Joshua:24:1-27

---

Seeker Overlay ON

* Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem and called for the elders of Israel , for their heads , for their judges , and for their officers ; and they presented themselves before God . * And Joshua said to all the people , "Thus says the LORD God of Israel : "Your fathers , including Terah , the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor , dwelt on the other side of the River in old times ; and they served other gods . * Then I took your father Abraham from the other side of the River , led him throughout all the land of Canaan , and multiplied his descendants and gave him Isaac . * To Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau . To Esau I gave the mountains of Seir to possess , but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt . * Also I sent Moses and Aaron , and I plagued Egypt , according to what I did among them . Afterward I brought you out . * "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 . * So they cried out to the LORD ; and He put darkness between you and the Egyptians , brought the sea upon them , and covered them . And your eyes saw what I did in Egypt . Then you dwelt in the wilderness a long time . * And I brought you into the land of the Amorites , who dwelt on the other side of the Jordan , and they fought with you . But I gave them into your hand , that you might possess their land , and I destroyed them from before you . * Then Balak the son of Zippor , king of Moab , arose to make war against Israel , and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you . * But I would not listen to Balaam ; therefore he continued to bless you . So I delivered you out of his hand . * Then you went over the Jordan and came to Jericho . And the men of Jericho fought against you--also the Amorites , the Perizzites , the Canaanites , the Hittites , the Girgashites , the Hivites , and the Jebusites . But I delivered them into your hand . * I sent the hornet before you which drove them out from before you , also the two kings of the Amorites , but not with your sword or with your bow . * I have given you a land for which you did not labor , and cities which you did not build , and you dwell in them ; you eat of the vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant .' * "Now therefore , fear the LORD , serve Him in sincerity and in truth , and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt . Serve the LORD ! * And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD , choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve , whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of 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 ." * So the people answered and said : "Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD to serve other gods ; * for the LORD our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt , from the house of bondage , who did those great signs in our sight , and preserved us in all the way that we went and among all the people through whom we passed . * And the LORD drove out from before us all the people , including the Amorites who dwelt in the land . We also will serve the LORD , for He is our God ." * 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 nor your sins . * If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods , then He will turn and do you harm and consume you , after He has done you good ." * And the people said to Joshua , "No , but we will serve the LORD !" * So Joshua said to the people , "You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the LORD for yourselves , to serve Him ." And they said , "We are witnesses !" * "Now therefore ," he said , "put away the foreign gods which are among you , and incline your heart to the LORD God of Israel ." * And the people said to Joshua , "The LORD our God we will serve , and His voice we will obey !" * So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day , and made for them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem . * Then 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 oak that was by the sanctuary of the LORD . * And Joshua said to all the people , "Behold , this stone shall be a witness to us , for it has heard all the words of the LORD which He spoke to us . It shall therefore be a witness to you , lest you deny your God ."

---