Joshua 24:19 But Joshua said to the people, "You are not able to serve the LORD, for He is a holy God; He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your rebellion or your sins.

◄ Joshua 24:19 ►

New International Version
Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the LORD. He is a holy God; he is a jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins.

New Living Translation
Then Joshua warned the people, “You are not able to serve the LORD, for he is a holy and jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins.

English Standard Version
But Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the LORD, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins.

Berean Standard Bible
But Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the LORD, for He is a holy God; He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your rebellion or your sins.

King James Bible
And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the LORD: for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.

New King James Version
But Joshua said to the people, “You cannot serve the LORD, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.

New American Standard Bible
Then Joshua said to the people, “You will not be able to serve the LORD, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your wrongdoing or your sins.

NASB 1995
Then Joshua said to the people, “You will not be able to serve the LORD, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgression or your sins.

NASB 1977
Then Joshua said to the people, “You will not be able to serve the LORD, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgression or your sins.

Legacy Standard Bible
Then 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.

Amplified Bible
Then Joshua said to the people, “You will not be able to serve the LORD [if you serve any other gods], for He is a holy God; He is a jealous God [demanding what is rightfully and uniquely His]. He will not forgive your transgression [of His law] or your sins.

Christian Standard Bible
But Joshua told the people, “You will not be able to worship the LORD, because he is a holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions and sins.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
But Joshua told the people, “You will not be able to worship Yahweh, because He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not remove your transgressions and sins.

American Standard Version
And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve Jehovah; for he is a holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgression nor your sins.

Contemporary English Version
Joshua said: The LORD is fearsome; he is the one true God, and I don't think you are able to worship and obey him in the ways he demands. You would have to be completely faithful, and if you sin or rebel, he won't let you get away with it.

English Revised Version
And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the LORD; for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgression nor your sins.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
But Joshua answered the people, "Since the LORD is a holy God, you can't possibly serve him. He is a God who does not tolerate rivals. He will not forgive your rebellious acts and sins.

Good News Translation
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,

International Standard Version
So Joshua told the people, "You will not be able to serve the LORD, because he is a God of Holiness. He is a jealous God, and he will forgive neither your transgressions nor your sins.

Majority Standard Bible
But Joshua said to the people, ?You are not able to serve the LORD, for He is a holy God; He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your rebellion or your sins.

NET Bible
Joshua warned the people, "You will not keep worshiping the LORD, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God who will not forgive your rebellion or your sins.

New Heart English Bible
Joshua said to the people, "You can't serve the LORD; for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God. He will not forgive your disobedience nor your sins.

Webster's Bible Translation
And Joshua said to the people, Ye cannot serve the LORD: for he is a holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions, nor your sins.

World English Bible
Joshua said to the people, “You can’t serve Yahweh, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God. He will not forgive your disobedience nor your sins.

Literal Translations

Literal Standard Version
And Joshua says to the people, “You are not able to serve YHWH, for He [is] a most holy God; He [is] a zealous God; He does not bear with your transgression and with your sins.

Young's Literal Translation
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.

Smith's Literal Translation
And Joshua will say to the people, Ye will not be able to serve Jehovah, for a holy God is he: a jealous God is he; he will not take away your transgressions and your sins.

Catholic Translations

Douay-Rheims Bible
And Josue said to the people: You will not be able to serve the Lord: for he is a holy God, and mighty and jealous, and will not forgive your wickedness and sins.

Catholic Public Domain Version
And Joshua said to the people: “You will not be able to serve the Lord. For he is a holy and powerful God, and he is jealous, and he will not ignore your wickedness and sins.

New American Bible
Joshua in turn said to the people, “You may not be able to serve the LORD, for he is a holy God; he is a passionate God who will not forgive your transgressions or your sins.

New Revised Standard Version
But Joshua said to the people, “You cannot serve the LORD, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins.

Translations from Aramaic

Lamsa Bible
And Joshua said to the people, Behold, but it may be you cannot serve the LORD faithfully; for he is a holy God and a zealous God; he may not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
And Yeshua said to the people: “See, but how, when you are unable to serve LORD JEHOVAH, because God is holy and God is zealous, but he does not forgive your debts and your sins?

OT Translations

JPS Tanakh 1917
And Joshua said unto the people: 'Ye cannot serve the LORD; for He is a holy God; He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgression nor your sins.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And Joshua said to the people, Indeed ye will not be able to serve the Lord, for God is holy; and he being jealous will not forgive your sins and your transgressions.

