Joshua 24 Free Bible Version
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 Joshua summoned all the tribes of Israel to Shechem. Then he called the elders, leaders, judges, and officials and they came and stood before the Tabernacle of God.
1 Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, for their heads, for their judges, and for their officers; and they presented themselves before God.
2 Joshua said to all the people, “The Lord, the God of Israel, says this: ‘Long, long ago your forefathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates River, and they worshiped other gods.
2 Joshua said to all the people, “Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, ‘Your fathers lived of old time beyond the River, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor. They served other gods.
3 I brought your father Abraham from beyond the Euphrates and led him through all the land of Canaan and gave him many descendants. I gave him Isaac.
3 I took your father Abraham from beyond the River, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his offspring, and gave him Isaac.
4 I gave to Isaac Jacob and Esau. I gave to Esau the hill country of Seir to own, but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt.
4 I gave to Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave to Esau Mount Seir, to possess it. Jacob and his children went down into Egypt.
5 I sent Moses and Aaron, and I brought plagues on the people of Egypt, and I brought you out.
5 “‘I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did among them: and afterward I brought you out.
6 Yes, I brought your forefathers out, but when you arrived at the Red Sea the Egyptians were chasing after your forefathers with chariots and horsemen.
6 I brought your fathers out of Egypt: and you came to the sea. The Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and with horsemen to the Red Sea.
7 Your forefathers called out to the Lord for help, and he placed darkness between you and the Egyptians. Then he brought the sea back over them and they drowned. You saw what I did with your own eyes in Egypt. Then you lived for many years in the wilderness.
7 When they cried out to Yahweh, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea on them, and covered them; and your eyes saw what I did in Egypt. You lived in the wilderness many days.
8 After that I brought you to the land of the Amorites who lived on the other side of the Jordan. They fought against you but I handed them over to you to defeat and you took over their land. I destroyed them before you.
8 “‘I brought you into the land of the Amorites, that lived beyond the Jordan. They fought with you, and I gave them into your hand. You possessed their land, and I destroyed them from before you.
9 When Balak, son of Zippor, the king of Moab, wanted to fight against Israel, he sent for Balaam, son of Beor, to come and curse you.
9 Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel. He sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you,
10 But I wasn't willing to listen to Balaam, so instead he blessed you repeatedly, and saved you from Balak.
10 but I would not listen to Balaam; therefore he blessed you still. So I delivered you out of his hand.
11 You crossed the Jordan and arrived at Jericho where the men of Jericho fought against you. So did the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
11 “‘You went over the Jordan, and came to Jericho. The men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Girgashite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; and I delivered them into your hand.
12 But I handed them over to you to defeat. And I sent the hornet before you to drive out the two kings of the Amorites. You did not win using your swords or your bows!
12 I sent the hornet before you, which drove them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; not with your sword, nor with your bow.
13 I gave you a land you didn't work for and towns you didn't build. Now you live in them and eat from vineyards and olive groves you didn't plant.’
13 I gave you a land on which you had not labored, and cities which you didn’t build, and you live in them. You eat of vineyards and olive groves which you didn’t plant.’
14 So respect the Lord and worship him, sincerely and faithfully. Get rid of the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the Euphrates and in Egypt, and worship the Lord.
14 “Now therefore fear Yahweh, and serve him in sincerity and in truth. Put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, in Egypt; and serve Yahweh.
15 But if you don't want to worship the Lord, choose today who you want to worship! Is it going to be the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the Euphrates? Or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you're now living? But as for me and my family, we will worship the Lord!”
15 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.”
16 The people responded, “We are never going to give up on the Lord and worship other gods!
16 The people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake Yahweh, to serve other gods;
17 For the Lord our God brought us and our forefathers out of slavery in Egypt. He was the one who did great miracles before our very eyes. He looked after us on the way as we traveled through the lands of many nations.
17 for it is Yahweh our God who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way in which we went, and among all the peoples through the middle of whom we passed.
18 The Lord drove out before us the Amorites and all the other nations who were living in the land. So we will worship the Lord, for he is our God!”
18 Yahweh drove out from before us all the peoples, even the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve Yahweh; for he is our God.”
