Yahweh’s Commands to Joshua

1 Now it came about after the death of Moses the servant of ^[a]Yahweh, that Yahweh spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ ^[b]attendant, saying, ² “Moses ^(A)My servant is dead; so now arise, ^(B)cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel. ^3 (C)Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses. ^4 (D)From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and as far as the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun will be your territory. ^5 (E)No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; ^(F)I will not fail you or forsake you. ^6 (G)Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. ⁷ Only be strong and very courageous to ^[c](H)be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn aside from it to the right or to the left, so that you may ^[d]be prosperous wherever you go. ^8 (I)This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may ^[e]be careful to do according to all that is written in it; ^(J)for then you will make your way successful, and then you will ^[f]be prosperous. ⁹ Have I not commanded you? ^(K)Be strong and courageous! ^(L)Do not be in dread or be dismayed, for Yahweh your God is with you wherever you go.”

Joshua’s Command to the Officers

¹⁰ Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying, ¹¹ “Pass through the midst of the camp and command the people, saying, ‘Prepare provisions for yourselves, for within ^(M)three days you are to cross this Jordan, to go in to possess the land which Yahweh your God is giving you, to possess it.’”

^12 (N)To the Reubenites and to the Gadites and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joshua ^[g]said, ¹³ “Remember the word which Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded you, saying, ‘^(O)Yahweh your God gives you rest and will give you this land.’ ¹⁴ Your wives, your little ones, and your cattle shall remain in the land which Moses gave you beyond the Jordan, but you shall cross before your brothers in battle array, all your valiant warriors, and shall help them ¹⁵ until Yahweh gives your brothers rest as He gives you, and they also possess the land which Yahweh your God is giving them. ^(P)Then you shall return to the land of your possession and possess it, which Moses ^(Q)the servant of Yahweh gave you beyond the Jordan to the east toward the sunrise.”

¹⁶ And they answered Joshua, saying, “All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. ¹⁷ Just as we listened to Moses in all things, so we will listen to you; only ^(R)may Yahweh your God be with you as He was with Moses. ¹⁸ Anyone who rebels against your ^[h]command and does not listen to your words, in all that you command him, shall be put to death; only be strong and courageous.”

Rahab Hides the Spies

2 Then Joshua the son of Nun sent two men as spies secretly from ^(S)Shittim, saying, “Go, see the land, especially Jericho.” So they went and came into the house of ^(T)a harlot whose name was Rahab and ^[i]lodged there. ² And it was told to the king of Jericho, saying, “Behold, men from the sons of Israel have come here tonight to search out the land.” ³ And the king of Jericho sent word to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who have entered your house, for they have come to search out all the land.” ⁴ But the ^(U)woman had taken the two men and hidden them, and she said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. ⁵ Now it happened when it was time to shut the gate at dark, that the men went out; I do not know where the men went. Pursue them quickly, for you may overtake them.” ⁶ But ^(V)she had brought them up to the roof and concealed them in the stalks of flax which she had laid in order on the roof. ⁷ So the men pursued them on the road to the Jordan to the fords; and as soon as those who were pursuing them had gone out, they shut the gate.

⁸ Now before they lay down, ^[j]she came up to them on the roof ⁹ and said to the men, “^(W)I know that Yahweh has given you the land, and that the ^(X)terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have ^[k]melted away before you. ^10 (Y)For we have heard how Yahweh dried up the water of the ^[l]Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt and ^(Z)what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you ^[m]devoted to destruction. ¹¹ Indeed we heard it, ^(AA)and our hearts melted, and a courageous spirit no longer rose up in any man because of you; for ^(AB)Yahweh your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. ¹² So now, please swear to me by Yahweh, since I have shown lovingkindness to you, that you also will show lovingkindness to my father’s household and give me a ^(AC)pledge of ^[n]truth, ¹³ and preserve my father and my mother and my brothers and my sisters alive, with all who belong to them, and deliver our ^[o]lives from death.” ¹⁴ So the men said to her, “Our ^[p]life ^[q]for yours if you do not tell this business of ours; and it will be when Yahweh gives us the land that we will ^(AD)show lovingkindness and truth to you.”

