Joshua 24:1-18

The Covenant Renewal at Shechem

1 Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel ¹to Shechem and ²summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel. And ³they presented themselves before God.

2 And Joshua said to all the people, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'Long ago, ⁴your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and ⁵they served other gods.

3 ⁶Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River and ⁷led him through all the land of Canaan, and made his offspring many. ⁸I gave him Isaac.

4 And to Isaac I gave ⁹Jacob and Esau. ¹⁰And I gave Esau the hill country of Seir to possess, ¹¹but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt.

5 ¹²And I sent Moses and Aaron, ¹³and I plagued Egypt with what I did in the midst of it, and ¹⁴afterward I brought you out.

6 "'Then ¹⁵I brought your fathers out of Egypt, and ¹⁶you came to the sea. ¹⁷And the Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea.

7 ¹⁸And when they cried to the LORD, ¹⁹he put darkness between you and the Egyptians ²⁰and made the sea come upon them and cover them; ²¹and your eyes saw what I did in Egypt. ²²And you lived in the wilderness a long time.

8 Then I brought you to the land of the Amorites, who lived on the other side of the Jordan. ²³They fought with you, and I gave them into your hand, and you took possession of their land, and I destroyed them before you.

9 ²⁴Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel. ²⁵And he sent and invited Balaam the son of Beor to curse you,

10 ²⁶but I would not listen to Balaam. ²⁷Indeed, he blessed you. So I delivered you out of his hand.

11 ²⁸And you went over the Jordan and came to Jericho, ²⁹and the leaders of Jericho fought against you, and also ³⁰the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And I gave them into your hand.

12 And I sent ³¹the hornet before you, which drove them out before you, the two kings of the Amorites; it was ³²not by your sword or by your bow.

13 I gave you a land on which you had not labored ³³and cities that you had not built, and you dwell in them. You eat the fruit of vineyards and olive orchards that you did not plant.'

Choose Whom You Will Serve

14 ³⁴"Now therefore fear the LORD and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. ³⁵Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.

15 ³⁶And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, ³⁷choose this day whom you will serve, whether ³⁸the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or ³⁹the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. ⁴⁰But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."

16 Then the people answered, "Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD to serve other gods,

17 for it is the LORD our God who brought us and our fathers up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight and preserved us in all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed.

18 And 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."

Joshua 24:1-18 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JOSHUA 24

This chapter gives us an account of another summons of the tribes of Israel by Joshua, who obeyed it, and presented themselves before the Lord at Shechem, Jos 24:1; when Joshua in the name of the Lord rehearsed to them the many great and good things the Lord had done for them, from the time of their ancestor Abraham to that day, Jos 24:2-13; and then exhorted them to fear and serve the Lord, and reject idols, Jos 24:14; and put them upon making their choice, whether they would serve the true God, or the gods of the Canaanites; and they choosing the former, he advised them to abide by their choice, Jos 24:15-24; and made a covenant with them to that purpose, and then dismissed them, Jos 24:25-28; and the chapter is concluded with an account of the death and burial of Joshua and Eleazar, and of the interment of the bones of Joseph, Jos 24:29-33.

Cross References

• 1. ver. 25, 32
• 2. See Joshua 23:2
• 3. 1 Samuel 10:19
• 4. See Genesis 11:27-32
• 5. [Genesis 31:30; Genesis 35:2]
• 6. See Genesis 12:1-5; Acts 7:2-4
• 7. Genesis 12:6
• 8. Genesis 21:2, 3
• 9. Genesis 25:24-26
• 10. Genesis 36:8; Deuteronomy 2:5
• 11. Genesis 46:1, 6; Acts 7:15
• 12. Exodus 3:10; Exodus 4:14
• 13. See Ex. 7 - 12
• 14. Exodus 12:37, 51
• 15. [See ver. 5 above]
• 16. Exodus 14:2
• 17. Exodus 14:9
• 18. Exodus 14:10
• 19. Exodus 14:20
• 20. Exodus 14:27, 28
• 21. Deuteronomy 4:34; Deuteronomy 29:2
• 22. See Joshua 5:6
• 23. See Numbers 21:21-35
• 24. [Judges 11:25]
• 25. Numbers 22:5; Deuteronomy 23:4
• 26. Numbers 23:11, 20; Numbers 24:1, 10
• 27. Numbers 23:11, 20; Numbers 24:1, 10
• 28. Joshua 3:14, 17; Joshua 4:10-13
• 29. Joshua 6:1; See Joshua 10:1-3; Joshua 11:1-3
• 30. Joshua 6:1; See Joshua 10:1-3; Joshua 11:1-3
• 31. Exodus 23:28; Deuteronomy 7:20
• 32. Psalms 44:3
• 33. Deuteronomy 6:10, 11; [Joshua 11:13]
• 34. Deuteronomy 10:12; 1 Samuel 12:24
• 35. ver. 2, 23
• 36. 1 Kings 18:21; Ezekiel 20:39
• 37. ver. 22
• 38. [See ver. 14 above]
• 39. Ex. 23:24, 32, 33; Exodus 34:15; Deuteronomy 13:7; Deuteronomy 29:18; Judges 6:10
• 40. Genesis 18:19