Joshua 24 - Good News Translation (GNT)

Joshua Speaks to the People at Shechem

24 Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel together at Shechem. He called the elders, the leaders, the judges, and the officers of Israel, and they came into the presence of God. 2 (A)Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, has to say: ‘Long ago your ancestors lived on the other side of the Euphrates River and worshiped other gods. One of those ancestors was Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor. 3 (B)Then I took Abraham, your ancestor, from the land across the Euphrates and led him through the whole land of Canaan. I gave him many descendants. I gave him Isaac, 4 (C)and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I gave Esau the hill country of Edom as his possession, but your ancestor Jacob and his children went down to Egypt. 5 (D)Later I sent Moses and Aaron, and I brought great trouble on Egypt. But I led you out; 6 (E)I brought your ancestors out of Egypt, and the Egyptians pursued them with chariots and cavalry. But when your ancestors got to the Red Sea 7 they cried out to me for help, and I put darkness between them and the Egyptians. I made the sea come rolling over the Egyptians and drown them. You know what I did to Egypt.

“‘You lived in the desert a long time. 8 (F)Then I brought you to the land of the Amorites, who lived on the east side of the Jordan. They fought you, but I gave you victory over them. You took their land, and I destroyed them as you advanced. 9 (G)Then the king of Moab, Balak son of Zippor, fought against you. He sent word to Balaam son of Beor and asked him to put a curse on you. 10 But I would not listen to Balaam, so he blessed you, and in this way I rescued you from Balak. 11 (H)You crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho. The men of Jericho fought you, as did the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. But I gave you victory over them all. 12 (I)As you advanced, I threw them into panic in order to drive out the two Amorite kings. Your swords and bows had nothing to do with it. 13 (J)I gave you a land that you had never worked and cities that you had not built. Now you are living there and eating grapes from vines that you did not plant, and olives from trees that you did not plant.’

14 “Now then,” Joshua continued, “honor the Lord and serve him sincerely and faithfully. Get rid of the gods which your ancestors used to worship in Mesopotamia and in Egypt, and serve only the Lord. 15 If you are not willing to serve him, decide today whom you will serve, the gods your ancestors worshiped in Mesopotamia or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are now living. As for my family and me, we will serve the Lord.”

16 The people replied, “We would never leave the Lord to serve other gods! 17 The Lord our God brought our fathers and us out of slavery in Egypt, and we saw the miracles that he performed. He kept us safe wherever we went among all the nations through which we passed. 18 As we advanced into this land, the Lord drove out all the Amorites who lived here. So we also will serve the Lord; he is our God.”

19 Joshua said to the people, “But you may not be able to serve the Lord. He is a holy God and will not forgive your sins. He will tolerate no rivals, 20 and if you leave him to serve foreign gods, he will turn against you and punish you. He will destroy you, even though he was good to you before.”

21 The people said to Joshua, “No! We will serve the Lord.”

22 Joshua told them, “You are your own witnesses to the fact that you have chosen to serve the Lord.”

“Yes,” they said, “we are witnesses.”

23 “Then get rid of those foreign gods that you have,” he demanded, “and pledge your loyalty to the Lord, the God of Israel.”

24 The people then said to Joshua, “We will serve the Lord our God. We will obey his commands.”

25 So Joshua made a covenant for[a] the people that day, and there at Shechem he gave them laws and rules to follow. 26 Joshua wrote these commands in the book of the Law of God. Then he took a large stone and set it up under the oak tree in the Lord's sanctuary. 27 He said to all the people, “This stone will be our witness. It has heard all the words that the Lord has spoken to us. So it will be a witness against you, to keep you from rebelling against your God.” 28 Then Joshua sent the people away, and everyone returned to their own part of the land.

Joshua and Eleazar Die

29 After that, the Lord's servant Joshua son of Nun died at the age of a hundred and ten. 30 (K)They buried him on his own land at Timnath Serah in the hill country of Ephraim north of Mount Gaash.

31 As long as Joshua lived, the people of Israel served the Lord, and after his death they continued to do so as long as those leaders were alive who had seen for themselves everything that the Lord had done for Israel.

32 (L)The body of Joseph, which the people of Israel had brought from Egypt, was buried at Shechem, in the piece of land that Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for a hundred pieces of silver. This land was inherited by Joseph's descendants.

33 Eleazar son of Aaron died and was buried at Gibeah, the town in the hill country of Ephraim which had been given to his son Phinehas.