19 Joshua told the people, “Remember that the Lord is a holy and jealous God. You won't be able to worship him, and he won't forgive your rebellion and sins
19 Joshua said to the people, “You can’t serve Yahweh, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God. He will not forgive your disobedience nor your sins.
20 if you give up on him and worship foreign gods. He will turn against you and destroy you despite all the good he has done for you.”
20 If you forsake Yahweh, and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you evil, and consume you, after he has done you good.”
21 “Don't say that!” the people replied. “We will worship the Lord!”
21 The people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve Yahweh.”
22 Then Joshua cautioned the people, “You have made yourselves witnesses against yourselves by saying that you have chosen to worship the Lord.” “Yes, we are witnesses,” the people replied.
22 Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen Yahweh yourselves, to serve him.” They said, “We are witnesses.”
23 “Then get rid of those foreign gods you have and promise to be loyal only to the Lord, the God of Israel,” Joshua told them.
23 “Now therefore put away the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your heart to Yahweh, the God of Israel.”
24 The people said to Joshua, “We will worship the Lord our God and we will obey him.”
24 The people said to Joshua, “We will serve Yahweh our God, and we will listen to his voice.”
25 So Joshua made a solemn agreement between the people and the Lord that day in Shechem, obligating them to follow all the Lord's laws and instructions.
25 So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made for them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.
26 Joshua recorded this in the Book of the Law of God, and he set up a large stone under the oak tree near the Lord's sanctuary.
26 Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God; and he took a great stone, and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of Yahweh.
27 Joshua said to the people, “Look at this stone. It stands here as a witness against us for it has heard everything the Lord has told us, and it will be a witness against you if you ever deny what you have promised your God.”
27 Joshua said to all the people, “Behold, this stone shall be a witness against us, for it has heard all Yahweh’s words which he spoke to us. It shall be therefore a witness against you, lest you deny your God.”
28 Then Joshua dismissed the people, sending them to their allotted lands.
28 So Joshua sent the people away, each to his own inheritance.
29 Later, after all this, Joshua, son of Nun, servant of the Lord, died at the age of one hundred and ten.
29 After these things, Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Yahweh, died, being one hundred ten years old.
30 They buried him in Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash, the land he had been allocated.
30 They buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathserah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, on the north of the mountain of Gaash.
31 The Israelites continued to worship the Lord throughout Joshua's life, and throughout the lifetimes of the elders who outlived him, those who had seen all that the Lord had done for Israel.
31 Israel served Yahweh all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, and had known all the work of Yahweh, that he had worked for Israel.
32 The bones of Joseph, which the Israelites had brought with them from Egypt, they buried in Shechem in the piece of ground Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for one hundred pieces of silver. This land was inherited by Joseph's sons.
32 They buried the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, in Shechem, in the parcel of ground which Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of silver. They became the inheritance of the children of Joseph.
33 And Eleazar, son of Aaron, died and they buried him at Gibeah, in the hill country of Ephraim, land which had been given to his son Phinehas.
33 Eleazar the son of Aaron died. They buried him in the hill of Phinehas his son, which was given him in the hill country of Ephraim.
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Zippor
The father of Balak, king of Moab.
