[1] Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and summoned
the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel; and they
presented themselves before God. [2] And Joshua said to all the people,
"Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, `Your fathers lived of old beyond
the Euphra'tes, Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and they served
other gods. [3] Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River and
led him through all the land of Canaan, and made his offspring many. I gave
him Isaac; [4] and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. And I gave Esau the hill
country of Se'ir to possess, but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt.
[5] And I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt with what I did in the
midst of it; and afterwards I brought you out. [6] Then I brought your
fathers out of Egypt, and you came to the sea; and the Egyptians pursued
your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea. [7] And when they
cried to the LORD, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and made
the sea come upon them and cover them; and your eyes saw what I did to
Egypt; and you lived in the wilderness a long time. [8] Then I brought you
to the land of the Amorites, who lived on the other side of the Jordan;
they fought with you, and I gave them into your hand, and you took
possession of their land, and I destroyed them before you. [9] Then Balak
the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel; and he
sent and invited Balaam the son of Be'or to curse you, [10] but I would not
listen to Balaam; therefore he blessed you; so I delivered you out of his
hand. [11] And you went over the Jordan and came to Jericho, and the men of
Jericho fought against you, and also the Amorites, the Per'izzites, the
Canaanites, the Hittites, the Gir'gashites, the Hivites, and the
Jeb'usites; and I gave them into your hand. [12] And I sent the hornet
before you, which drove them out before you, the two kings of the Amorites;
it was not by your sword or by your bow. [13] I gave you a land on which
you had not labored, and cities which you had not built, and you dwell
therein; you eat the fruit of vineyards and oliveyards which you did not
plant.' [14] "Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and
in faithfulness; put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the
River, and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. [15] And if you be unwilling to
serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your
fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites
in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the
LORD." [16] Then the people answered, "Far be it from us that we should
forsake the LORD, to serve other gods; [17] for it is the LORD our God who
brought us and our fathers up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of
bondage, and who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in
all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed;
[18] and the LORD drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who
lived in the land; therefore we also will serve the LORD, for he is our
God." [19] 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. [20] If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign
gods, then he will turn and do you harm, and consume you, after having done
you good." [21] And the people said to Joshua, "Nay; but we will serve the
LORD." [22] Then Joshua said to the people, "You are witnesses against
yourselves that you have chosen the LORD, to serve him." And they said, "We
are witnesses." [23] He said, "Then put away the foreign gods which are
among you, and incline your heart to the LORD, the God of Israel." [24] And
the people said to Joshua, "The LORD our God we will serve, and his voice
we will obey." [25] So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and
made statutes and ordinances for them at Shechem. [26] And Joshua wrote
these words in the book of the law of God; and he took a great stone, and
set it up there under the oak in the sanctuary of the LORD. [27] And Joshua
said to all the people, "Behold, this stone shall be a witness against us;
for it has heard all the words of the LORD which he spoke to us; therefore
it shall be a witness against you, lest you deal falsely with your God."
[28] So Joshua sent the people away, every man to his inheritance. [29]
After these things Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died,
being a hundred and ten years old. [30] And they buried him in his own
inheritance at Tim'nath-se'rah, which is in the hill country of E'phraim,
north of the mountain of Ga'ash. [31] And Israel served the LORD all the
days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua and had
known all the work which the LORD did for Israel. [32] The bones of Joseph
which the people of Israel brought up from Egypt were buried at Shechem, in
the portion of ground which Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor the father
of Shechem for a hundred pieces of money; it became an inheritance of the
descendants of Joseph. [33] And Elea'zar the son of Aaron died; and they
buried him at Gib'e-ah, the town of Phin'ehas his son, which had been given
him in the hill country of E'phraim.

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