Joshua 24

The Covenant Renewal at Shechem

1 Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel a to Shechem and b summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel. And c they presented themselves before God. 2 And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the  Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Long ago, d your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates, ▼
▼ Hebrew  the River
 Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and f they served other gods. 3  g Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River and h led him through all the land of Canaan, and made his offspring many. i I gave him Isaac. 4 And to Isaac I gave j Jacob and Esau. k And I gave Esau the hill country of Seir to possess, l but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt. 5  m And I sent Moses and Aaron n and I plagued Egypt with what I did in the midst of it, and o afterward I brought you out.

6 “‘Then p I brought your fathers out of Egypt, and q you came to the sea. r And the Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea. 7  s And when they cried to the  Lord t he put darkness between you and the Egyptians u and made the sea come upon them and cover them; v and your eyes saw what I did in Egypt. w And you lived in the wilderness a long time. 8 Then I brought you to the land of the Amorites, who lived on the other side of the Jordan. x They fought with you, and I gave them into your hand, and you took possession of their land, and I destroyed them before you. 9  y Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel. z And he sent and invited Balaam the son of Beor to curse you, 10  aa but I would not listen to Balaam. ab Indeed, he blessed you. So I delivered you out of his hand. 11  ac And you went over the Jordan and came to Jericho ad and the leaders of Jericho fought against you, and also ae the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And I gave them into your hand. 12 And I sent af the hornet before you, which drove them out before you, the two kings of the Amorites; it was ag not by your sword or by your bow. 13 I gave you a land on which you had not labored ah and cities that you had not built, and you dwell in them. You eat the fruit of vineyards and olive orchards that you did not plant.’

Choose Whom You Will Serve

14  ai “Now therefore fear the  Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. aj Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the  Lord. 15  ak And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the  Lord al choose this day whom you will serve, whether am the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or an the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. ao 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 ap a holy God. He is aq a jealous God; ar he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins. 20  as If you forsake the  Lord and serve foreign gods, then at 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 au you have chosen the  Lord, to serve him.” And they said, “We are witnesses.” 23 He said, “Then av 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 aw made a covenant with the people that day, and put in place ax statutes and rules for them at Shechem. 26 And Joshua ay wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God. And az he took a large stone and set it up there ba under the terebinth that was by the sanctuary of the  Lord. 27 And Joshua said to all the people, “Behold, bb this stone shall be a witness against us, for bc 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 bd sent the people away, every man to his inheritance.

Joshua’s Death and Burial

29  be After these things Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the  Lord, died, being 110 years old. 30 And they buried him in his own inheritance at bf Timnath-serah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gaash.

31  bg Israel served the  Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua bh and had known all the work that the  Lord did for Israel.

32  bi As for the bones of Joseph, which the people of Israel brought up from Egypt, they buried them at Shechem, in the piece of land bj that Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of money. ▼
▼ Hebrew  for a hundred qesitah; a unit of money of unknown value
 It became an inheritance of the descendants of Joseph.

33 And Eleazar the son of Aaron died, and they buried him at Gibeah, the town of bl Phinehas his son, which had been given him in bm the hill country of Ephraim.

Copyright information for ESV