⁸ Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home.^(A) May the Lord show you kindness,^(B) as you have shown kindness to your dead husbands^(C) and to me.

⁵ both Mahlon and Kilion^(A) also died,^(B) and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.

Instructions for Christian Households^(A)

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

²⁰ “The Lord bless him!^(A)” Naomi said to her daughter-in-law.^(B) “He has not stopped showing his kindness^(C) to the living and the dead.” She added, “That man is our close relative;^(D) he is one of our guardian-redeemers.^[a](E)”

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

¹⁶ May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus,^(A) because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed^(B) of my chains.^{(C) 17} On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he searched hard for me until he found me. ¹⁸ May the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day!^(D) You know very well in how many ways he helped me^(E) in Ephesus.^(F)

²⁴ since you know that you will receive an inheritance^(A) from the Lord as a reward.^(B) It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

² “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise— ³ “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”^[a](A)

¹⁵ But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites,^(A) in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household,^(B) we will serve the Lord.”^(C)

¹⁶ Then the people answered, “Far be it from us to forsake^(D) the Lord to serve other gods! ¹⁷ It was the Lord our God himself who brought us and our parents up out of Egypt, from that land of slavery,^(E) and performed those great signs^(F) before our eyes. He protected us on our entire journey and among all the nations through which we traveled. ¹⁸ And the Lord drove out^(G) before us all the nations,^(H) including the Amorites, who lived in the land.^(I) We too will serve the Lord, because he is our God.^(J)”

¹⁹ Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the Lord. He is a holy God;^(K) he is a jealous God.^(L) He will not forgive^(M) your rebellion^(N) and your sins. ²⁰ If you forsake the Lord^(O) and serve foreign gods, he will turn^(P) and bring disaster^(Q) on you and make an end of you,^(R) after he has been good to you.”

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

²² Then Joshua said, “You are witnesses^(S) against yourselves that you have chosen^(T) to serve the Lord.”

“Yes, we are witnesses,^(U)” they replied.

²³ “Now then,” said Joshua, “throw away the foreign gods^(V) that are among you and yield your hearts^(W) to the Lord, the God of Israel.”

²⁴ And the people said to Joshua, “We will serve the Lord our God and obey him.”^(X)

²⁵ On that day Joshua made a covenant^(Y) for the people, and there at Shechem^(Z) he reaffirmed for them decrees and laws.^{(AA) 26} And Joshua recorded^(AB) these things in the Book of the Law of God.^(AC) Then he took a large stone^(AD) and set it up there under the oak^(AE) near the holy place of the Lord.

²⁷ “See!” he said to all the people. “This stone^(AF) will be a witness^(AG) against us. It has heard all the words the Lord has said to us. It will be a witness against you if you are untrue^(AH) to your God.”^(AI)

²⁸ Then Joshua dismissed the people, each to their own inheritance.^(AJ)