Joshua 24:20

Joshua 24:20 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)If ye forsake the Lord, and serve strange gods, then he will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after that he hath done you good.
• New International Version (NIV)If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, he will turn and bring disaster on you and make an end of you, after he has been good to you.”
• English Standard Version (ESV)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."
• New King James Version (NKJV)If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you, after He has done you good.”

Context of Joshua 24:20

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, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your wrongdoing or your sins. If you abandon the Lord and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and destroy you after He has done good to you.” 21And the people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve the Lord.” 22So Joshua 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.”

Joshua 24:20 word by word

כִּ֤י תַֽעַזְבוּ֙ אֶת־יְהוָ֔ה וַעֲבַדְתֶּ֖ם אֱלֹהֵ֣י נֵכָ֑ר וְשָׁ֨ב וְהֵרַ֤ע לָכֶם֙ וְכִלָּ֣ה אֶתְכֶ֔ם אַחֲרֵ֖י אֲשֶׁר־הֵיטִ֥יב לָכֶֽם׃Read the interlinear

• Ifכִּיkîy · forH3588
• you abandonעָזַב‛âzab · to leave: forsakeH5800
• the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• and serveעָבַד‛âbad · to serve: ministerH5647
• foreignנֵכָרnêkâr · foreignH5236
• godsאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
• then He will turnשׁוּבshûb · to return: turn backH7725
• and doרָעַעrâ‛a‛ · be evilH7489
• you harmרָעַעrâ‛a‛ · be evilH7489
• and destroyכָּלָהkâlâh · to end: destroyH3615
• you afterאַחַר'achar · afterH310
• He has doneיָטַבyâţab · be goodH3190

Cross-references for Joshua 24:20

• Joshua 23:12For if you ever go back and cling to the rest of these nations, these which remain with you, and intermarry with them, so that you associate with them and they with you,
• 1 Chronicles 28:9“As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him wholeheartedly and with a willing mind; for the Lord searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.
• 2 Chronicles 15:2and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: the Lord is with you when you are with Him. And if you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you abandon Him, He will abandon you.
• Ezra 8:22For I was ashamed to request from the king troops and horsemen to protect us from the enemy on the way, because we had said to the king, “The hand of our God is favorably disposed to all who seek Him, but His power and His anger are against all those who abandon Him.”
• Isaiah 1:28But wrongdoers and sinners together will be broken, And those who abandon the Lord will come to an end.
• Isaiah 63:10But they rebelled And grieved His Holy Spirit; Therefore He turned Himself to become their enemy, He fought against them.
• Isaiah 65:11But as for you who abandon the Lord, Who forget My holy mountain, Who set a table for Fortune, And fill a jug of mixed wine for Destiny,
• Jeremiah 17:13Lord, the hope of Israel, All who abandon You will be put to shame. Those who turn away on earth will be written down, Because they have forsaken the fountain of living water, that is the Lord.
• Ezekiel 18:24“But when a righteous person turns away from his righteousness, commits injustice and does according to all the abominations that the wicked person does, will he live? All his righteous deeds which he has done will not be remembered for his treachery which he has committed and his sin which he has committed; for them he will die.
• Acts 7:42But God turned away and gave them over to serve the heavenly lights; as it is written in the book of the prophets: ‘You did not offer Me victims and sacrifices for forty years in the wilderness, did you, house of Israel?
• Hebrews 10:26For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,

Commentaries on Joshua 24:20

• 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 24:20

• Backsliders
• Covenant
• Decision
• Shechem

In the dictionaries

• Strange Gods
• Joshua
• Serve
• Apostasy; Apostate
• Covenant, in the Old Testament
• Gods
• Hurt
• Joshua, Book of
• forgive, forgiven, forgiveness, pardon, pardoned

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