Joshua Gathers Israel

1Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem and called for the elders of Israel and for their heads and their judges and their officers; and they presented themselves before God. 2And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘From ancient times your fathers lived beyond the [†]River, namely, Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods. 3Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the [†]River and led him through all the land of Canaan and multiplied his seed and gave him Isaac. 4To Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau, and to Esau I gave Mount Seir to possess it; but Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt. 5Then I sent Moses and Aaron, and I smote Egypt [†]by what I did in its midst; and afterward I brought you out. 6And I brought your fathers out of Egypt, and you came to the sea; and Egypt pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the [†]Red Sea. 7Then they cried out to Yahweh; He put darkness between you and the Egyptians and brought the sea upon them and covered them; and your own eyes saw what I did in Egypt. And you lived in the wilderness for many days. 8Then I brought you into the land of the Amorites who lived beyond the Jordan, and they fought with you; and I gave them into your hand, and you took possession of their land, and I destroyed them before you. 9Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel, and he sent and summoned Balaam the son of Beor to curse you. 10But I was not willing to listen to Balaam. So he blessed you repeatedly, and I delivered you from his hand. 11And you crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho; and the citizens of Jericho fought against you, and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Girgashite, the Hivite and the Jebusite. Thus I gave them into your hand. 12Then I sent the hornet before you, and it [†]drove out the two kings of the Amorites from before you, but not by your sword or your bow. 13And I gave you a land on which you had not labored and cities which you had not built, and you have lived in them; you are eating of vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.’

We Will Serve Yahweh Our God

14“So now, [†]fear Yahweh and serve Him in integrity and [†]truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the [†]River and in Egypt, and serve Yahweh. 15If it is evil in your sight to serve Yahweh, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve Yahweh.”

16And the people answered and said, “Far be it from us that we should forsake Yahweh to serve other gods; 17for Yahweh our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery, and who did these great signs in our sight and kept us through all the way in which we went and among all the peoples through whose midst we passed. 18And Yahweh drove out from before us all the peoples, even the Amorites who lived in the land. We also will serve Yahweh, for He is our God.”

19Then Joshua said to the people, “You will not be able to serve Yahweh, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgression or your sins. 20If you forsake Yahweh and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you after He has done good to you.” 21And the people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve Yahweh.” 22And Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen for yourselves Yahweh, to serve Him.” And they said, “We are witnesses.” 23“So now, put away the foreign gods which are in your midst, and incline your hearts to Yahweh, the God of Israel.” 24And the people said to Joshua, “We will serve Yahweh our God, and we will listen to His voice.” 25So Joshua cut a covenant with the people that day and made for them a statute and a judgment in Shechem. 26And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God; and he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of Yahweh. 27And Joshua said to all the people, “Behold, this stone shall be for a witness against us, for it has heard all the words of Yahweh which He spoke [†]to us; thus it shall be for a witness against you, lest you deny your God.” 28Then Joshua dismissed the people, each to his inheritance.

Joshua’s Death and Burial

29Now it happened that after these things, Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Yahweh, died, being 110 years old. 30And they buried him in the territory of his inheritance in Timnath-serah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, on the north of Mount Gaash.

31And Israel served Yahweh all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who [†]survived Joshua, who knew all the work of Yahweh which He had done for Israel.

32Now they buried the bones of Joseph, which the sons of Israel brought up from Egypt, at Shechem, in the portion of the field which Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for one hundred [†]qesitah; and they became the inheritance of Joseph’s sons. 33And Eleazar the son of Aaron died; and they buried him [†]at Gibeah of Phinehas his son, which was given him in the hill country of Ephraim.