The Israelites Promise to Serve Yahweh

¹⁴ “So now, revere Yahweh and serve him in sincerity and faithfulness; remove the gods that your ancestors^[a] served beyond the river^[b] and in Egypt, and serve Yahweh. ¹⁵ But if it is bad in your eyes to serve Yahweh, choose for yourselves today whom you want to serve, whether it is the gods that your ancestors^[c] served beyond the river,^[d] or the gods of the Amorites^[e] in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve Yahweh.” ¹⁶ And the people answered and said, “Far be it from us that we would forsake Yahweh to serve other gods, ¹⁷ for Yahweh our God brought us and our ancestors^[f] from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery, and did these great signs before our eyes. He protected us along the entire way that we went, and among all the peoples through whose midst we passed. ¹⁸ And Yahweh drove out all the people before us, the Amorites^[g] who live^[h] in the land. We will serve Yahweh, for he is our God.”

¹⁹ But Joshua said to the people, “You cannot serve Yahweh, for he is a holy and jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins. ²⁰ If you forsake Yahweh and serve foreign gods, he will turn and bring disaster to you; he will destroy you after he has done good to you.” ²¹ And the people said to Joshua, “No, we will serve Yahweh.” ²² And Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen for yourselves to serve Yahweh.” And they said, “We are witnesses.” ²³ He said, “Remove the foreign gods that are in your midst, and incline your hearts to Yahweh the God of Israel.” ²⁴ And the people said to Joshua, “We will serve Yahweh our God, and we will listen to his voice.” ²⁵ So Joshua made a covenant^[i] with the people on that day, and he established for them a statute and a judgment at Shechem. ²⁶ Then Joshua wrote these words in a scroll of the law of God, and he took a large stone and set it up there under a large tree, which is at the shrine of Yahweh. ²⁷ And Joshua said to all the people, “Look, this stone will be a witness against us, for it has heard all the words of Yahweh that he spoke with us. It will be as a witness against you, so that you do not deny your God.” ²⁸ Then Joshua sent the people away to their inheritance.