Cited in the guide: Numbers 22:2; Numbers 22:4; Joshua 24:9
Places
Shechem
Shechem lay between Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal. Abram built an altar here, Joshua gathered Israel for covenant renewal, and Jacob's well stands nearby.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 12:6; Joshua 24:1; John 4:5
Cross references (33)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Joshua 23:2; 1 Samuel 10:19; Exodus 18:25–26; Genesis 33:18–19; Genesis 12:6
- 2 Joshua 24:15; Genesis 31:30; Ezekiel 16:3; Isaiah 51:2; Genesis 31:53
- 3 Genesis 12:1–4; Genesis 21:2–3; Acts 7:2–3; Genesis 15:5; Psalm 127:3
- 4 Genesis 36:8; Deuteronomy 2:5; Genesis 25:24–26; Acts 7:15; Psalm 105:23
- 5 Exodus 3:10; Exodus 7:1–12; Psalm 78:43–51; Exodus 12:51; Psalm 105:26–36
- 6 Acts 7:36; Hebrews 11:29; Isaiah 63:12–13; Exodus 12:37; Psalm 136:13–15
- 7 Deuteronomy 4:34; Exodus 14:20; Exodus 14:10; Nehemiah 9:12–21; Exodus 14:31
- 8 Numbers 21:21–35; Psalm 136:17–22; Deuteronomy 2:32–3:7; Nehemiah 9:22; Psalm 135:10–11
- 9 Judges 11:25; Micah 6:5; Numbers 22:2; Deuteronomy 23:4–5; Numbers 22:5–21
- 10 Deuteronomy 23:5; Isaiah 54:17; Numbers 24:5–10; Numbers 22:35; Numbers 22:11–12
- 11 Joshua 3:14–17; Joshua 4:10–12; Deuteronomy 7:1; Psalm 105:44; Psalm 78:54–55
- 12 Exodus 23:28; Deuteronomy 7:20; Psalm 44:3–6
- 13 Deuteronomy 6:10–12; Deuteronomy 8:7; Joshua 21:45; Proverbs 13:22; Joshua 11:13
- 14 1 Samuel 12:24; Deuteronomy 10:12; Genesis 35:2; Joshua 24:23; 2 Corinthians 1:12
- 15 1 Kings 18:21; John 6:67–68; Ruth 1:15–16; Deuteronomy 29:18; Ezekiel 20:39
- 16 Hebrews 10:38–39; 1 Samuel 12:23; Romans 6:2; Romans 3:6
- 17 Exodus 19:4; Isaiah 63:7–14; Amos 2:9–10; Deuteronomy 32:11–12; Isaiah 46:4
- 18 Psalm 116:16; Micah 4:2; Exodus 10:2; Zechariah 8:23; Luke 1:73–75
- 19 Exodus 23:21; Isaiah 5:16; Exodus 20:5; Psalm 99:5; Psalm 99:9
- 20 Hebrews 10:26–27; Acts 7:42; Ezekiel 18:24; 1 Chronicles 28:9; Jeremiah 17:13
- 21 Exodus 20:19; Deuteronomy 5:27–28; Exodus 19:8; Isaiah 44:5; Exodus 24:7
- 22 Psalm 119:173; Psalm 119:11; Job 15:6; Luke 10:42; Deuteronomy 26:17
- 23 Joshua 24:14; 2 Corinthians 6:16–18; 1 Samuel 7:3–4; Judges 10:15–16; Hebrews 12:28–29
- 24 Exodus 24:7; Exodus 24:3; Deuteronomy 5:27–29
- 25 Nehemiah 9:38; Exodus 15:25; 2 Chronicles 23:16; 2 Kings 11:17; Joshua 24:26
- 26 Judges 9:6; Genesis 35:4; Joshua 4:20–24; Deuteronomy 31:24–26; Exodus 24:4
- 27 Luke 19:40; Joshua 22:34; Deuteronomy 31:26; Matthew 10:33; Joshua 22:27–28
- 28 Judges 2:6
- 29 Judges 2:8; Genesis 50:22; Genesis 50:26; Psalm 115:17; Deuteronomy 34:5
- 30 Joshua 19:50; Judges 2:9; 2 Samuel 23:30
- 31 Judges 2:7; Deuteronomy 31:13; Deuteronomy 11:2; Deuteronomy 31:29; 2 Chronicles 24:2
- 32 Genesis 50:25; Genesis 33:19; Exodus 13:19; Acts 7:16; John 4:5
- 33 Exodus 6:25; Joshua 22:13; Exodus 6:23; Job 30:23; Numbers 3:32
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
… belonged, was the only one in which the worship of the true God survived, and the only one, we may suppose, in which the Hebrew language was preserved; although Joshua the son of Nun tells us that even this family served other gods in Mesopotamia. The other descendants of Heber gradually became absorbed in other races and other languages.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)
… a stone as witness of his words (already a heap somewhere had been called a witness by Jacob), for he says, "Behold this stone shall be a witness unto you this day to the end of days, when ye lie to the Lord our God," perhaps believing that by God's power even the stones would speak to the conviction of …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 8 (1895)