Joshua 24:5-15

5 And I smote Egypt with the wonders that I wrought among them.

6 And afterwards brought out our fathers from Egypt, and ye entered into the Red Sea; and the Egyptians pursued after our fathers with chariots and horses into the Red Sea.

7 And we cried aloud to the Lord; and he put a cloud and darkness between us and the Egyptians, and he brought the sea upon them, and covered them; and your eyes have seen all that the Lord did in the land of Egypt; and ye were in the wilderness many days.

8 And he brought us into the land of the Amorites that dwelt beyond Jordan, and the Lord delivered them into our hands; and ye inherited their land, and utterly destroyed them from before you.

9 And Balac, king of Moab, son of Sepphor, rose up, and made war against Israel, and sent and called Balaam to curse us.

10 But the Lord thy God would not destroy thee; and he greatly blessed us, and rescued us out of their hands, and delivered them .

11 And ye crossed over Jordan, and came to Jericho; and the inhabitants of Jericho fought against us, the Amorite, and the Chananite, and the Pherezite, and the Evite, and the Jebusite, and the Chettite, and the Gergesite, and the Lord delivered them into our hands.

12 And he sent forth the hornet before you; and he drove them out from before you, twelve kings of the Amorites, not with thy sword, nor with thy bow.

13 And he gave you a land on which ye did not labour, and cities which ye did not build, and ye were settled in them; and ye eat vineyards and oliveyards which ye did not plant.

14 And now fear the Lord, and serve him in righteousness and justice; and remove the strange gods, which our fathers served beyond the river, and in Egypt; and serve the Lord.

15 But if it seem not good to you to serve the Lord, choose to yourselves this day whom ye will serve, whether the gods of your fathers that were on the other side of the river, or the gods of the Amorites, among whom ye dwell upon their land: but I and my house will serve the Lord, for he is holy.

Joshua 24:5-15 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.

Footnotes

• [a]. gave.
• [b]. set himself in array.
• [c]. shall eat.