The Oath to Rahab

¹⁵ Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was on the city wall, so that she was living on the wall. ¹⁶ And she said to them, “^(AE)Go to the hill country, lest the pursuers reach you. And hide yourselves there for three days until the pursuers return. Then afterward you may go on your way.” ¹⁷ And the men said to her, “^(AF)We shall be free from this oath ^[r]to you which you have made us swear, ^18 [s]unless, when we come into the land, you tie this cord of scarlet thread in the window through which you let us down, and ^(AG)gather to yourself into the house your father and your mother and your brothers and all your father’s household. ¹⁹ And it will be that anyone who goes out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we shall be free; but anyone who is with you in the house, ^(AH)his blood shall be on our head if a hand is laid on him. ²⁰ But if you tell this business of ours, then we shall be free from the oath which you have made us swear.” ²¹ And she said, “According to your words, so be it.” So she sent them away, and they went; and she tied the scarlet cord in the window.

²² And they went and came to the hill country and remained there for three days until the pursuers returned. The pursuers had sought them ^[t]all along the road but had not found them. ²³ Then the two men returned and came down from the hill country and crossed over and came to Joshua the son of Nun, and they recounted to him all that had happened to them. ²⁴ And they said to Joshua, “Surely Yahweh has given all the land into our hands; moreover, ^(AI)all the inhabitants of the land have ^[u]melted away before us.”

Israel Crosses the Jordan

3 Then Joshua rose early in the morning; and he and all the sons of Israel set out from ^(AJ)Shittim and came to the Jordan, and they lodged there before they crossed. ^2 (AK)Now it happened that at the end of three days the officers went through the midst of the camp; ³ and they commanded the people, saying, “When you see the ^(AL)ark of the covenant of Yahweh your God with the Levitical priests carrying it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it. ⁴ However, there shall be between you and it a distance of about ^[v]2,000 cubits by measure. Do not come near it, that you may know the way by which you shall go, for you have not passed this way before.”

⁵ Then Joshua said to the people, “^(AM)Set yourselves apart as holy, for tomorrow Yahweh will do wondrous deeds among you.” ⁶ And Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, “Carry the ark of the covenant and cross over ahead of the people.” So they carried the ark of the covenant and went ahead of the people.

⁷ Then Yahweh said to Joshua, “This day I will begin to ^(AN)magnify you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you. ⁸ Moreover, you shall command the priests who are carrying the ark of the covenant, saying, ‘When you come to the edge of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.’” ⁹ Then Joshua said to the sons of Israel, “Come near, and hear the words of Yahweh your God.” ¹⁰ And Joshua said, “By this you shall know that ^(AO)the living God is among you, and that He will assuredly ^(AP)dispossess from before you the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Hivite, the Perizzite, the Girgashite, the Amorite, and the Jebusite. ¹¹ Behold, the ark of the covenant of ^(AQ)the Lord of all the earth is crossing over ahead of you into the Jordan. ¹² So now, ^(AR)take for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man for each tribe. ¹³ And it will be that when the soles of the feet of the priests who carry the ark of Yahweh, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan will be cut off, and the waters which are ^[w]flowing down from above ^[x]will ^(AS)stand in one heap.”

¹⁴ So it happened that when the people set out from their tents to cross the Jordan with the priests carrying ^(AT)the ark of the covenant before the people, ¹⁵ and when those who carried the ark came into the Jordan, and the feet of the priests carrying the ark were dipped in the edge of the water (for the ^(AU)Jordan overflows all its banks all the days of harvest), ^16 (AV)the waters which were ^[y]flowing down from above stood and rose up in ^(AW)one heap, a great distance away at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan; and those which were ^[z]flowing down toward the sea of the ^(AX)Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. So the people crossed opposite Jericho. ¹⁷ And the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of Yahweh stood firm ^(AY)on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel crossed on dry ground until all the nation had completed crossing the Jordan.