Footnotes

  1. Joshua 24:25 for; or with.

Cross references

  1. Joshua 24:2 : Gen 11:27
  2. Joshua 24:3 : Gen 12:1-Gen 12:9; Josh 24:3; Gen 21:1-Gen 21:3
  3. Joshua 24:4 : Gen 25:24-Gen 25:26; Josh 24:4; Gen 36:8; Deut 2:5; Josh 24:4; Gen 46:1-Gen 46:7
  4. Joshua 24:5 : Exod 3:1-Exod 12:42
  5. Joshua 24:6 : Exod 14:1-Exod 14:31
  6. Joshua 24:8 : Num 21:21-Num 21:35
  7. Joshua 24:9 : Num 22:1-Num 24:25
  8. Joshua 24:11 : Jas 3:14-Jas 3:17; Josh 24:11; Josh 6:1-Josh 6:21
  9. Joshua 24:12 : Exod 23:28; Deut 7:20
  10. Joshua 24:13 : Deut 6:10; Deut 6:11
  11. Joshua 24:30 : Josh 19:49; Josh 19:50
  12. Joshua 24:32 : Gen 33:19; Josh 50:24; Josh 50:25; Exod 13:19; John 4:5; Acts 7:16

You Might Also Like:

Joshua 24 - Young's Literal Translation (YLT)

24 And Joshua gathereth all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and calleth for the elders of Israel, and for its heads, and for its judges, and for its authorities, and they station themselves before God. 2 And Joshua saith unto all the people, `Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, Beyond the River have ...
Read More

Joshua 24 - Wycliffe Bible (WYC)

24 And Joshua gathered all the lineages of Israel into Shechem; and he called the greater men in birth, and the princes, and judges, and masters; and they stood in the sight of the Lord. (And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel into Shechem; and he called the men of great age, that is, the elde...
Read More

Joshua 24 - World English Bible (WEB)

24 Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, for their heads, for their judges, and for their officers; and they presented themselves before God. 2 Joshua said to all the people, “Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, ‘Your fathers lived of old time beyond...
Read More

Joshua 24 - The Voice (VOICE)

The Book of Deuteronomy, which precedes Joshua, records Moses giving a similar farewell speech prior to his death. Moses reminded the people of Israel where they had come from and foretold many of the things that later came to pass when they entered into the promised land of Canaan. Joshua’s speech ...
Read More

Joshua 24 - Tree of Life Version (TLV)

Whom Will You Worship?24 Then Joshua assembled all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and summoned Israel’s elders, heads, judges and officials. So they presented themselves before God. 2 Then Joshua said to all the people: “Thus says Adonai, God of Israel: ‘From ancient times your fathers—Terah, the...
Read More

Joshua 24 - Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)

The Tribes Renew the Covenant24 [a]Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel; and they presented themselves before God. 2 And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Your fathe...
Read More

Joshua 24 - Revised Standard Version (RSV)

The Tribes Renew the Covenant24 Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel; and they presented themselves before God. 2 And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Your fathers ...
Read More

Joshua 24 - New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised (NRSVA)

The Tribes Renew the Covenant24 Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel; and they presented themselves before God. 2 And Joshua said to all the people, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Long ago your ...
Read More

Joshua 24 - New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

The Tribes Renew the Covenant24 Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel, and they presented themselves before God.(A)2 And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Long ago your ...
Read More

Joshua 24 - New Living Translation (NLT)

The Lord’s Covenant Renewed24 Then Joshua summoned all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, including their elders, leaders, judges, and officers. So they came and presented themselves to God. 2 Joshua said to the people, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Long ago your ancestors, includin...
Read More

Joshua 24 - New Life Version (NLV)

24 Then Joshua gathered all the families of Israel to Shechem. He called for the leaders of Israel, the heads of the families and those who judged between what is right or wrong. And they showed themselves before God. 2 Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says:...
Read More

Joshua 24 - New King James Version (NKJV)

The Covenant at Shechem(A)24 Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to (B)Shechem and (C)called for the elders of Israel, for their heads, for their judges, and for their officers; and they (D)presented themselves before God. 2 And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord God of Is...
Read More

Joshua 24 - New International Version - UK (NIVUK)

The covenant renewed at Shechem24 Then Joshua assembled all the tribes of Israel at Shechem. He summoned the elders, leaders, judges and officials of Israel, and they presented themselves before God. 2 Joshua said to all the people, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: “Long ago your anc...
Read More

Joshua 24 - New International Version (NIV)

The Covenant Renewed at Shechem24 Then Joshua assembled(A) all the tribes of Israel at Shechem.(B) He summoned(C) the elders,(D) leaders, judges and officials of Israel,(E) and they presented themselves before God. 2 Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Lo...
Read More

Joshua 24 - New International Reader's Version (NIRV)

The Covenant Is Renewed at Shechem24 Joshua gathered all Israel’s tribes together at Shechem. He sent for the elders, leaders, judges and officials of Israel. They came and stood there in the sight of God. 2 Joshua spoke to all the people. He said, “The Lord is the God of Israel. He says, ‘Long ago ...
Read More

Joshua 24 - New English Translation (NET)

Israel Renews its Commitment to the Lord24 Joshua assembled all the Israelite tribes at Shechem. He summoned Israel’s elders, rulers, judges, and leaders, and they appeared before God. 2 Joshua told all the people, “This is what the Lord God of Israel has said: ‘In the distant past your ancestors l...
Read More