We Will Serve Yahweh Our God

¹⁴ “So now, ^[a](A)fear Yahweh and serve Him in integrity and ^[b]truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the ^[c]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 ^(B)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, ^(C)for He is a holy God. He is ^(D)a jealous God; ^(E)He will not forgive your transgression or your sins. ^20 (F)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 ^(G)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 ^(H)incline your hearts to Yahweh, the God of Israel.” ^24 (I)And the people said to Joshua, “We will serve Yahweh our God, and we will listen to His voice.” ^25 (J)So Joshua cut a covenant with the people that day and made for them a statute and a judgment in Shechem. ²⁶ And Joshua ^(K)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, ^(L)this stone shall be for a witness against us, for it has heard all the words of Yahweh which He spoke ^[d]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.