Joshua 24:1-10

1 And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem and called for the elders of Israel and for their princes and for their judges and for their officers, and they presented themselves before God.

2 And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Long ago your fathers dwelt on the other side of the river, even Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nachor, and they served other gods.

3 And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the river and led him throughout all the land of Canaan and multiplied his generation and gave him Isaac.

4 And to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau, and to Esau I gave Mount Seir to possess it; but Jacob and his sons went down into Egypt.

5 I sent Moses also and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did among them; and afterward I brought you out.

6 And I brought your fathers out of Egypt; and when ye came to the sea, the Egyptians pursued after your fathers with chariots and horsemen unto the Red sea.

7 And when they cried unto the LORD, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians and brought the sea upon them and covered them; and your eyes have seen what I have done in Egypt; and ye dwelt in the wilderness a long season.

8 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 delivered them into your hands that ye might possess their land, and I destroyed them from before you.

9 Then Balak, the son of Zippor, king of the Moabites, arose and warred against Israel and sent and called Balaam, the son of Beor, to curse you.

10 But I would not hearken unto Balaam; to the contrary, he blessed you repeatedly, and I delivered you out of his hand.

Joshua 24:1-10 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.