⁸ But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother's house. May the Lord ^(A)deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with ^(B)the dead and with me.

⁵ and both Mahlon and Chilion died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.

Rules for Christian Households

^18 (A)Wives, submit to your husbands, as ^(B)is fitting in the Lord.

²⁰ And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, ^(A)“May he be blessed by the Lord, whose kindness has not forsaken ^(B)the living or the dead!” Naomi also said to her, “The man is a close relative of ours, one of ^(C)our redeemers.”

Wives and Husbands

^22 (A)Wives, ^(B)submit to your own husbands, ^(C)as to the Lord.

¹⁶ May the Lord grant mercy to ^(A)the household of Onesiphorus, for he often ^(B)refreshed me and was not ashamed of ^(C)my chains, ¹⁷ but when he arrived in Rome ^(D)he searched for me earnestly and found me— ¹⁸ may the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on ^(E)that day!—and you well know all the service he ^(F)rendered at Ephesus.

²⁴ knowing that from the Lord ^(A)you will receive the inheritance as your reward. ^(B)You are serving the Lord Christ.

^2 (A)“Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), ³ “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.”

^15 (A)And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, ^(B)choose this day whom you will serve, whether ^(C)the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or ^(D)the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. ^(E)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 ^(F)a holy God. He is ^(G)a jealous God; ^(H)he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins. ^20 (I)If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then ^(J)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 ^(K)you have chosen the Lord, to serve him.” And they said, “We are witnesses.” ²³ He said, “Then ^(L)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 ^(M)made a covenant with the people that day, and put in place ^(N)statutes and rules for them at Shechem. ²⁶ And Joshua ^(O)wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God. And ^(P)he took a large stone and set it up there ^(Q)under the terebinth that was by the sanctuary of the Lord. ²⁷ And Joshua said to all the people, “Behold, ^(R)this stone shall be a witness against us, for ^(S)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 ^(T)sent the people away, every man to his inheritance.