Joshua 23
23The years passed, and the LORD had given the people of Israel rest from all their enemies. Joshua, who was now very old,H7227H3117H310H3068H5117H3478H341H5439H3091H2204H935H31172called together all the elders, leaders, judges, and officers of Israel. He said to them, "I am now a very old man.H3091H7121H3478H2205H7218H8199H7860H559H2204H935H31173You have seen everything the LORD your God has done for you during my lifetime. The LORD your God has fought for you against your enemies.H7200H3068H430H6213H1471H6440H3068H430H38984I have allotted to you as your homeland all the land of the nations yet unconquered, as well as the land of those we have already conquered—from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea in the west.H7200H5307H1471H7604H5159H7626H3383H1471H3772H1419H3220H3996H81215This land will be yours, for the LORD your God will himself drive out all the people living there now. You will take possession of their land, just as the LORD your God promised you.H3068H430H1920H6440H3423H6440H3423H776H3068H430H16966"So be very careful to follow everything Moses wrote in the Book of Instruction. Do not deviate from it, turning either to the right or to the left.H3966H2388H8104H6213H3789H5612H8451H4872H5493H3225H80407Make sure you do not associate with the other people still remaining in the land. Do not even mention the names of their gods, much less swear by them or serve them or worship them.H935H1471H7604H2142H8034H430H7650H5647H78128Rather, cling tightly to the LORD your God as you have done until now.H1692H3068H430H6213H31179"For the LORD has driven out great and powerful nations for you, and no one has yet been able to defeat you.H3068H3423H6440H1419H1471H6099H376H5975H6440H311710Each one of you will put to flight a thousand of the enemy, for the LORD your God fights for you, just as he has promised.H259H376H7291H505H3068H430H3898H169611So be very careful to love the LORD your God.H3966H8104H5315H157H3068H43012"But if you turn away from him and cling to the customs of the survivors of these nations remaining among you, and if you intermarry with them,H7725H7725H1692H3499H1471H7604H2859H93513then know for certain that the LORD your God will no longer drive them out of your land. Instead, they will be a snare and a trap to you, a whip for your backs and thorny brambles in your eyes, and you will vanish from this good land the LORD your God has given you.H3045H3045H3068H430H3254H3423H1471H6440H6341H4170H7850H6654H6796H5869H6H2896H127H3068H430H541414"Soon I will die, going the way of everything on earth. Deep in your hearts you know that every promise of the LORD your God has come true. Not a single one has failed!H3117H1980H1870H776H3045H3824H5315H259H1697H5307H2896H1697H3068H430H1696H935H259H1697H530715But as surely as the LORD your God has given you the good things he promised, he will also bring disaster on you if you disobey him. He will completely destroy you from this good land he has given you.H2896H1697H935H3068H430H1696H3068H935H7451H1697H8045H2896H127H3068H430H541416If you break the covenant of the LORD your God by worshiping and serving other gods, his anger will burn against you, and you will quickly vanish from the good land he has given you."H5674H1285H3068H430H6680H1980H5647H312H430H7812H639H3068H2734H6H4120H2896H776H5414
Joshua 24
24Then Joshua summoned all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, including their elders, leaders, judges, and officers. So they came and presented themselves to God.H3091H622H7626H3478H7927H7121H2205H3478H7218H8199H7860H3320H6440H430 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.H3091H559H5971H559H3068H430H3478H1H3427H5676H5104H5769H8646H1H85H1H5152H5647H312H430 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.H3947H1H85H5676H5104H3212H776H3667H7235H2233H5414H3327 4To Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. To Esau I gave the mountains of Seir, while Jacob and his children went down into Egypt.H5414H3327H3290H6215H5414H6215H2022H8165H3423H3290H1121H3381H4714 5"Then I sent Moses and Aaron, and I brought terrible plagues on Egypt; and afterward I brought you out as a free people.H7971H4872H175H5062H4714H834H6213H7130H310H3318 6But when your ancestors arrived at the Red Sea, the Egyptians chased after you with chariots and charioteers.H3318H1H4714H935H3220H4714H7291H310H1H7393H6571H5488H3220 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.H6817H3068H7760H3990H4713H935H3220H3680H5869H7200H6213H4714H3427H4057H7227H3117 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.H935H776H567H3427H5676H3383H3898H5414H3027H3423H776H8045H6440 9Then Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, started a war against Israel. He summoned Balaam son of Beor to curse you,H1111H1121H6834H4428H4124H6965H3898H3478H7971H7121H1109H1121H1160H7043 10but I would not listen to him. Instead, I made Balaam bless you, and so I rescued you from Balak.H14H8085H1109H1288H1288H5337H3027 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.H5674H3383H935H3405H1167H3405H3898H567H6522H3669H2850H1622H2340H2983H5414H3027 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.H7971H6880H6440H1644H6440H8147H4428H567H2719H7198 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.H5414H776H3021H5892H1129H3427H3754H2132H5193H398 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.H3372H3068H5647H8549H571H5493H430H1H5647H5676H5104H4714H5647H3068 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."H7489H4310H5647H3068H977H3117H5869H5647H430H1H5647H5676H5104H430H567H776H3427H1004H5647H3068 16The people replied, "We would never abandon the LORD and serve other gods.H5971H6030H559H2486H5800H3068H5647H312H430 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.H3068H430H5927H1H776H4714H1004H5650H6213H1419H226H5869H8104H1870H1980H5971H7130H5674 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."H3068H1644H6440H5971H567H3427H776H5647H3068H430 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.H3091H559H5971H3201H5647H3068H6918H430H7072H410H5375H6588H2403 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."H5800H3068H5647H5236H430H7725H7489H3615H310H3190 21But the people answered Joshua, "No, we will serve the LORD!"H5971H559H3091H5647H3068 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."H3091H559H5971H5707H977H3068H5647H559H5707 23"All right then," Joshua said, "destroy the idols among you, and turn your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel."H5493H5236H430H7130H5186H3824H3068H430H3478 24The people said to Joshua, "We will serve the LORD our God. We will obey him alone."H5971H559H3091H3068H430H5647H6963H8085 25So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day at Shechem, committing them to follow the decrees and regulations of the LORD.H3091H3772H1285H5971H3117H7760H2706H4941H7927 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.H3091H3789H1697H5612H8451H430H3947H1419H68H6965H427H4720H3068 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."H3091H559H5971H68H5713H8085H561H3068H1696H5713H3584H430 28Then Joshua sent all the people away to their own homelands.H3091H5971H7971H376H5159 29After this, Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of 110.H310H1697H3091H1121H5126H5650H3068H4191H3967H6235H8141H1121 30They buried him in the land he had been allocated, at Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.H6912H1366H5159H8556H2022H669H6828H2022H1608 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.H3478H5647H3068H3117H3091H3117H2205H748H3117H310H3091H3045H4639H3068H6213H3478 32The bones of Joseph, which the Israelites had brought along with them when they left Egypt, were buried at Shechem, in the parcel of ground 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.H6106H3130H1121H3478H5927H4714H6912H7927H2513H7704H3290H7069H1121H2544H1H7927H3967H7192H5159H1121H3130 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.H499H1121H175H4191H6912H1389H6372H1121H5414H2022H669
Dublin, OH
in the west.H7200