Memorial Stones from the Jordan

4 Now it happened when all the nation had completed crossing the ^(AZ)Jordan, that Yahweh spoke to Joshua, saying, ² “^(BA)Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from each tribe, ³ and command them, saying, ‘Carry for yourselves twelve stones from here out of the middle of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet are standing firm, and carry them over with you and lay them down in ^(BB)the lodging place where you will lodge tonight.’” ⁴ So Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the sons of Israel, one man from each tribe; ⁵ and Joshua said to them, “^[aa]Cross again before the ark of Yahweh your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you carry a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel, ⁶ in order that this would be a sign among you, so that ^(BC)when your children ask ^[ab]later, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ ⁷ then you shall say to them, ‘Because the ^(BD)waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of Yahweh; when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off.’ So these stones shall become a ^(BE)memorial to the sons of Israel forever.”

⁸ Thus the sons of Israel did as Joshua commanded and carried twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, just as Yahweh spoke to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel; and they carried them over with them to ^(BF)the lodging place and laid them down there. ⁹ But Joshua set up twelve ^(BG)stones in the middle of the Jordan at the place where the feet of the priests who carried the ark of the covenant were standing, and they are there to this day. ¹⁰ Now the priests who carried the ark were standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything was completed that Yahweh had commanded Joshua to speak to the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua. And the people hurried and crossed. ¹¹ And it happened when all the people had completed crossing, that the ark of Yahweh and the priests crossed before the people. ^12 (BH)And the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over in battle array before the sons of Israel, just as Moses had spoken to them; ¹³ about 40,000 equipped for war crossed for battle before Yahweh to the desert plains of Jericho.

^14 (BI)On that day, Yahweh magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel, so that they ^[ac]feared him, just as they had ^[ad]feared Moses all the days of his life.

¹⁵ Then Yahweh said to ^[ae]Joshua, ¹⁶ “Command the priests who carry ^(BJ)the ark of the testimony that they come up from the Jordan.” ¹⁷ So Joshua commanded the priests, saying, “Come up from the Jordan.” ¹⁸ So it happened when the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of Yahweh had come up from the middle of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet were ^[af]lifted up to the dry ground, that the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and went over all its banks as before.

¹⁹ Now the people came up from the Jordan on the ^(BK)tenth of the first month and camped at Gilgal on the eastern edge of Jericho. ^20 [ag](BL)And those twelve stones which they had taken from the Jordan, Joshua set up ^(BM)at Gilgal. ²¹ Then he said to the sons of ^[ah]Israel, “When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What do these stones mean?’ ²² then you shall make your children know, saying, ‘Israel crossed this Jordan on ^(BN)dry land.’ ²³ For Yahweh your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed, just as Yahweh your God had done to the ^[ai]Red Sea, ^(BO)which He dried up before us until we had crossed, ²⁴ that ^(BP)all the peoples of the earth may know that the ^(BQ)hand of Yahweh is strong, so that you may ^[aj](BR)fear Yahweh your God ^[ak]forever.”

The Men of Israel Circumcised

5 Now it happened when all the kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the ^(BS)Canaanites who were by the sea, ^(BT)heard how Yahweh had dried up the waters of the Jordan before the sons of Israel until ^[al]they had crossed, that their hearts melted, and there was no spirit in them any longer because of the sons of Israel.

² At that time Yahweh said to Joshua, “Make for yourself ^(BU)flint knives and circumcise again the sons of Israel the second time.” ³ So Joshua made himself flint knives and circumcised the sons of Israel at ^[am]Gibeath-haaraloth. ⁴ Now this is the reason why Joshua circumcised them: ^(BV)all the people who came out of Egypt who were males, all the men of war, died in the wilderness along the way when they came out of Egypt. ⁵ For all the people who came out were circumcised, but all the people who were born in the wilderness along the way as they came out of Egypt had not been circumcised. ⁶ For the sons of Israel had walked ^(BW)forty years in the wilderness, until all the nation, that is, the men of war who came out of Egypt, were completely destroyed because they did not listen to the voice of Yahweh, ^(BX)to whom Yahweh had sworn that He would not let them see the land which Yahweh had sworn to their fathers to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey. ⁷ And their sons whom He raised up in their place, Joshua ^[an]circumcised; for they were uncircumcised because they had not circumcised them along the way.

