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 the LORD God of Israel , Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham , and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods .
3
And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood , 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; but Jacob and his children went down into Egypt .
5
I sent Moses also and Aaron , and I plagued Egypt , according to that which I did among them: 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 horsemen unto the Red sea .
7
And when they cried unto the LORD , he put darkness between you and the Egyptians , and brought the sea upon them, and covered them; and your eyes have seen what I have done in Egypt : and ye dwelt in the wilderness a long season.
8
And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, which dwelt on the other side Jordan ; and they fought with you: and I gave them into your hand , that ye might possess their land ; and I destroyed them from before you.
9
Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab , arose and warred against Israel , and 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 Jordan , and came unto Jericho : and the men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hittites , and the Girgashites , the Hivites , and the Jebusites ; and I delivered them into your hand .
12
And I sent the hornet before you, which drave them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; but not with thy sword , nor with thy bow .
13
And I have given you a land for which ye did not labour, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them; of the vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat .
14
Now therefore fear the LORD , and serve him in sincerity and in truth : and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood , and in Egypt ; and serve ye the LORD .
15
And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD , choose you this day whom ye will serve ; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood , or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell : but as for me and my house , we will serve the LORD .
16
And the people answered and said , God forbid that we should forsake the LORD , to serve other gods ;
17
For the LORD our God , he it is that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt , from the house of bondage, and which did those great signs in our sight , and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the people through whom we passed :
18
And the LORD drave out from before us all the people, even the Amorites which dwelt in the land : therefore will we also serve the LORD ; for he is our God .
19
And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the LORD : for he is an holy God ; he is a jealous God ; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins .
20
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.
21
And the people said unto Joshua , Nay; but we will serve the LORD .
22
And Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen you the LORD , to serve him. And they said , We are witnesses .
23
Now therefore put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the LORD God of Israel .
24
And the people said unto Joshua , The LORD our God will we serve , and his voice will we obey.
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 took a great stone , and set it up there under an oak, that was by the sanctuary of the LORD .
27
And Joshua said unto all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us ; for it hath heard all the words of the LORD which he spake unto us : it shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest ye deny your God .
28
So Joshua let the people depart, every man unto his inheritance .
29
And it came to pass after these things, that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD , died , being an hundred and ten years old .
30
And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath-serah, which is in mount Ephraim , on the north side of the hill of Gaash.
31
And Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua , and all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua , and which had known all the works of the LORD , that he had done for Israel .
32
And the bones of Joseph , which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt , buried they in Shechem , in a parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for an hundred pieces of silver: and it became the inheritance of the children of Joseph .
33
And Eleazar the son of Aaron died ; and they buried him in a hill that pertained to Phinehas his son , which was given him in mount Ephraim .