Israel Renews its Commitment to the Lord
1Joshua assembled all the Israelite tribes at Shechem. He summoned Israel’s elders, rulers, judges, and leaders, and they appeared before God.
2Joshua told all the people, “Here is what the
3but I took your father Abraham from beyond the Euphrates and brought him into the entire land of Canaan. I made his descendants numerous; I gave him Isaac,
4and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. To Esau I assigned Mount Seir, while Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt.
5I sent Moses and Aaron, and I struck Egypt down when I intervened in their land. Then I brought you out.
6When I brought your fathers out of Egypt, you arrived at the sea. The Egyptians chased your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea.
7Your fathers cried out for help to the
8Then I brought you to the land of the Amorites who lived east of the Jordan. They fought with you, but I handed them over to you; you conquered their land and I destroyed them from before you.
9Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, launched an attack against Israel. He summoned Balaam son of Beor to call down judgment on you.
10I refused to respond to Balaam; he kept prophesying good things about you, and I rescued you from his power.
11You crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho. The leaders of Jericho, as well as the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites, and Jebusites, fought with you, but I handed them over to you.
12I sent terror ahead of you to drive out before you the two Amorite kings. I gave you the victory; it was not by your swords or bows.
13I gave you a land in which you had not worked hard; you took up residence in cities you did not build and you are eating the produce of vineyards and olive groves you did not plant.’
14Now obey the
15If you have no desire to worship the
16The people responded, “Far be it from us to abandon the
17For the
18The
19Joshua warned the people, “You will not keep worshiping the
20If you abandon the
21The people said to Joshua, “No! We really will worship the
22Joshua said to the people, “Do you agree to be witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen to worship the
23Joshua said, “Now put aside the foreign gods that are among you and submit to the
24The people said to Joshua, “We will worship the
25That day Joshua drew up an agreement for the people, and he established rules and regulations for them in Shechem.
26Joshua wrote these words in the Law Scroll of God. He then took a large stone and set it up there under the oak tree near the
27Joshua said to all the people, “Look, this stone will be a witness against you, for it has heard everything the
28When Joshua dismissed the people, they went to their allotted portions of land.
An Era Ends
29After all this Joshua son of Nun, the
30They buried him in his allotted territory in Timnath Serah in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.
31Israel worshiped the
32The bones of Joseph, which the Israelites had brought up from Egypt, were buried at Shechem in the part of the field that Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for one hundred pieces of money. So it became the inheritance of the tribe of Joseph.
33Eleazar son of Aaron died, and they buried him in Gibeah in the hill country of Ephraim, where his son Phinehas had been assigned land.