⁸ Now it happened that when they had completed circumcising all the nation, they remained in their places in the camp until they were ^[ao]healed. ⁹ Then Yahweh said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away ^(BY)the reproach of Egypt from you.” So the name of that place is called ^[ap]Gilgal to this day.

¹⁰ Then the sons of Israel camped at Gilgal and ^(BZ)celebrated the Passover on the evening of the ^(CA)fourteenth day of the month on the desert plains of Jericho. ¹¹ And on the ^[aq]day after the Passover, on ^[ar]that very day, they ate some of the yield of the land, unleavened cakes and roasted grain. ^12 (CB)Then the manna ceased on the ^[as]day after they had eaten some of the produce of the land, so that the sons of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate some of the produce of the land of Canaan during that year.

Commander of Yahweh’s Host

¹³ Now it happened when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, ^(CC)a man was standing opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us or for our adversaries?” ¹⁴ He said, “No! Rather I indeed come now as commander of the host of Yahweh.” And Joshua ^(CD)fell on his face to the earth and bowed down and said to him, “What has my lord to say to his slave?” ¹⁵ The commander of the host of Yahweh said to Joshua, “^(CE)Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.

The Destruction of Jericho

6 Now Jericho was tightly shut because of the sons of Israel; no one went out, and no one came in. ² And Yahweh said to Joshua, “See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with ^(CF)its king and the valiant warriors. ³ And you shall march around the city, all the men of war circling the city once. You shall do so for six days. ⁴ Also seven priests shall carry seven ^(CG)trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark; then on the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. ⁵ And it will be that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city will fall down ^[at]beneath itself, and the people will go up every man ^[au]straight ahead.”

⁶ So Joshua the son of Nun called the priests and said to them, “Carry the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests carry seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of Yahweh.” ⁷ Then ^[av]he said to the people, “Go forward, and march around the city, and let the armed men go on before the ark of Yahweh.” ⁸ And so it happened that, when Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets of rams’ horns before Yahweh passed on forward and blew the trumpets; and the ark of the covenant of Yahweh came after them. ⁹ And the armed men went before the priests who blew the trumpets, and ^(CH)the rear guard came after the ark, while they continued to blow the trumpets. ¹⁰ But Joshua commanded the people, saying, “You shall not shout nor let your voice be heard nor let a word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I tell you, ‘Shout!’ Then you shall shout!” ¹¹ So he had the ark of Yahweh ^[aw]taken around the city, circling it once; then they came into the camp and spent the night in the camp.

¹² Then Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests carried the ark of Yahweh. ^13 (CI)And the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of Yahweh went on continually and blew the trumpets; and the armed men went before them, and ^(CJ)the rear guard came after the ark of Yahweh, and they continued to blow the trumpets. ¹⁴ Thus the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp; they did so for six days.

¹⁵ Then it happened that on the seventh day they rose early at the ^[ax]breaking of dawn and marched around the city in the same manner seven times; only on that day they marched around the city seven times. ¹⁶ Now it happened that on the seventh time, the priests blew the trumpets, and Joshua said to the people, “^(CK)Shout! For Yahweh has given you the city. ¹⁷ And the city shall be ^(CL)devoted to destruction, it and all that is in it belongs to Yahweh; only Rahab the harlot ^[ay]and all who are with her in the house shall live because she hid the messengers whom we sent. ¹⁸ But as for you, only keep yourselves from the things devoted to destruction, lest as you are devoting them to destruction, you also ^(CM)take some of the things devoted to destruction and make the camp of Israel devoted to destruction and bring trouble on it. ^19 (CN)But all the silver and gold and articles of bronze and iron are holy to Yahweh; they shall go into the treasury of Yahweh.” ²⁰ So the people shouted, and ^[az]the priests blew the trumpets; and when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted with a great shout, and the ^(CO)wall fell down ^[ba]beneath itself, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight ^[bb]ahead, and they took the city. ^21 (CP)And they devoted to destruction everything in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox and sheep and donkey, with the edge of the sword.

