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us. 18 It 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.”
19 Then 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. 20 If 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.”
21 But the people answered Joshua, “No, we
will serve the Lord!”
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.”
23 “All right then,” Joshua said, “destroy the
idols among you, and turn your hearts to the
Lord, the God of Israel.”
24 The people said to Joshua, “We will serve
the Lord our God. We will obey him alone.”
25 So Joshua made a covenant with the people
that day at Shechem, committing them to follow the decrees and regulations of the Lord.
26 Joshua recorded these things in the Book
of God’s Instructions. As a reminder of their
agreement, he took a huge stone and rolled it
24:32 Hebrew 100 kesitahs; the value or weight of the kesitah
is no longer known.
JOSHUA 24
beneath the terebinth tree beside the Tabernacle of the Lord.
27 Joshua 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.”
28 Then Joshua sent all the people away to
their own homelands.
Leaders Buried in the Promised Land
29 After this, Joshua son of Nun, the servant of
the Lord, died at the age of 110. 30 They buried him in the land he had been allocated, at
Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim,
north of Mount Gaash.
31 The people of Is ra el 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.
32 The bones of Joseph, which the Israelites
had brought along with them when they left
Egypt, were buried at Shechem, in the plot of
land 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.
33 Eleazar 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.