Joshua 24

1 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.

Joshua summoned all the tribes of Israel to Shechem. Then he called the elders, leaders, judges, and officials and they came and stood before the Tabernacle of God.

2 And Joshua saith unto all the people, 'Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, Beyond the River have your fathers dwelt of old — Terah father of Abraham and father of Nachor — and they serve other gods;

Joshua said to all the people, “The Lord, the God of Israel, says this: ‘Long, long ago your forefathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates River, and they worshiped other gods.

3 and I take your father Abraham from beyond the River, and cause him to go through all the land of Canaan, and multiply his seed, and give to him Isaac.

I brought your father Abraham from beyond the Euphrates and led him through all the land of Canaan and gave him many descendants. I gave him Isaac.

4 And I give to Isaac, Jacob and Esau; and I give to Esau mount Seir, to possess it; and Jacob and his sons have gone down to Egypt.

I gave to Isaac Jacob and Esau. I gave to Esau the hill country of Seir to own, but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt.

5 And I send Moses and Aaron, and plague Egypt, as I have done in its midst, and afterwards I have brought you out.

I sent Moses and Aaron, and I brought plagues on the people of Egypt, and I brought you out.

6 And I bring out your fathers from Egypt, and ye go into the sea, and the Egyptians pursue after your fathers, with chariot and with horsemen, to the Red Sea;

Yes, I brought your forefathers out, but when you arrived at the Red Sea the Egyptians were chasing after your forefathers with chariots and horsemen.

7 and they cry unto Jehovah, and He setteth thick darkness between you and the Egyptians, and bringeth on them the sea, and covereth them, and your eyes see that which I have done in Egypt; and ye dwell in a wilderness many days.

Your forefathers called out to the Lord for help, and he placed darkness between you and the Egyptians. Then he brought the sea back over them and they drowned. You saw what I did with your own eyes in Egypt. Then you lived for many years in the wilderness.

8 'And I bring you in unto the land of the Amorite who is dwelling beyond the Jordan, and they fight with you, and I give them into your hand, and ye possess their land, and I destroy them out of your presence.

After that I brought you to the land of the Amorites who lived on the other side of the Jordan. They fought against you but I handed them over to you to defeat and you took over their land. I destroyed them before you.

9 'And Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, riseth and fighteth against Israel, and sendeth and calleth for Balaam son of Beor, to revile you,

When Balak, son of Zippor, the king of Moab, wanted to fight against Israel, he sent for Balaam, son of Beor, to come and curse you.

10 and I have not been willing to hearken to Balaam, and he doth greatly bless you, and I deliver you out of his hand.

But I wasn't willing to listen to Balaam, so instead he blessed you repeatedly, and saved you from Balak.

11 'And ye pass over the Jordan, and come in unto Jericho, and fight against you do the possessors of Jericho — the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Girgashite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite — and I give them into your hand.

You crossed the Jordan and arrived at Jericho where the men of Jericho fought against you. So did the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

12 And I send before you the hornet, and it casteth them out from your presence — two kings of the Amorite — not by thy sword, nor by thy bow.

But I handed them over to you to defeat. And I sent the hornet before you to drive out the two kings of the Amorites. You did not win using your swords or your bows!

13 'And I give to you a land for which thou hast not laboured, and cities which ye have not built, and ye dwell in them; of vineyards and olive-yards which ye have not planted ye are eating.

I gave you a land you didn't work for and towns you didn't build. Now you live in them and eat from vineyards and olive groves you didn't plant.’

14 'And now, fear ye Jehovah, and serve Him, in perfection and in truth, and turn aside the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, and in Egypt, and serve ye Jehovah;

So respect the Lord and worship him, sincerely and faithfully. Get rid of the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the Euphrates and in Egypt, and worship the Lord.

15 and if wrong in your eyes to serve Jehovah — choose for you to-day whom ye do serve; — whether the gods whom your fathers served, which [are] beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorite in whose land ye are dwelling; and I and my house — we serve Jehovah.'

But if you don't want to worship the Lord, choose today who you want to worship! Is it going to be the gods your forefathers worshipped beyond the Euphrates? Or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you're now living? But as for me and my family, we will worship the Lord!”

16 And the people answer and say, 'Far be it from us to forsake Jehovah, to serve other gods;

The people responded, “We are never going to give up on the Lord and worship other gods!

