Amplified Bible
Joshua 24:21
21The people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve [only] the Lord.”
Joshua 24:21 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And the people said unto Joshua, Nay; but we will serve the Lord.
- New International Version (NIV)But the people said to Joshua, “No! We will serve the Lord.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)And the people said to Joshua, "No, but we will serve the Lord."
- New King James Version (NKJV)And the people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve the Lord!”
Context of Joshua 24:21
19Then Joshua said to the people, “You will not be able to serve the Lord [if you serve any other gods], for He is a holy God; He is a jealous God [demanding what is rightfully and uniquely His]. He will not forgive your transgression [of His law] or your sins. 20If you do abandon (reject) the Lord and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume and destroy you after He has done you good.” The people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve [only] the Lord.” 22Joshua then said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen for yourselves the Lord, to serve Him.” And they said, “We are witnesses.” 23“Now then, remove the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your hearts toward the Lord, the God of Israel.”
Read all of Joshua 24Joshua 24:21 word by word
וַיֹּ֥אמֶר הָעָ֖ם אֶל־יְהוֹשֻׁ֑עַ לֹ֕א כִּ֥י אֶת־יְהוָ֖ה נַעֲבֹֽד׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Joshua 24:21
- Exodus 19:8All the people answered together and said, “We will do everything that the Lord has spoken.” And Moses reported the words of the people to the Lord.
- Exodus 20:19Then they said to Moses, “You speak to us and we will listen, but do not let God speak to us or we will die.”
- Exodus 24:3Then Moses came and told the people everything that the Lord had said and all the ordinances. And all the people answered with one voice, “Everything the Lord has said we will do.”
- Deuteronomy 5:27You, Moses, go near and listen to everything that the Lord our God says; then speak to us everything that the Lord our God speaks to you, and we will listen and do it.’
- Deuteronomy 26:17Today you have [openly] declared the Lord to be your God, and that you will walk [that is, live each and every day] in His ways and keep His statutes, His commandments, and His judgments (precepts), and listen to His voice.
- Isaiah 44:5One will say, ‘I am the Lord’s’; And another will name himself after Jacob; And another will write on his hand, ‘I am the Lord’s,’ And be called by the [honorable] name of Israel.
Commentaries on Joshua 24:21
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 21And the people said - Nay; but we will serve, etc. - So they understood the words of Joshua to imply no moral impossibility on their side: and had they earnestly sought the gracious assistance of God, they would have continued steady in his covenant.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 15-28Verses 15-28 It is essential that the service of God's people be performed with a willing mind. For LOVE is the only genuine principle whence all acceptable service of God can spring. The Father seeks only such to worship him, as worship him in spirit and in truth. The carnal mind of man is enmity against God, therefore, is not capable of such spiritual worship. Hence the necessity of being born again. But numbers rest in mere forms, as tasks imposed upon…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 19-24Joshua challenged the Israelites from another perspective to show how serious their commitment needed to be. He wanted to make sure they were not responding only out of excitement in the moment.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 14-2814-28. Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth--After having enumerated so many grounds for national gratitude, Joshua calls on them to declare, in a public and solemn manner, whether they will be faithful and obedient to the God of Israel. He avowed this to be his own unalterable resolution, and urged them, if they were sincere in making a similar avowal, "to put away the strange gods that were among them"--a requirement…Read the comment
Topics related to Joshua 24:21
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Joshua 24
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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