Joshua 24

1 And Joshua gathered together all the tribes of Israel, unto 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.

Then Joshua got all the tribes of Israel together at Shechem; and he sent for the responsible men of Israel and their chiefs and their judges and their overseers; and they took their place before God.

2 Then said Joshua unto all the people—Thus, saith Yahweh, God of Israel, Beyond the River, dwelt your fathers from age-past times, [unto] Terah, father of Abraham, and father of Nahor, —and they served other gods.

And Joshua said to all the people, These are the words of the Lord, the God of Israel: In the past your fathers, Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor, were living on the other side of the River: and they were worshipping other gods.

3 So I took your father, Abraham, from beyond the River, and led him through all the land of Canaan, —and multiplied his seed, and gave unto him, Isaac;

And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the River, guiding him through all the land of Canaan; I made his offspring great in number, and gave him Isaac.

4 and gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau, —and gave unto Esau, Mount Seir, to possess it, but, Jacob and his sons, went down into Egypt.

And to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau: to Esau I gave Mount Seir, as his heritage; but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt.

5 Then sent I Moses and Aaron, and plagued Egypt, according to that which I did in their midst, and, afterwards, brought you forth.

And I sent Moses and Aaron, troubling Egypt by all the signs I did among them: and after that I took you out.

6 Yea I brought forth 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.

I took your fathers out of Egypt: and you came to the Red Sea; and the Egyptians came after your fathers to the Red Sea, with their war-carriages and their horsemen.

7 So they made outcry unto Yahweh, and he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought in upon them the sea, and covered them, —and your eyes beheld what I did with the Egyptians. And, when ye had remained in the desert many days,

And at their cry, the Lord made it dark between you and the Egyptians, and made the sea go over them, covering them with its waters; your eyes have seen what I did in Egypt: then for a long time you were living in the waste land.

8 then I brought you into the land of the Amorites, who were dwelling over the Jordan, and they fought with you, —then delivered I them into your hand, and ye took possession of their land, so I destroyed them from before you.

And I took you into the lands of the Amorites on the other side of Jordan; and they made war on you, and I gave them into your hands and you took their land; and I sent destruction on them before you.

9 Then rose up Balak, son of Zippor, king of Moab, and made war with Israel, —and sent and called for Balaam son of Beor, to curse you;

Then Balak, the son of Zippor, king of Moab, went up to war against Israel; and he sent for Balaam, the son of Beor, to put a curse on you:

10 but I was not willing to hearken unto Balaam, —so, he kept on blessing, you, and I rescued you out of his hand.

But I did not give ear to Balaam; and so he went on blessing you; and I kept you safe from him.

11 Then passed ye over the Jordan, and came in unto Jericho, and, when they would have made war with you—even the lords of Jericho—the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Girgashite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, then delivered I them into your hand.

Then you went over Jordan and came to Jericho: and the men of Jericho made war on you, the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Hivites and the Jebusites: and I gave them up into your hands.

12 And I sent before you the hornet, which drave them out from before you, the two kings of the Amorites, —not with thy sword, nor with thy bow.

And I sent the hornet before you, driving out the two kings of the Amorites before you, not with your sword and your bow.

13 Thus I gave unto you a land on which thou hadst not laboured, and cities which ye had not built, and ye proceeded to dwell therein, —of vineyards and oliveyards, which ye planted not, ye are eating.

And I gave you a land on which you had done no work, and towns not of your building, and you are now living in them; and your food comes from vine-gardens and olive-gardens not of your planting.

14 Now, therefore, revere ye Yahweh, 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 Yahweh.

So now, go in fear of the Lord, and be his servants with true hearts: put away the gods worshipped by your fathers across the River and in Egypt, and be servants of the Lord.

15 But, if it be, a vexation, in your eyes, to serve Yahweh, choose ye for yourselves, to-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 are dwelling, —but, I and my house, will serve Yahweh.

And if it seems evil to you to be the servants of the Lord, make the decision this day whose servants you will be: of the gods whose servants your fathers were across the River, or of the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living: but I and my house will be the servants of the Lord.

