Joshua 24:14-28

New Century Version

¹⁴Then Joshua said to the people, “Now respect the Lord and serve him fully and sincerely. Throw away the gods that your ancestors worshiped on the other side of the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord. ¹⁵But if you don’t want 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, or you may serve the gods of the Amorites who lived in this land. As for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.”

¹⁶Then the people answered, “We will never stop following the Lord to serve other gods! ¹⁷It was the Lord our God who brought our ancestors out of Egypt. We were slaves in that land, but the Lord did great things for us there. He brought us out and protected us while we traveled through other lands. ¹⁸Then he forced out all the people living in these lands, even the Amorites. So we will serve the Lord, because he is our God.”

¹⁹Then Joshua said, “You are not able to serve the Lord, because he is a holy God and a jealous God. If you turn against him and sin, he will not forgive you. ²⁰If you leave the Lord and serve other gods, he will send you great trouble. The Lord may have been good to you, but if you turn against him, he will destroy you.”

²¹But the people said to Joshua, “No! We will serve the Lord.”

²²Then Joshua said, “You are your own witnesses that you have chosen to serve the Lord.”

The people said, “Yes, we are.”

²³Then Joshua said, “Now throw away the gods that you have. Love the Lord, the God of Israel, with all your heart.”

²⁴Then the people said to Joshua, “We will serve the Lord our God, and we will obey him.”

²⁵On that day at Shechem Joshua made an agreement for the people. He made rules and laws for them to follow. ²⁶Joshua wrote these things in the Book of the Teachings of God. Then he took a large stone and set it up under the oak tree near the Lord’s Holy Tent.

²⁷Joshua said to all the people, “See this stone! It will remind you of what we did today. It was here the Lord spoke to us today. It will remind you of what happened so you will not turn against your God.”