SCRIPTURE READING Joshua 24:1-26
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. 2And Joshua said to all
the people, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Long ago your
ancestors—Terah and his sons Abraham and Nahor—lived beyond the
Euphrates and served other gods. 3Then 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. I gave Esau the hill country of Seir to possess, but Jacob and his
children went down to Egypt. 5Then I sent Moses and Aaron, and I
plagued Egypt with what I did in its midst; and afterwards I brought you
out. 6When I brought your ancestors out of Egypt, you came to the sea;
and the Egyptians pursued your ancestors with chariots and horsemen to
the Red Sea. 7When they cried out to the Lord, he put darkness between
you and the Egyptians, and made the sea come upon them and cover
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them; and your eyes saw what I did to Egypt. Afterwards you lived in the
wilderness a long time. 8Then I brought you to the land of the Amorites,
who lived on the other side of the Jordan; they fought with you, and I
handed them over to you, and you took possession of their land, and I
destroyed them before you. 9Then King Balak son of Zippor of Moab, set
out to fight against Israel. He sent and invited Balaam son of Beor to
curse you, 10but I would not listen to Balaam; therefore he blessed you;
so I rescued you out of his hand. 11When you went over the Jordan and
came to Jericho, the citizens of Jericho fought against you, and also the
Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the
Hivites, and the Jebusites; and I handed them over to you. 12I sent the
hornet ahead of you, which drove out before you the two kings of the
Amorites; it was not by your sword or by your bow. 13I gave you a land
on which you had not labored, and towns that you had not built, and you
live in them; you eat the fruit of vineyards and oliveyards that you did
not plant. 14“Now therefore revere the Lord, and serve him in sincerity
and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond
the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.
15Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you
will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond
the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as
for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
16Then the people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake
the Lord to serve other gods; 17for it is the Lord our God who brought us
and our ancestors up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery,
and who did those great signs in our sight. He protected us along all the
way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed;
18and 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.” 19But 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. 20If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign
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gods, then he will turn and do you harm, and consume you, after having
done you good.” 21And the people said to Joshua, “No, we will serve the
Lord!” 22Then 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.” 23He said, “Then put away the foreign gods that are
among you, and incline your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.” 24The
people said to Joshua, “The Lord our God we will serve, and him we will
obey.” 25So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made
statutes and ordinances for them at Shechem. 26Joshua 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 in the sanctuary of the Lord.
Reader: Word of God. Word of Life.