The Promised Land · c. 1380 BC
Chapter 9
Choose This Day
If it seems evil to you to serve Yahweh, choose today whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve Yahweh.”
For parents
Joshua warns that if Israel turns to other gods, the Lord will bring every harm on them until they perish from the land (Joshua 23:12–16; 24:19–20). In the Lord’s words recalling the past, the sea covers the Egyptians and the Amorites are destroyed (24:7–8). The chapter ends with the deaths and burials of Joshua and Eleazar, and the burial of Joseph’s bones (24:29–33).
Many days went by. The had given rest from the enemies all around them, and was old, well along in years.
Joshua called for all Israel: their , their chiefs, their judges and their officers. “I am old,” he said to them, “well along in years. You have seen all that the Lord your God has done to all these nations because of you. It is the Lord your God who has fought for you.
“Look, I have shared out among your tribes the land of the nations still left, as well as the land of all the nations I have already destroyed. It reaches from the as far as the in the west, where the sun goes down. As for the nations still left, the Lord your God will push them out ahead of you and drive them from your sight. You will take their land for your own, as the Lord your God told you.”
“So be very courageous,” Joshua said. “Keep all that is written in the book of the law of , and do it. Don’t turn away from it to the right or to the left. Don’t mix with these nations, the ones that remain among you. Don’t speak the names of their gods, or make anyone swear by them. Don’t serve them or bow down to them. Stay close to the Lord your God instead, as you have done until now.
“The Lord has driven great and strong nations out ahead of you. As for you, no one has been able to stand against you to this day. One man of you will chase a thousand, because it is the Lord your God who fights for you, as he told you.
“So take great care to love the Lord your God.”
“But if you ever turn back,” Joshua said, “and hold on to what is left of these nations, the ones that remain among you, and if you marry their people and they marry yours, then know this for certain. The Lord your God will no longer drive these nations from your sight. They will trap you and catch you. They will cut your sides like a whip and prick your eyes like thorns, until you perish from this good land, the land the Lord your God has given you.
“Look, I’m about to die, as everyone on earth must. You know with all your hearts and with all your souls that not one of all the good things the Lord your God promised you has failed. They have all happened to you. Not one thing has failed.
“But every good thing the Lord your God spoke of has come to you. In just the same way, the Lord will bring every harmful thing on you, until he has wiped you off this good land which the Lord your God has given you. It will happen when you break the the Lord your God commanded you to keep, and go off to serve other gods and bow down to them. Then his anger will burn hot against you, and you will perish quickly from the good land he has given you.”
Joshua gathered all the of Israel to . He called for Israel’s elders, their chiefs, their judges and their officers, and they came and stood in God’s presence.
Joshua said to all the people, “The Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Your ancestors lived beyond the long ago: , the father of and of . They served other gods.
“‘I took your ancestor Abraham from beyond the River and led him throughout all the land of . I gave him many descendants, and I gave him . I gave and to Isaac, and I gave Esau to own. Jacob and his children went down into .
“‘I sent Moses and , and I struck Egypt with plagues by what I did there. Afterward I brought you out. I led your ancestors out of Egypt, and you reached the sea. The Egyptians chased them with chariots and with horsemen to the . When your ancestors cried out to the Lord, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea down on them and covered them. Your own eyes saw what I did in Egypt. Then you lived in the wilderness a long time.
“‘I brought you into the land of the beyond the Jordan. They fought against you, and I handed them over to you. You took their land for your own, and I destroyed them ahead of you.
“‘Then the son of Zippor, king of , rose up and fought against Israel. He sent for the son of Beor to curse you. But I would not listen to Balaam. Because of that, he blessed you instead. In that way I rescued you from him.
“‘You went across the Jordan and came to . The men of Jericho fought against you. So did the Amorites, , , , , and . I handed them over to you. I sent the hornet ahead of you, and it drove them out of your way, the two kings of the Amorites too. It wasn’t by your sword or by your bow.
“‘I gave you a land you hadn’t worked for, and cities you didn’t build, and you live in them. You eat from vineyards and olive groves you didn’t plant.’”
“So now,” Joshua said, “fear the Lord, and serve him sincerely and truly. Get rid of the gods your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord.
“If it seems bad to you to serve the Lord, choose today whom you will serve: the gods your ancestors served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, whose land you are living in. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
The people answered, “We will never abandon the Lord and serve other gods! The Lord our God is the one who brought us and our ancestors up out of the land of Egypt, from the place where we were slaves. He did those great signs before our eyes. He kept us safe on every road we traveled, and among all the peoples we passed through. The Lord drove out all the peoples ahead of us, even the Amorites who lived in the land. That is why we also will serve the Lord, because he is our God.”
Joshua said to the people, “You can’t serve the Lord, since he is a holy God. He is a . He will not forgive your disobedience or your sins. If you leave the Lord and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and bring harm on you, and put an end to you, after he has been good to you.”
“No!” the people said to Joshua. “We will serve the Lord.”
Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves: you have chosen for yourselves to serve the Lord.”
“We are witnesses,” they said.
“Now then, get rid of the foreign gods you have among you,” Joshua said, “and turn your hearts toward the Lord, the God of Israel.”
The people said to Joshua, “We will serve the Lord our God, and we will listen to his voice.”
So that day Joshua made a covenant with the people, and there in Shechem he gave them a law and a rule.
Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God, and he took a big stone and set it up there, under the oak that was by the of the Lord.
Joshua said to all the people, “Look, this stone will be a witness against us, because it has heard every word the Lord spoke to us. That is why it will be a witness against you, in case you ever turn your back on your God.”
So Joshua sent the people away, each to his own share of the land.
After this, Joshua the son of , the servant of the Lord, died. He was a hundred and ten years old. They buried him within the border of his own land, at in the hill country of , on the north side of the mountain of .
Israel served the Lord for as long as Joshua lived, and for as long as the elders lived who outlived him. Those elders had known all the work the Lord had done for Israel.
Long before, had the Israelites promise him on oath: “God will surely come for you, and you are to take my bones up from here.” When they left Egypt, Moses took Joseph’s bones with him.
The Israelites had brought Joseph’s bones up out of Egypt, and they buried them at Shechem, in the piece of ground that Jacob had paid a hundred pieces of silver for. He had bought it from the sons of , the father of . That ground came to belong to Joseph’s descendants.
the son of Aaron died. They buried him on the hill of his son , which had been given to him in the hill country of Ephraim.