Joshua 24

The Covenant Renewal at Shechem

1 Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel *ver. 25, 32to Shechem and *See ch. 23:2summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel. And *1 Sam. 10:19they presented themselves before God. 2 And Joshua said to all the people, "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Long ago, *See Gen. 11:27-32your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates,*24:2 Hebrew the River Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and *[Gen. 31:30;35:2]they served other gods. 3 *See Gen. 12:1-5;Acts 7:2-4Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River*24:3 That is, the Euphrates; also verses 14, 15 and *Gen. 12:6led him through all the land of Canaan, and made his offspring many. *Gen. 21:2,3I gave him Isaac. 4 And to Isaac I gave *Gen. 25:24-26Jacob and Esau. *Gen. 36:8;Deut. 2:5And I gave Esau the hill country of Seir to possess, *Gen. 46:1,6;Acts 7:15but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt. 5 *Ex. 3:10;4:14And I sent Moses and Aaron, *See Ex. 7–12and I plagued Egypt with what I did in the midst of it, and *Ex. 12:37,51afterward I brought you out.

6 "‘Then *[See ver. 5above] I brought your fathers out of Egypt, and *Ex. 14:2you came to the sea. *Ex. 14:9And the Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea. 7 *Ex. 14:10And when they cried to the Lord, *Ex. 14:20he put darkness between you and the Egyptians *Ex. 14:27,28and made the sea come upon them and cover them; *Deut. 4:34;29:2and your eyes saw what I did in Egypt. *See ch. 5:6And 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. *See Num. 21:21-35They fought with you, and I gave them into your hand, and you took possession of their land, and I destroyed them before you. 9 *[Judg. 11:25] Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel. *Num. 22:5;Deut. 23:4And he sent and invited Balaam the son of Beor to curse you, 10 *Num. 23:11,20;24:1,10but I would not listen to Balaam. *Num. 23:11,20;24:1,10Indeed, he blessed you. So I delivered you out of his hand. 11 *ch. 3:14,17;4:10-13And you went over the Jordan and came to Jericho, *ch. 6:1;See ch. 10:1-3;11:1-3and the leaders of Jericho fought against you, and also *ch. 6:1;See ch. 10:1-3;11:1-3the 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 *Ex. 23:28;Deut. 7:20the hornet before you, which drove them out before you, the two kings of the Amorites; it was *Ps. 44:3not by your sword or by your bow. 13 I gave you a land on which you had not labored *Deut. 6:10,11;[ch. 11:13]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 *Deut. 10:12;1 Sam. 12:24"Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. *ver. 2, 23Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 *1 Kgs. 18:21;Ezek. 20:39And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, *ver. 22choose this day whom you will serve, whether *[See ver. 14above] the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or *Ex. 23:24,32,33;34:15;Deut. 13:7;29:18;Judg. 6:10the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. *Gen. 18:19But 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 *Lev. 19:2;1 Sam. 6:20;Ps. 99:5,9;Isa. 5:16a holy God. He is *Ex. 20:5;Nah. 1:2a jealous God; *Ex. 23:21he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins. 20 *[1 Chr. 28:9;2 Chr. 15:2;Ezra 8:22;Isa. 1:28;65:11,12;Jer. 17:13] If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then *ch. 23:15;Isa. 63:10;[Acts 7:42]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 *ver. 15you have chosen the Lord, to serve him." And they said, "We are witnesses." 23 He said, "Then *ver. 14;Judg. 10:16;1 Sam. 7:3put 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 *2 Kgs. 11:17;2 Chr. 23:16;Neh. 9:38made a covenant with the people that day, and put in place *Ex. 15:25statutes and rules for them at Shechem. 26 And Joshua *Deut. 31:24wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God. And *[ch. 4:3;Gen. 28:18] he took a large stone and set it up there *Gen. 35:4;Judg. 9:6under the terebinth that was by the sanctuary of the Lord. 27 And Joshua said to all the people, "Behold, *ch. 22:27,28,34;Gen. 31:48,52;Deut. 31:19,21,26this stone shall be a witness against us, for *[Deut. 32:1]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 *Judg. 2:6sent the people away, every man to his inheritance.

Joshua’s Death and Burial

29 *For ver. 29-31, see Judg. 2:7-9After 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 *[ch. 19:50]Timnath-serah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gaash.

31 *Judg. 2:7Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua *Deut. 11:2;31:13and had known all the work that the Lord did for Israel.

32 *Gen. 50:25;Ex. 13:19As for the bones of Joseph, which the people of Israel brought up from Egypt, they buried them at Shechem, in the piece of land *Gen. 33:19that Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of money.*24:32 Hebrew for a hundred qesitah; a unit of money of uncertain 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 *ch. 22:13Phinehas his son, which had been given him in *ver. 30;ch. 17:15the hill country of Ephraim.