of the Amorites, but (Z)not with your sword or with your bow. 13 I have given you a land for which you did not labor, and (AA)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 (AB)“Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in (AC)sincerity and in truth, and (AD)put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of [d]the River and (AE)in Egypt. Serve the Lord! 15 And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, (AF)choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether (AG)the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of [e]the River, or (AH)the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. (AI)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. (AJ)We also will serve the Lord, for He is our God.”
19 But Joshua said to the people, (AK)“You cannot serve the Lord, for He is a (AL)holy God. He is (AM)a jealous God; (AN)He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. 20 (AO)If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, (AP)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 (AQ)you have chosen the Lord for yourselves, to serve Him.”
And they said, “We are witnesses!”
23 “Now therefore,” he said, (AR)“put away the foreign gods which are among you, and (AS)incline your heart to the Lord God of Israel.”
24 And the people (AT)said to Joshua, “The Lord our God we will serve, and His voice we will obey!”
25 So Joshua (AU)made[f] a covenant with the people that day, and made for them a statute and an ordinance (AV)in Shechem.
26 Then Joshua (AW)wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God. And he took (AX)a large stone, and (AY)set it up there (AZ)under the oak that was by the sanctuary of the Lord. 27 And Joshua said to all the people, “Behold, this stone shall be (BA)a witness to us, for (BB)it has heard all the words of the Lord which He spoke to us. It shall therefore be a witness to you, lest you deny your God.” 28 So (BC)Joshua let the people depart, each to his own inheritance.
Death of Joshua and Eleazar
29 (BD)Now it came to pass after these things that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being one hundred and ten years old. 30 And they buried him within the border of his inheritance at (BE)Timnath Serah, which is in the mountains of Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaash.
31 (BF)Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had (BG)known all the works of the Lord which He had done for Israel.
32 (BH)The bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel had brought up out of Egypt, they buried at Shechem, in the plot of ground (BI)which Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for one hundred [g]pieces of silver, and which had become an inheritance of the children of Joseph.
33 And (BJ)Eleazar the son of Aaron died. They buried him in a hill belonging to (BK)Phinehas his son, which was given to him in the mountains of Ephraim.
Footnotes
- Joshua 24:2 The Euphrates
- Joshua 24:3 The Euphrates
- Joshua 24:3 Lit. seed
- Joshua 24:14 The Euphrates
- Joshua 24:15 The Euphrates
- Joshua 24:25 Lit. cut a covenant
- Joshua 24:32 Heb. qesitah, an unknown ancient measure of weight
Joshua 24
English Standard Version
The Covenant Renewal at Shechem
24 Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel (A)to Shechem and (B)summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel. And (C)they presented themselves before God. 2 And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Long ago, (D)your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates,[a] Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and (E)they served other gods. 3 (F)Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River[b] and (G)led him through all the land of Canaan, and made his offspring many. (H)I gave him Isaac. 4 And to Isaac I gave (I)Jacob and Esau. (J)And I gave Esau the hill country of Seir to possess, (K)but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt. 5 (L)And I sent Moses and Aaron, (M)and I plagued Egypt with what I did in the midst of it, and (N)afterward I brought you out.
6 “‘Then (O)I brought your fathers out of Egypt, and (P)you came to the sea. (Q)And the Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea. 7 (R)And when they cried to the Lord, (S)he put darkness between you and the Egyptians (T)and made the sea come upon them and cover them; (U)and your eyes saw what I did in Egypt. (V)And 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. (W)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 (X)Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel. (Y)And he sent and invited Balaam the son of Beor to curse you, 10 (Z)but I would not listen to Balaam. (AA)Indeed, he blessed you. So I delivered you out of his hand. 11 (AB)And you went over the Jordan and came to Jericho, (AC)and the leaders of Jericho fought against you, and also (AD)the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And I gave them into your hand. 12 And I sent (AE)the hornet before you, which drove them out before you, the two kings of the Amorites; it was (AF)not by your sword or by your bow. 13 I gave you a land on which you had not labored (AG)and cities that you had not built, and you dwell in them. You eat the fruit of vineyards and olive orchards that you did not plant.’
Choose Whom You Will Serve
14 (AH)“Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. (AI)Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 (AJ)And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, (AK)choose this day whom you will serve, whether (AL)the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or (AM)the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. (AN)But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
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 fathers up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight and preserved us in 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 are not able to serve the Lord, for he is (AO)a holy God. He is (AP)a jealous God; (AQ)he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins. 20 (AR)If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then (AS)he will turn and do you harm and consume you, after having done you good.” 21 And the people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve the Lord.” 22 Then Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that (AT)you have chosen the Lord, to serve him.” And they said, “We are witnesses.” 23 He said, “Then (AU)put away the foreign gods that are among you, and incline your heart to the Lord, the God of Israel.” 24 And the people said to Joshua, “The Lord our God we will serve, and his voice we will obey.” 25 So Joshua (AV)made a covenant with the people that day, and put in place (AW)statutes and rules for them at Shechem. 26 And Joshua (AX)wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God. And (AY)he took a large stone and set it up there (AZ)under the terebinth that was by the sanctuary of the Lord. 27 And Joshua said to all the people, “Behold, (BA)this stone shall be a witness against us, for (BB)it has heard all the words of the Lord that he spoke to us. Therefore it shall be a witness against you, lest you deal falsely with your God.” 28 So Joshua (BC)sent the people away, every man to his inheritance.
Joshua's Death and Burial
29 (BD)After these things Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being 110 years old. 30 And they buried him in his own inheritance at (BE)Timnath-serah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gaash.
31 (BF)Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua (BG)and had known all the work that the Lord did for Israel.
32 (BH)As for the bones of Joseph, which the people of Israel brought up from Egypt, they buried them at Shechem, in the piece of land (BI)that Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of money.[c] It became an inheritance of the descendants of Joseph.
33 And Eleazar the son of Aaron died, and they buried him at Gibeah, the town of (BJ)Phinehas his son, which had been given him in (BK)the hill country of Ephraim.
Footnotes
- Joshua 24:2 Hebrew the River
- Joshua 24:3 That is, the Euphrates; also verses 14, 15
- Joshua 24:32 Hebrew for a hundred qesitah; a unit of money of uncertain value
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