²² Now to the two men who had spied out the land, Joshua said, “^(CQ)Go into the harlot’s house and bring the woman and all she has out of there, as you have sworn to her.” ²³ So the young men who were spies went in and ^(CR)brought out Rahab and her father and her mother and her brothers and all she had; they also brought out all her relatives and placed them outside the camp of Israel. ^24 (CS)But they burned the city with fire, and all that was in it. Only the silver and gold, and articles of bronze and iron, they put into the treasury of the ^[bc]house of Yahweh. ²⁵ However, ^(CT)Rahab the harlot and her father’s household and all she had, Joshua preserved alive; and she has lived in the midst of Israel to this day, for ^(CU)she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

²⁶ Then Joshua made them swear an oath at that time, saying, “^(CV)Cursed before Yahweh is the man who rises up and builds this city Jericho; with the loss of his firstborn he shall lay its foundation, and with the loss of his youngest son he shall set up its gates.” ²⁷ So ^(CW)Yahweh was with Joshua, and the ^(CX)report about him was in all the land.

Joshua Calls All Israel

23 Now it happened after many days, after Yahweh had given ^(A)rest to Israel from all their enemies ^[a]on every side, and Joshua was old, advanced in years, ² that ^(B)Joshua called for all Israel, for their elders and their heads and their judges and their officers, and said to them, “I am old, advanced in years. ³ And you have seen all that Yahweh your God has done to all these nations because of you, for ^(C)Yahweh your God is He who has been fighting for you. ⁴ See, ^(D)I have allotted to you these nations which remain as an inheritance for your tribes, with all the nations which I have cut off, from the Jordan even to the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun. ⁵ And Yahweh your God, He will thrust them out from before you and ^(E)dispossess them before you; and ^(F)you will possess their land, just as Yahweh your God ^[b]promised you. ^6 (G)Be very strong, then, to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, so that you may not turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left, ⁷ so that you will not go along with these nations, these which remain among you, and you will not ^(H)mention the name of their gods, and you will not ^(I)make anyone swear by them, and you will not ^(J)serve them, and you will not bow down to them. ⁸ But you are to cling to Yahweh your God, as you have done to this day. ^9 (K)For Yahweh has dispossessed great and mighty nations from before you; and as for you, ^(L)no man has stood before you to this day. ^10 (M)One of your men will pursue one thousand, for Yahweh your God is ^(N)He who fights for you, just as He ^[c]promised you. ¹¹ So keep your souls very carefully to love Yahweh your God. ¹² For if you ever turn back and ^(O)cling to the rest of these nations, these which remain among you, and ^(P)intermarry with them, so that you go along with them and they with you, ¹³ know with certainty that Yahweh your God will not continue to dispossess these nations from before you; but they will be a ^(Q)snare and a trap to you and a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good land which Yahweh your God has given you.

¹⁴ “Now behold, today ^(R)I am going the way of all the earth, and you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that ^(S)not one word of all the good words which Yahweh your God spoke concerning you has failed; all have come to pass for you; not one word of them has failed. ¹⁵ And it will be that just as all the good words which Yahweh your God spoke to you have come upon you, so ^(T)Yahweh will bring upon you all the calamitous words, until He has destroyed you from off this good land which Yahweh your God has given you. ^16 (U)When you trespass against the covenant of Yahweh your God, which He commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them, then the anger of Yahweh will burn against you, and you will perish quickly from off the good land which He has given you.”

