1 Then 1Joshuagatheredall the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel and for their heads and their judges and their officers; and they presented themselves beforeGod.
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Joshuasaid to all the people, "Thussays the LORD, the God of Israel, 'From ancienttimes your fatherslivedbeyond the River, namely, 2Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, and they servedothergods.
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'Then 3I took your fatherAbraham from beyond* the River, and led him through all the land of Canaan, and 4multiplied his descendants and gave him 5Isaac.
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'To Isaac I gave6Jacob and Esau, and 7to Esau I gaveMountSeir to possess it; but 8Jacob and his sonswentdown to Egypt.
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'Then 9I sentMoses and Aaron, and I plaguedEgypt by what I did in its midst; and afterward I brought you out.
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'I brought your fathers out of Egypt, and 10you came to the sea; and Egyptpursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the Red*Sea.
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'But when they cried out to the LORD, He putdarknessbetween you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them and covered them; and your own eyessawwhat I did in Egypt. And 11you lived in the wilderness for a longtime.
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'Then 12I brought you into the land of the Amorites who livedbeyond the Jordan, and they fought with you; and I gave them into your hand, and you tookpossession of their land when I destroyed them before you.
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'Then 13Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel, and he sent and summonedBalaam the son of Beor to curse you.
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'But I 14was not willing to listen to Balaam. So he had to bless you, and I delivered you from his hand.
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'15You crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho; and the citizens of Jerichofought against you, and 16the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Girgashite, the Hivite and the Jebusite. Thus 17I gave them into your hand.
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'Then I 18sent the hornetbefore you and it drove out the twokings of the Amorites from before* you, but 19not by your sword or your bow.
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'20I gave you a land on which you had not labored, and citieswhich you had not built, and you have lived in them; you are eating of vineyards and olivegroveswhich you did not plant.'
``We Will Serve the LORD"
14"Now, therefore, 21fear the LORD and serve Him in sincerity and truth; and putaway the godswhich your fathersservedbeyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.
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"If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves todaywhom you will serve: whether the godswhich your fathersservedwhich were beyond the River, or 22the gods of the Amorites in whoseland you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."
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The peopleanswered and said, "Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD to serveothergods;
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for the LORD our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and whodidthesegreatsigns in our sight and preserved us through all the way in which we went and among all the peoples through whosemidst we passed.
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"The LORDdrove out from before us all the peoples, even the Amorites who lived in the land. We also will serve the LORD, for He is our God."
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Then Joshuasaid to the people, "You will not be able to serve the LORD, 23for He is a holyGod. He is 24a jealousGod; 25He will not forgive your transgression or your sins.
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"26If you forsake the LORD and serveforeigngods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you after He has donegood to you."
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The peoplesaid to Joshua, "No, but we will serve the LORD."
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Joshuasaid to the people, "You are witnesses against yourselves that 27you have chosen for yourselves the LORD, to serve Him." And they said, "We are witnesses."
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"Now therefore, putaway the foreigngodswhich are in your midst, and 28incline your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel."
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29The peoplesaid to Joshua, "We will serve the LORD our God and we will obey His voice."
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30So Joshuamade a covenant with the people that day, and made for them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.
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And Joshua31wrotethesewords in the book of the law of God; and he took a largestone and set it up thereunder the oak that was by the sanctuary of the LORD.
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Joshuasaid to all the people, "Behold, 32thisstone shall be for a witness against us, for it has heardall the words of the LORDwhich He spoke to us; thus it shall be for a witness against you, so that you do not deny your God."
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Then Joshuadismissed the people, each to his inheritance.
Joshua's Death and Burial
29 It came about afterthesethings that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being one hundred and tenyearsold.
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And they buried him in the territory of his inheritance in 33Timnath-serah, which is in the hillcountry of Ephraim, on the north of MountGaash.
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34Israelserved the LORDall the days of Joshua and all the days of the elderswhosurvived**Joshua, and had knownall the deeds of the LORDwhich He had done for Israel.
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Now 35they buried the bones of Joseph, which the sons of Israelbrought up from Egypt, at Shechem, in the piece of ground36whichJacob had bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for one hundredpieces of money; and they became the inheritance of Joseph'ssons.
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And Eleazar the son of Aarondied; and they buried him at Gibeah of 37Phinehas his son, which was given him in the hillcountry of Ephraim.