Josua 24 | New International Reader’s Version

The covenant is renewed at Shechem

1 Joshua gathered all Israel’s tribes together at Shechem. He sent for the elders, leaders, judges and officials of Israel. They came and stood there in the sight of God. 2 Joshua spoke to all the people. He said, ‘The LORD is the God of Israel. He says, “Long ago your people lived east of the River Euphrates. They worshipped other gods there. Your people included Terah. He was the father of Abraham and Nahor. 3 I took your father Abraham from the land east of the Euphrates. I led him all through Canaan. I gave him many children and grandchildren. I gave him Isaac. 4 To Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I gave the hill country of Seir to Esau. But Jacob and his family went down to Egypt. 5 ‘ “Then I sent Moses and Aaron. I made the people of Egypt suffer because of the plagues I sent on them. But I brought you out of Egypt. 6 When I brought your people out, they came to the Red Sea. The people of Egypt chased them with chariots and with men on horses. They chased them all the way to the sea. 7 But your people cried out to me for help. So I put darkness between you and the people of Egypt. I swept them into the sea. It completely covered them. Your own eyes saw what I did to them. After that, you lived in the desert for a long time. 8 ‘ “I brought you to the land of the Amorites. They lived east of the River Jordan. They fought against you. But I handed them over to you. I destroyed them to make room for you. Then you took over their land. 9 Balak, the son of Zippor, prepared to fight against Israel. Balak was the king of Moab. He sent for Balaam, the son of Beor. Balak wanted Balaam to put a curse on you. 10 But I would not listen to Balaam’s curses. So he blessed you again and again. And I saved you from his power. 11 ‘ “Then you went across the River Jordan. You came to Jericho. Its people fought against you. So did the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites and Jebusites. But I handed them over to you. 12 I sent hornets ahead of you. They drove your enemies out to make room for you. That included the two Amorite kings. You did not do that with your own swords and bows. 13 So I gave you a land you had never farmed. I gave you cities you had not built. You are now living in them. And you are eating the fruit of vineyards and olive trees you did not plant.” 14 ‘So have respect for the LORD. Serve him. Be completely faithful to him. Throw away the gods your people worshipped east of the River Euphrates and in Egypt. Serve the LORD. 15 But suppose you don’t want to serve him. Then choose for yourselves now whom you will serve. You can choose the gods your people served east of the River Euphrates. Or you can serve the gods of the Amorites. After all, you are living in their land. But as for me and my family, we will serve the LORD.’ 16 Then the people answered Joshua, ‘We would never desert the LORD! We would never serve other gods! 17 The LORD our God himself brought us and our parents up out of Egypt. He brought us out of that land where we were slaves. With our own eyes, we saw those great signs he did. He kept us safe on our entire journey. He kept us safe as we travelled through all the nations. 18 He drove them out to make room for us. That included the Amorites. They also lived in the land. We too will serve the LORD. That’s because he is our God.’ 19 Joshua said to the people, ‘You aren’t able to serve the LORD. He is a holy God. He is a jealous God. He won’t forgive you when you disobey him. He won’t forgive you when you sin against him. 20 Suppose you desert the LORD. Suppose you serve the gods that people in other lands serve. If you do, he will turn against you. He will bring trouble on you. He will destroy you, even though he has been good to you.’ 21 But the people said to Joshua, ‘No! We will serve the LORD.’ 22 Then Joshua said, ‘You are witnesses against yourselves. You have said that you have chosen to serve the LORD.’ ‘Yes. We are witnesses,’ they replied. 23 ‘Now then’, said Joshua, ‘throw away the statues of the gods that are among you. People from other lands serve those gods. Give yourselves completely to the LORD. He is the God of Israel.’ 24 Then the people said to Joshua, ‘We will serve the LORD our God. We will obey him.’ 25 On that day Joshua made a covenant for the people. There at Shechem he reminded them of its rules and laws. 26 He recorded these things in the Book of the Law of God. Then he got a large stone. He set it up in Shechem under the oak tree. It was near the place that had been set apart for the LORD. 27 ‘Look!’ he said to all the people. ‘This stone will be a witness against us. It has heard all the words the LORD has spoken to us. Suppose you aren’t faithful to your God. Then the stone will be a witness against you.’ 28 Joshua sent the people away. He sent all of them to their own shares of land.

Joshua is buried in the promised land

29 Then Joshua, the servant of the LORD, died. He was the son of Nun. He was 110 years old when he died. 30 His people buried him at Timnath Serah on his own property. It’s north of Mount Gaash in the hill country of Ephraim. 31 Israel served the LORD as long as Joshua lived. They also served him as long as the elders lived. Those were the elders who lived longer than Joshua did. They had seen for themselves everything the LORD had done for Israel. 32 The Israelites had brought Joseph’s bones up from Egypt. They buried his bones at Shechem in the piece of land Jacob had bought. He had bought it from the sons of Hamor. He had paid 100 pieces of silver for it. Hamor was the father of Shechem. That piece of land became the share that belonged to Joseph’s children after him. 33 Aaron’s son Eleazar died. He was buried at Gibeah in the hill country of Ephraim. Gibeah had been given to Eleazar’s son Phinehas.

English Standard Version

The Covenant Renewal at Shechem

1 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, ‘Long ago, your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates,* 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 Seir 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 afterward 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 in 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 Beor to curse you, 10 but I would not listen to Balaam. Indeed, he blessed you. So I delivered you out of his hand. 11 And you went over the Jordan and came to Jericho, and the leaders of Jericho fought against you, and also the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 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 that you had not built, and you dwell in them. You eat the fruit of vineyards and olive orchards that you did not plant.’

Choose Whom You Will Serve

14 “Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 And if it is evil in your eyes 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 slavery, 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 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. 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, “No, 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 that 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 put in place statutes and rules for them at Shechem. 26 And Joshua wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God. And he took a large stone and set it up there under the terebinth that was by 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 that 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.

Joshua’s Death and Burial

29 After these things Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being 110 years old. 30 And they buried him in his own inheritance at Timnath-serah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gaash. 31 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 that the Lord did for Israel. 32 As for the bones of Joseph, which the people of Israel brought up from Egypt, they buried them at Shechem, in the piece of land that 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 Eleazar the son of Aaron died, and they buried him at Gibeah, the town of Phinehas his son, which had been given him in the hill country of Ephraim.

Josua 24 | New International Reader’s Version English Standard Version

The covenant is renewed at Shechem

Joshua is buried in the promised land

The Covenant Renewal at Shechem

Choose Whom You Will Serve

Joshua’s Death and Burial