Additional Translations ...

Audio Bible

Context

Choose Whom You will Serve
…18And the LORD drove out before us all the nations, including the Amorites who lived in the land. We too will serve the LORD, because He is our God!” 19But Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the LORD, for He is a holy God; He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your rebellion or your sins. 20If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, He will turn and bring disaster on you and consume you, even after He has been good to you.”…

Berean Standard Bible · Download

Cross References

Deuteronomy 31:16-18
And the LORD said to Moses, “You will soon rest with your fathers, and these people will rise up and prostitute themselves with the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake Me and break the covenant I have made with them. / On that day My anger will burn against them, and I will abandon them and hide My face from them, so that they will be consumed, and many troubles and afflictions will befall them. On that day they will say, ‘Have not these disasters come upon us because our God is no longer with us?’ / And on that day I will surely hide My face because of all the evil they have done by turning to other gods.

Judges 2:11-15
And the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals. / Thus they forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and they followed after various gods of the peoples around them. They bowed down to them and provoked the LORD to anger, / for they forsook Him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths. ...

1 Samuel 12:10-12
Then they cried out to the LORD and said, ‘We have sinned, for we have forsaken the LORD and served the Baals and Ashtoreths. Now deliver us from the hands of our enemies, that we may serve You.’ / So the LORD sent Jerubbaal, Barak, Jephthah, and Samuel, and He delivered you from the hands of your enemies on every side, and you dwelt securely. / But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites was moving against you, you said to me, ‘No, we must have a king to rule over us’—even though the LORD your God was your king.

2 Kings 17:14-18
But they would not listen, and they stiffened their necks like their fathers, who did not believe the LORD their God. / They rejected His statutes and the covenant He had made with their fathers, as well as the decrees He had given them. They pursued worthless idols and became worthless themselves, going after the surrounding nations that the LORD had commanded them not to imitate. / They abandoned all the commandments of the LORD their God and made for themselves two cast idols of calves and an Asherah pole. They bowed down to all the host of heaven and served Baal. ...

Nehemiah 9:26-30
But they were disobedient and rebelled against You; they flung Your law behind their backs. They killed Your prophets, who had admonished them to return to You. They committed terrible blasphemies. / So You delivered them into the hands of enemies who oppressed them, and in their time of distress they cried out to You. From heaven You heard them, and in Your great compassion You gave them deliverers who saved them from the hands of their enemies. / But as soon as they had rest, they again did evil in Your sight. So You abandoned them to the hands of their enemies, who had dominion over them. When they cried out to You again, You heard from heaven, and You delivered them many times in Your compassion. ...

Psalm 78:56-59
But they tested and disobeyed God Most High, for they did not keep His decrees. / They turned back and were faithless like their fathers, twisted like a faulty bow. / They enraged Him with their high places and provoked His jealousy with their idols. ...

Isaiah 63:10
But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit. So He turned and became their enemy, and He Himself fought against them.

Jeremiah 2:19
Your own evil will discipline you; your own apostasies will reprimand you. Consider and realize how evil and bitter it is for you to forsake the LORD your God and to have no fear of Me,” declares the Lord GOD of Hosts.

Ezekiel 20:39
And as for you, O house of Israel, this is what the Lord GOD says: Go and serve your idols, every one of you. But afterward, you will surely listen to Me, and you will no longer defile My holy name with your gifts and idols.

Hosea 4:1-2
Hear the word of the LORD, O children of Israel, for the LORD has a case against the people of the land: “There is no truth, no loving devotion, and no knowledge of God in the land! / Cursing and lying, murder and stealing, and adultery are rampant; one act of bloodshed follows another.

Amos 3:2
“Only you have I known from all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.”

Matthew 6:24
No one can serve two masters: Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

Matthew 12:30
He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.

Luke 16:13
No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

John 8:34
Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.

Treasury of Scripture

And Joshua said to the people, You cannot serve the LORD: for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.

Ye cannot

Joshua 24:23
Now therefore put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the LORD God of Israel.

Ruth 1:15
And she said, Behold, thy sister in law is gone back unto her people, and unto her gods: return thou after thy sister in law.

Matthew 6:24
No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

holy

Leviticus 10:3
Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that the LORD spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace.

Leviticus 19:2
Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy.

