Joshua 24:1-25

1Then 1Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel and for their heads and their judges and their officers; and they presented themselves before God. 2Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘From ancient times your fathers lived beyond the 2River, namely, 3Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods. 3Then 4I took your father Abraham from beyond the 5River, and led him through all the land of Canaan, and 6multiplied his 7descendants and gave him 8Isaac. 4To Isaac I gave 9Jacob and Esau, and 10to Esau I gave Mount Seir to possess it; but 11Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt. 5Then 12I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt 13by what I did in its midst; and afterward I brought you out. 6I brought your fathers out of Egypt, and 14you came to the sea; and Egypt pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the 15Red Sea. 7But when they cried out to the Lord, He put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them and covered them; and your own eyes saw what I did in Egypt. And 16you lived in the wilderness for a long time. 8Then 17I brought you into the land of the Amorites who lived beyond the Jordan, and they fought with you; and I gave them into your hand, and you took possession of their land when I destroyed them before you. 9Then 18Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel, and he sent and summoned Balaam the son of Beor to curse you. 10But I 19was not willing to listen to Balaam. So he had to bless you, and I delivered you from his hand. 1120You crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho; and the citizens of Jericho fought against you, and 21the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Girgashite, the Hivite and the Jebusite. Thus 22I gave them into your hand. 12Then I 23sent the hornet before you and it 24drove out the two kings of the Amorites from before you, but 25not by your sword or your bow. 1326I gave you a land on which you had not labored, and cities which you had not built, and you have lived in them; you are eating of vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.’

14“Now, therefore, 2728fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and 29truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the 30River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or 31the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

16The people answered and said, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods; 17for the Lord our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of 32bondage, and who did these great signs in our sight and preserved us through all the way in which we went and among all the peoples through whose midst we passed. 18The Lord drove out from before us all the peoples, even the Amorites who lived in the land. We also will serve the Lord, for He is our God.”

19Then Joshua said to the people, “You will not be able to serve the Lord, 33for He is a holy God. He is 34a jealous God; 35He will not forgive your transgression or your sins. 2036If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you after He has done good to you.” 21The people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve the Lord.” 22Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that 37you have chosen for yourselves the Lord, to serve Him.” And they said, “We are witnesses.” 23“Now therefore, put away the foreign gods which are in your midst, and 38incline your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.” 2439The people said to Joshua, “We will serve the Lord our God and we will 40obey His voice.” 2541So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made for them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.