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

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

Rules for Christian Households

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

²⁰ Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “Blessed be he by the Lord, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!” Naomi also said to her, “The man is a relative of ours, one of our nearest kin.”^[a](A)

The Christian Household

²² Wives, be subject^[a] to your husbands as to the Lord,^(A)

¹⁶ May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chain;^{(A) 17} when he arrived in Rome, he eagerly^[a] searched for me and found me ¹⁸ —may the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day! And you know very well how much service he rendered in Ephesus.^(B)

²⁴ since you know that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward; you serve the Lord Christ.^(A)

² “Honor your father and mother”—this is the first commandment with a promise^(A)— ³ “so that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.”

¹⁵ Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living, but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”^(A)

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 ancestors up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight. He protected us along 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 cannot serve the Lord, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins.^{(B) 20} If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm and consume you, after having done you good.”^{(C) 21} And the people said to Joshua, “No, we will serve the Lord!” ²² Then Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the Lord, to serve him.” And they said, “We are witnesses.” ²³ He said, “Then put away the foreign gods that are among you, and incline your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.”^{(D) 24} The people said to Joshua, “The Lord our God we will serve, and him we will obey.”^{(E) 25} So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day and made statutes and ordinances for them at Shechem.^{(F) 26} Joshua 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 in the sanctuary of the Lord. ²⁷ Joshua said to all the people, “See, this stone shall be a witness against us, for it has heard all the words of the Lord that he spoke to us; therefore it shall be a witness against you if you deal falsely with your God.”^{(G) 28} So Joshua sent the people away to their inheritances.