Joshua Gathers Israel

24 Then ^(V)Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem and called for the elders of Israel and for their heads and their judges and their officers; and they presented themselves before God. ² And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘From ancient times your fathers lived beyond the ^[d]River, namely, ^(W)Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods. ³ Then ^(X)I took your father Abraham from beyond the ^[e]River and led him through all the land of Canaan and ^(Y)multiplied his seed and gave him ^(Z)Isaac. ⁴ To Isaac I gave ^(AA)Jacob and Esau, and ^(AB)to Esau I gave Mount Seir to possess it; but ^(AC)Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt. ⁵ Then ^(AD)I sent Moses and Aaron, and I smote Egypt ^[f]by what I did in its midst; and afterward I brought you out. ⁶ And I brought your fathers out of Egypt, and ^(AE)you came to the sea; and Egypt pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the ^[g]Red Sea. ⁷ Then they cried out to Yahweh; He put darkness between you and the Egyptians and brought the sea upon them and covered them; and your own eyes saw what I did in Egypt. And ^(AF)you lived in the wilderness for many days. ⁸ Then ^(AG)I brought you into the land of the Amorites who lived beyond the Jordan, and 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 ^(AH)Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel, and he sent and summoned Balaam the son of Beor to curse you. ¹⁰ But I ^(AI)was not willing to listen to Balaam. So he blessed you repeatedly, and I delivered you from his hand. ^11 (AJ)And you crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho; and the citizens of Jericho fought against you, and ^(AK)the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Girgashite, the Hivite and the Jebusite. Thus ^(AL)I gave them into your hand. ¹² Then I ^(AM)sent the hornet before you, and it ^[h]drove out the two kings of the Amorites from before you, but ^(AN)not by your sword or your bow. ^13 (AO)And I gave you a land on which you had not labored and cities which you had not built, and you have lived in them; you are eating of vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.’

We Will Serve Yahweh Our God

¹⁴ “So now, ^[i](AP)fear Yahweh and serve Him in integrity and ^[j]truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the ^[k]River and in Egypt, and serve Yahweh. ¹⁵ If it is evil in your sight to serve Yahweh, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River or ^(AQ)the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve Yahweh.”

¹⁶ And the people answered and said, “Far be it from us that we should forsake Yahweh to serve other gods; ¹⁷ for Yahweh our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery, and who did these great signs in our sight and kept us through all the way in which we went and among all the peoples through whose midst we passed. ¹⁸ And Yahweh drove out from before us all the peoples, even the Amorites who lived in the land. We also will serve Yahweh, for He is our God.”

¹⁹ Then Joshua said to the people, “You will not be able to serve Yahweh, ^(AR)for He is a holy God. He is ^(AS)a jealous God; ^(AT)He will not forgive your transgression or your sins. ^20 (AU)If you forsake Yahweh and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you after He has done good to you.” ²¹ And the people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve Yahweh.” ²² And Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that ^(AV)you have chosen for yourselves Yahweh, to serve Him.” And they said, “We are witnesses.” ²³ “So now, put away the foreign gods which are in your midst, and ^(AW)incline your hearts to Yahweh, the God of Israel.” ^24 (AX)And the people said to Joshua, “We will serve Yahweh our God, and we will listen to His voice.” ^25 (AY)So Joshua cut a covenant with the people that day and made for them a statute and a judgment in Shechem. ²⁶ And Joshua ^(AZ)wrote these words in the book of the law of God; and he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of Yahweh. ²⁷ And Joshua said to all the people, “Behold, ^(BA)this stone shall be for a witness against us, for it has heard all the words of Yahweh which He spoke ^[l]to us; thus it shall be for a witness against you, lest you deny your God.” ²⁸ Then Joshua dismissed the people, each to his inheritance.

Joshua’s Death and Burial

²⁹ Now it happened that after these things, Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Yahweh, died, being 110 years old. ³⁰ And they buried him in the territory of his inheritance in ^(BB)Timnath-serah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, on the north of Mount Gaash.

^31 (BC)And Israel served Yahweh all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who ^[m]survived Joshua, who knew all the work of Yahweh which He had done for Israel.

³² Now ^(BD)they buried the bones of Joseph, which the sons of Israel brought up from Egypt, at Shechem, in the portion of the field ^(BE)which Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for one hundred ^[n]qesitah; and they became the inheritance of Joseph’s sons. ³³ And Eleazar the son of Aaron died; and they buried him ^[o]at Gibeah of ^(BF)Phinehas his son, which was given him in the hill country of Ephraim.