1 Samuel 6:20
And the men of Bethshemesh said, Who is able to stand before this holy LORD God? and to whom shall he go up from us?

a jealous

Exodus 20:5
Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

Exodus 34:14
For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:

1 Corinthians 10:20-22
But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils…

he will not

Exodus 23:21
Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him.

Exodus 34:7
Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.

1 Samuel 3:14
And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for ever.

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Joshua 24

1. Joshua assembles the tribes at Shechem
2. A brief history of God's benefits from Terah
14. He renews the covenant between them and God
26. A stone the witness of the covenant
29. Joshua's age, death, and burial
32. Joseph's bones are buried
33. Eleazar dies

Berean Study Bible

But Joshua said to the people
This phrase sets the stage for a pivotal moment in Israel's history. Joshua, the leader who succeeded Moses, is addressing the Israelites. The Hebrew root for "said" (אָמַר, 'amar) implies a declaration or proclamation, indicating the seriousness of Joshua's message. Historically, this is a moment of covenant renewal at Shechem, a place of significant patriarchal history, where Abraham first built an altar to the LORD (Genesis 12:6-7).

You are not able to serve the LORD
The phrase "not able" (לֹא תוּכְלוּ, lo tuklu) is a stark warning. Joshua is emphasizing the inherent inability of the Israelites to serve God in their own strength. This reflects a broader biblical theme that human effort alone is insufficient to meet God's standards. The term "serve" (עָבַד, 'avad) is often used in the context of worship and obedience, underscoring the depth of commitment required.

for He is a holy God
The word "holy" (קָדוֹשׁ, qadosh) signifies God's absolute purity and separateness from sin. In the ancient Near Eastern context, holiness was a defining attribute of deity, setting the God of Israel apart from pagan gods. This holiness demands reverence and obedience, highlighting the seriousness of Israel's covenant relationship with God.

He is a jealous God
The term "jealous" (קַנָּא, qanna) is often misunderstood in modern contexts. In Hebrew, it conveys God's zealous protection of His covenant relationship with Israel. This divine jealousy is not petty but reflects God's passionate commitment to His people and His intolerance of idolatry, which was rampant in the surrounding cultures.

He will not forgive your transgressions or your sins
The phrase "will not forgive" (לֹא יִשָּׂא, lo yissa) is a sobering reminder of the consequences of sin. "Transgressions" (פֶּשַׁע, pesha) and "sins" (חַטָּאָה, chatta'ah) encompass deliberate rebellion and moral failure. This statement underscores the gravity of sin and the need for genuine repentance. In the broader biblical narrative, it points to the necessity of atonement, ultimately fulfilled in Christ, who provides the means for forgiveness and reconciliation with God.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(19) And Joshua said . . . Ye cannot serve the Lord: for he is . . . jealous . . .--Jehovah will not consent to be served as one God among many: the very thing which Israel was doing at the moment, which they meant to do, and did do, with rare intervals, down to the Babylonish captivity, when the evil spirit of (literal) idolatry was expelled for evermore. Israel always maintained the worship of Jehovah (except in very evil times) as the national Deity, but did not abstain from the recognition and partial worship of other national deities of whom they were afraid, and whom they thought it necessary to propitiate. Therefore Joshua's argument is perfectly intelligible, and was entirely necessary for those times.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 19. - And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the Lord. Calvin thinks that Joshua said this to rouse the sluggish heart of the people to some sense of their duty. But this is quite contrary to the fact, for the heart of the people, as we have seen (ch. 22.), was not sluggish. As little can we accept the explanation of Michaelis, who paraphrases, "Ye will not be able, from merely human resolutions, to serve God." Joshua was stating nothing but a plain fact, which his own higher conception of the law had taught him, that the law was too "holy, just, and good" for it to be possible that Israel should keep it. He had forebodings of coming failure, when he looked on one side at the law with its stern morality and rigorous provisions, and the undisciplined, untamed people that he saw around him. True and faithful to the last, he set before them the law in all its majesty and fulness, the nature of its requirements, and the unsuspected dangers that lay in their weak and wayward hearts. No doubt he had a dim presentiment of the truth, to teach which, to St. Paul, required a miracle and three years' wrestling in Arabia, that by the deeds of the law "shall no flesh be justified in God's sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin" (Romans 3:20). As yet the Spirit of God had barely begun to unveil the figure of the Deliverer who was to declare at once God's righteousness and His forgiveness. Yet none the less did Joshua do his duty, and strove to brace up the Israelites to theirs, not by disguising the nature of the undertaking to which they were pledging themselves, but by causing them to be penetrated with a sense of its awfulness and of the solemn responsibilities which it entailed. St. Augustine thinks that Joshua detected in the Israelites already the signs of that self righteousness which St. Paul (Romans 10:3) blames, and that he wished to make them conscious of it. But this is hardly borne out by the narrative. He is a holy God. The pluralis excellentiae is used here in the case of the adjective as well as the substantive. This is to enhance the idea of the holiness which is an essential attribute of God. He is a Jealous God. The meaning is that God will not permit others to share the affections or rights which are His due alone. The word, which, as its root, "to be red," shows, was first applied to human affections, is yet transferred to God, since we can but approximate to His attributes by ideas derived from human relations. Not that God stoops to the meanness and unreasonableness of human jealousy. His vindication of His rights is no other than reasonable in Him. "His glory" He not only "will not," but cannot "give to another." And therefore, as a jealous man does, yet without his infirmity, God refuses to allow another to share in what is due to Himself alone. The word, as well as the existence of the Mosaic covenant, has no doubt led the prophets to use, as they do on innumerable occasions, the figure of a husband and wife (Jeremiah 2:2; Ezekiel 23:25; Hosea 2:2, 13, 16 (margin), Hosea 2:19, 20) in describing the relations of God to His Church, and approximate to His attitude towards His people by the illustration of an injured husband towards a faithless wife (see also Exodus 34:14; Deuteronomy 6:15). He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins (see Exodus 23:21). There were many words used for "forgive" in Scripture: נשׁא כפר and סלה (see Pearson's learned note in his 'Treatise on the Creed,' Art. 10). The one here used signifies to remove or to bear the burden of guilt, corresponding to the word αἴρω in the New Testament. The word here translated" transgressions" is not the same as in Joshua 7:15, and the cognate word to the one rendered "transgressed" in Joshua 7:11, is here rendered "sins." It signifies a "breach of covenant," while the word translated" sins" is the equivalent of the Greek ἀματία.