17 for Jehovah our God [is] He who is bringing us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, out of a house of servants, and who hath done before our eyes these great signs, and doth keep us in all the way in which we have gone, and among all the peoples through whose midst we passed;

For the Lord our God brought us and our forefathers out of slavery in Egypt. He was the one who did great miracles before our very eyes. He looked after us on the way as we traveled through the lands of many nations.

18 and Jehovah casteth out the whole of the peoples, even the Amorite inhabiting the land, from our presence; we also do serve Jehovah, for He [is] our God.'

The Lord drove out before us the Amorites and all the other nations who were living in the land. So we will worship the Lord, for he is our God!”

19 And Joshua saith unto the people, 'Ye are not able to serve Jehovah, for a God most holy He [is]; a zealous God He [is]; He doth not bear with your transgression and with your sins.

Joshua told the people, “Remember that the Lord is a holy and jealous God. You won't be able to worship him, and he won't forgive your rebellion and sins

20 When ye forsake Jehovah, and have served gods of a stranger, then He hath turned back and done evil to you, and consumed you, after that He hath done good to you.'

if you give up on him and worship foreign gods. He will turn against you and destroy you despite all the good he has done for you.”

21 And the people saith unto Joshua, 'No, but Jehovah we do serve.'

“Don't say that!” the people replied. “We will worship the Lord!”

22 And Joshua saith unto the people, 'Witnesses ye are against yourselves, that ye have chosen for you Jehovah to serve Him (and they say, 'Witnesses!')

Then Joshua cautioned the people, “You have made yourselves witnesses against yourselves by saying that you have chosen to worship the Lord.” “Yes, we are witnesses,” the people replied.

23 and, now, turn aside the gods of the stranger which [are] in your midst, and incline your heart unto Jehovah, God of Israel.'

“Then get rid of those foreign gods you have and promise to be loyal only to the Lord, the God of Israel,” Joshua told them.

24 And the people say unto Joshua, 'Jehovah our God we serve, and to His voice we hearken.'

The people said to Joshua, “We will worship the Lord our God and we will obey him.”

25 And Joshua maketh a covenant with the people on that day, and layeth on it a statute and an ordinance, in Shechem.

So Joshua made a solemn agreement between the people and the Lord that day in Shechem, obligating them to follow all the Lord's laws and instructions.

26 And Joshua writeth these words in the Book of the Law of God, and taketh a great stone, and raiseth it up there under the oak which [is] in the sanctuary of Jehovah.

Joshua recorded this in the Book of the Law of God, and he set up a large stone under the oak tree near the Lord's sanctuary.

27 And Joshua saith unto all the people, 'Lo, this stone is against us for a witness, for it hath heard all the sayings of Jehovah which He hath spoken with us, and it hath been against you for a witness, lest ye lie against your God.'

Joshua said to the people, “Look at this stone. It stands here as a witness against us for it has heard everything the Lord has told us, and it will be a witness against you if you ever deny what you have promised your God.”

28 And Joshua sendeth the people away, each to his inheritance.

Then Joshua dismissed the people, sending them to their allotted lands.

29 And it cometh to pass, after these things, that Joshua son of Nun, servant of Jehovah, dieth, a son of a hundred and ten years,

Later, after all this, Joshua, son of Nun, servant of the Lord, died at the age of one hundred and ten.

30 and they bury him in the border of his inheritance, in Timnath-Serah, which [is] in the hill-country of Ephraim, on the north of the hill of Gaash.

They buried him in Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash, the land he had been allocated.

31 And Israel serveth Jehovah all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who prolonged days after Joshua, and who knew all the work of Jehovah which He did to Israel.

The Israelites continued to worship the Lord throughout Joshua's life, and throughout the lifetimes of the elders who outlived him, those who had seen all that the Lord had done for Israel.

32 And the bones of Joseph, which the sons of Israel brought up out of Egypt, they buried in Shechem, in the portion of the field which Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor father of Shechem, with a hundred kesitah; and they are to the sons of Joseph for an inheritance.

The bones of Joseph, which the Israelites had brought with them from Egypt, they buried in Shechem in the piece of ground Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for one hundred pieces of silver. This land was inherited by Joseph's sons.

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

And Eleazar, son of Aaron, died and they buried him at Gibeah, in the hill country of Ephraim, land which had been given to his son Phinehas.