1
And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem , and called for the elders of Israel , and for their heads , and for their judges , and for their officers; and they presented themselves before God .
2
And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith Jehovah , the God of Israel , Your fathers dwelt of old time beyond the River , even Terah, the father of Abraham , and the father of Nahor : and they served other gods .
3
And I took your father Abraham from beyond the River , and led him throughout all the land of Canaan , and multiplied his seed , and gave him Isaac .
4
And I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau : and I gave unto Esau mount Seir , to possess it: and Jacob and his children went down into Egypt .
5
And I sent Moses and Aaron , and I plagued Egypt , according to that which I did in the midst thereof: and afterward I brought you out.
6
And I brought your fathers out of Egypt : and ye came unto the sea ; and the Egyptians pursued after your fathers with chariots and with horsemen unto the Red Sea .
7
And when they cried out unto Jehovah , he put darkness between you and the Egyptians , and brought the sea upon them, and covered them; and your eyes saw what I did in Egypt : and ye dwelt in the wilderness many days .
8
And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, that dwelt beyond the Jordan : and they fought with you; and I gave them into your hand , and ye possessed their land ; and I destroyed them from before you.
9
Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab , arose and fought against Israel : and he sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you;
10
but I would not hearken unto Balaam ; therefore he blessed you still: so I delivered you out of his hand .
11
And ye went over the Jordan , and came unto Jericho : and the men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite , and the Girgashite, the Hivite , and the Jebusite; and I delivered them into your hand .
12
And I sent the hornet before you, which drove them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; not with thy sword , nor with thy bow .
13
And I gave you a land whereon thou hadst not labored, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell therein; of vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat .
14
Now therefore fear Jehovah , and serve him in sincerity and in truth ; and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River , and in Egypt ; and serve ye Jehovah .
15
And if it seem evil unto you to serve Jehovah , choose you this day whom ye will serve ; whether the gods which your fathers served that were beyond the River , or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell : but as for me and my house , we will serve Jehovah .
16
And the people answered and said , Far be it from us that we should forsake Jehovah , to serve other gods ;
17
for Jehovah our God , he it is that brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt , from the house of bondage, and that did those great signs in our sight , and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the peoples through the midst of whom we passed ;
18
and Jehovah drove out from before us all the peoples, even the Amorites that dwelt in the land : therefore we also will serve Jehovah ; for he is our God .
19
And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve Jehovah ; for he is a holy God ; he is a jealous God ; he will not forgive your transgression nor your sins .
20
If ye forsake Jehovah , and serve foreign gods , then he will turn and do you evil, and consume you, after that he hath done you good.
21
And the people said unto Joshua , Nay; but we will serve Jehovah .
22
And Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen you Jehovah , to serve him. And they said , We are witnesses .
23
Now therefore put away, [said he], the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto Jehovah , the God of Israel .
24
And the people said unto Joshua , Jehovah our God will we serve , and unto his voice will we hearken .
25
So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day , and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem .
26
And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God ; and he took a great stone , and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of Jehovah .
27
And Joshua said unto all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness against us ; for it hath heard all the words of Jehovah which he spake unto us : it shall be therefore a witness against you, lest ye deny your God .
28
So Joshua sent the people away, every man unto his inheritance .
29
And it came to pass after these things, that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Jehovah , died , being a hundred and ten years old .
30
And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathserah, which is in the hill -country of Ephraim , on the north of the mountain of Gaash.
31
And Israel served Jehovah all the days of Joshua , and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua , and had known all the work of Jehovah , that he had wrought for Israel .
32
And the bones of Joseph , which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt , buried they in Shechem , in the parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of money: and they became the inheritance of the children of Joseph .
33
And Eleazar the son of Aaron died ; and they buried him in the hill of Phinehas his son , which was given him in the hill -country of Ephraim .