Parallel Commentaries ...

Hebrew

But Joshua
יְהוֹשֻׁ֜עַ (yə·hō·wō·šu·a‘)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3091: Joshua -- 'the LORD is salvation', Moses' successor, also the name of a number of Israelites

said
וַיֹּ֨אמֶר (way·yō·mer)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

to
אֶל־ (’el-)
Preposition
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

the people,
הָעָ֗ם (hā·‘ām)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 5971: A people, a tribe, troops, attendants, a flock

“You are not
לֹ֤א (lō)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

able
תֽוּכְלוּ֙ (ṯū·ḵə·lū)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine plural
Strong's 3201: To be able, have power

to serve
לַעֲבֹ֣ד (la·‘ă·ḇōḏ)
Preposition-l | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct
Strong's 5647: To work, to serve, till, enslave

the LORD,
יְהוָ֔ה (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

for
כִּֽי־ (kî-)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

He
ה֑וּא (hū)
Pronoun - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1931: He, self, the same, this, that, as, are

is a holy
קְדֹשִׁ֖ים (qə·ḏō·šîm)
Adjective - masculine plural
Strong's 6918: Sacred, God, an angel, a saint, a sanctuary

God;
אֱלֹהִ֥ים (’ĕ·lō·hîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 430: gods -- the supreme God, magistrates, a superlative

He
ה֔וּא (hū)
Pronoun - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1931: He, self, the same, this, that, as, are

is a jealous
קַנּ֣וֹא (qan·nō·w)
Adjective - masculine singular
Strong's 7072: Jealous, angry

God;
אֵֽל־ (’êl-)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 410: Strength -- as adjective, mighty, the Almighty

He will not
לֹֽא־ (lō-)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

forgive
יִשָּׂ֥א (yiś·śā)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 5375: To lift, carry, take

your rebellion
לְפִשְׁעֲכֶ֖ם (lə·p̄iš·‘ă·ḵem)
Preposition-l | Noun - masculine singular construct | second person masculine plural
Strong's 6588: Transgression

or your sins.
וּלְחַטֹּאותֵיכֶֽם׃ (ū·lə·ḥaṭ·ṭō·w·ṯê·ḵem)
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-l | Noun - feminine plural construct | second person masculine plural
Strong's 2403: An offence, its penalty, occasion, sacrifice, expiation, an offender

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OT History: Joshua 24:19 Joshua said to the people You can't (Josh. Jos)