16 Then responded the people, and said, Far be it from us, that we should forsake Yahweh, —to serve other gods;

Then the people in answer said, Never will we give up the Lord to be the servants of other gods;

17 for, as for Yahweh our God, he, brought up both us and our fathers, out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of servants, —and who did before our eyes, these great signs, and preserved us throughout all the way wherein we journeyed, and among all the peoples through the midst of whom we passed;

For it is the Lord our God who has taken us and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, out of the prison-house, and who did all those great signs before our eyes, and kept us safe on all our journeys, and among all the peoples through whom we went:

18 then did Yahweh drive out all the peoples, even the Amorites were dwelling in the land, from before us, —we too, will serve Yahweh, for, he, is our God.

And the Lord sent out from before us all the peoples, the Amorites living in the land: so we will be the servants of the Lord, for he is our God.

19 Then said Joshua unto the people—Ye cannot serve Yahweh, for, a holy God, he is, a jealous GOD, he is, he will not forgive your transgression, nor your sins.

And Joshua said to the people, You are not able to be the servants of the Lord, for he is a holy God, a God who will not let his honour be given to another: he will have no mercy on your wrongdoing or your sins.

20 When ye forsake Yahweh, and serve the gods of a stranger, then will he turn, and inflict on you calamity, and consume you, after that he hath dealt well with you.

If you are turned away from the Lord and become the servants of strange gods, then turning against you he will do you evil, cutting you off, after he has done you good.

21 But the people said unto Joshua, —Nay! but, Yahweh, will we serve.

And the people said to Joshua, No! But we will be the servants of the Lord.

22 Then said Joshua unto the people—Witnesses, are ye, against yourselves, that, ye yourselves, have chosen you Yahweh, to serve him. And they said: Witnesses!

And Joshua said to the people, You are witnesses against yourselves that you have made the decision to be the servants of the Lord. And they said, We are witnesses.

23 Now, therefore, put ye away the gods of the stranger, that are in your midst, —and incline your heart unto Yahweh, God of Israel.

Then, he said, put away the strange gods among you, turning your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.

24 And the people said unto Joshua, —Yahweh our God, will we serve, and, unto his voice, will we hearken.

And the people said to Joshua, We will be the servants of the Lord our God, and we will give ear to his voice.

25 So then Joshua solemnised a covenant for the people, on that day, —and set for them a statute and a regulation, in Shechem.

So Joshua made an agreement with the people that day, and gave them a rule and a law in Shechem.

26 And Joshua wrote these words in the scroll of the law of God, —and took a great stone, and set it up there, under the oak that was by the sanctuary of Yahweh.

And Joshua put these words on record, writing them in the book of the law of God; and he took a great stone, and put it up there under the oak-tree which was in the holy place of the Lord.

27 And Joshua said unto all the people—Lo! this stone, shall serve against us as a witness, for, it, hath heard all the sayings of Yahweh, which he hath spoken with us, —so shall it serve against you as a witness, lest ye should act deceptively against your God.

And Joshua said to all the people, See now, this stone is to be a witness against us; for all the words of the Lord have been said to us in its hearing: so it will be a witness against you if you are false to the Lord your God.

28 And Joshua sent the people away, every man unto his inheritance.

Then Joshua let the people go away, every man to his heritage.

29 And it came to pass, after these things, that Joshua son of Nun, servant of Yahweh, died, being a hundred and ten years old.

Now after these things, the death of Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, took place, he being then a hundred and ten years old.

30 And they buried him within the bounds of his own inheritance, in Timnath-serah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, on the north of Mount Gaash.

And they put his body in the earth in the land of his heritage in Timnath-serah, in the hill-country of Ephraim, to the north of Mount Gaash.

31 So then Israel served Yahweh all the days of Joshua, —and all the days of the elders who prolonged their days after Joshua, and who had known all the work of Yahweh, which he had wrought for Israel.

And Israel was true to the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the older men who were still living after Joshua's death, and had seen what the Lord had done for Israel.

32 And, the bones of Joseph—which the sons of Israel had brought up out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem, in the portion of field, which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor, father of Shechem, for a hundred pieces of money, —and they belonged unto the sons of Joseph, as an inheritance.

And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel had taken up from Egypt, they put in the earth in Shechem, in the property which Jacob had got from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for a hundred shekels: and they became the heritage of the children of Joseph.

33 And, Eleazar son of Aaron, died, —and they buried him in the hill of Phinehas his son, which was given to him, in the hill country of Ephraim.

Then the death of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, took place; and his body was put in the earth in the hill of Phinehas his son, which had been given to him in the hill-country of Ephraim.