| [an error occurred while processing this directive] | New Living Translation |
| 1[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 1Then Joshua summoned all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, including their elders, leaders, judges, and officers. So they came and presented themselves to God. |
| 2[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 2Joshua said to the people, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Long ago your ancestors, including Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates River, and they worshiped other gods. |
| 3[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 3But I took your ancestor Abraham from the land beyond the Euphrates and led him into the land of Canaan. I gave him many descendants through his son Isaac. |
| 4[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 4To Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. To Esau I gave the mountains of Seir, while Jacob and his children went down into Egypt. |
| 5[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 5“Then I sent Moses and Aaron, and I brought terrible plagues on Egypt; and afterward I brought you out as a free people. |
| 6[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 6But when your ancestors arrived at the Red Sea, the Egyptians chased after you with chariots and charioteers. |
| 7[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 7When your ancestors cried out to the LORD, I put darkness between you and the Egyptians. I brought the sea crashing down on the Egyptians, drowning them. With your very own eyes you saw what I did. Then you lived in the wilderness for many years. |
| 8[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 8“Finally, I brought you into the land of the Amorites on the east side of the Jordan. They fought against you, but I destroyed them before you. I gave you victory over them, and you took possession of their land. |
| 9[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 9Then Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, started a war against Israel. He summoned Balaam son of Beor to curse you, |
| 10[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 10but I would not listen to him. Instead, I made Balaam bless you, and so I rescued you from Balak. |
| 11[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 11“When you crossed the Jordan River and came to Jericho, the men of Jericho fought against you, as did the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. But I gave you victory over them. |
| 12[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 12And I sent terror ahead of you to drive out the two kings of the Amorites. It was not your swords or bows that brought you victory. |
| 13[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 13I gave you land you had not worked on, and I gave you towns you did not build—the towns where you are now living. I gave you vineyards and olive groves for food, though you did not plant them. |
| 14[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 14“So fear the LORD and serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the LORD alone. |
| 15[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 15But if you refuse to serve the LORD, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the LORD.” |
| 16[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 16The people replied, “We would never abandon the LORD and serve other gods. |
| 17[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 17For the LORD our God is the one who rescued us and our ancestors from slavery in the land of Egypt. He performed mighty miracles before our very eyes. As we traveled through the wilderness among our enemies, he preserved us. |
| 18[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 18It was the LORD who drove out the Amorites and the other nations living here in the land. So we, too, will serve the LORD, for he alone is our God.” |
| 19[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 19Then 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. |
| 20[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 20If you abandon the LORD and serve other gods, he will turn against you and destroy you, even though he has been so good to you.” |
| 21[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 21But the people answered Joshua, “No, we will serve the LORD!” |
| 22[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 22“You are a witness to your own decision,” Joshua said. “You have chosen to serve the LORD.” “Yes,” they replied, “we are witnesses to what we have said.” |
| 23[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 23“All right then,” Joshua said, “destroy the idols among you, and turn your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel.” |
| 24[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 24The people said to Joshua, “We will serve the LORD our God. We will obey him alone.” |
| 25[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 25So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day at Shechem, committing them to follow the decrees and regulations of the LORD. |
| 26[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 26Joshua recorded these things in the Book of God’s Instructions. As a reminder of their agreement, he took a huge stone and rolled it beneath the terebinth tree beside the Tabernacle of the LORD. |
| 27[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 27Joshua said to all the people, “This stone has heard everything the LORD said to us. It will be a witness to testify against you if you go back on your word to God.” |
| 28[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 28Then Joshua sent all the people away to their own homelands. Leaders Buried in the Promised Land |
| 29[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 29After this, Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of 110. |
| 30[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 30They buried him in the land he had been allocated, at Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. |
| 31[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 31The people of Israel served the LORD throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him—those who had personally experienced all that the LORD had done for Israel. |
| 32[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 32The bones of Joseph, which the Israelites had brought along with them when they left Egypt, were buried at Shechem, in the plot of land Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor for 100 pieces of silver. This land was located in the territory allotted to the descendants of Joseph. |
| 33[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 33Eleazar son of Aaron also died. He was buried in the hill country of Ephraim, in the town of Gibeah, which had been given to his son Phinehas. |
| [an error occurred while processing this directive] | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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