Joshua 12 - 24

Joshua 12

List of Defeated Kings

Joshua 13 – 22

Division of the Land to the Children of Israel

Joshua 23

Joshua’s Final Words to Israel

After a long time had passed and the LORD had given Israel rest from all their enemies around them, Joshua, by then a very old man and stricken in age, called all of Israel together, their elders, leaders, judges and officers, and said to them: “I am very old and stricken in age. And you have seen everything the LORD your God has done to all these nations for your sake; it was the Lord your God who fought for you.”

“Remember how I have divided as an inheritance for your tribes all the land of the nations that remain, the nations I conquered, between Jordan and the great sea in the west. The LORD your God himself will push them out for your sake. He will drive them out before you, and you will take possession of their land, as the LORD your God promised you.”

“Therefore, be very courageous; and be careful to obey all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, without turning aside to the right or to the left. Do not associate with these nations that remain among you; do not even mentioned the names of their gods or swear by them, neither serve them nor bow down to them. But you are to cleave to the LORD your God, as you have until now.”

“The LORD has driven out before you great and powerful nations; to this day no one has been able to withstand you. One of you shall chase a thousand, because the LORD your God fights for you, just as he promised. So be very careful to love the LORD your God.”

“But if you turn away and join yourselves with the survivors of these nations that remain among you, and if you intermarry with them and associate with them, and they with you, then know for certain that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations before you. Instead, they will become snares and traps for you, whips on your backs and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land, which the LORD your God has given you.”

“Behold, I am about to go the way of all the earth. You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the LORD your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed.”

“But just as all the good things the LORD your God has promised you have come to you, so will he bring on you all the evil things he has threatened, until the LORD your God has destroyed you from this good land He has given you. If you violate the covenant of the LORD your God, which He commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them, then shall the LORD’S anger burn against you, and you will quickly perish from the good land He has given you.”

Joshua 24

The LORD’S Covenant Renewed

Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem. He called for all the elders, leaders, judges and their officers, and they presented themselves before God.

Joshua said to all the people, “Thus saith the LORD God of Israel: ‘Long ago your fathers, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates River and they served other gods. But I took your father Abraham from the land beyond the Euphrates and led him throughout Canaan and gave him many descendants. I gave him Isaac, and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I gave the hill country of Seir to Esau, but Jacob and his family went down to Egypt.”

“‘Then I sent Moses and Aaron, and I afflicted the Egyptians by what I did there, and I brought your fathers out. When I brought your fathers out of Egypt, they came to the sea, and the Egyptians pursued after them with chariots and horsemen as far as the Red Sea. But they cried to the LORD for help, and He put darkness between you and the Egyptians; He brought the sea over them and covered them. You saw with your own eyes what I did to the Egyptians. Then you lived in the wilderness for a long time.”

“‘I brought you to the land of the Amorites who lived on the other side of Jordan. They fought against you, but I gave them into your hands. I destroyed them from before you, so you could take possession of their land.”

“When Balak son of Zippor, the king of Moab, prepared to fight against Israel, he sent for Balaam son of Beor to put a curse on you. But I would not listen to Balaam, so he blessed you again and again, and I delivered you out of his hand.”

“‘Then you crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho. The men of Jericho fought against you, as did also the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites and Jebusites, but I gave them into your hands. I sent the hornet ahead of you, which drove them out before you, also the two Amorite kings. You did not do it with your own sword and bow. So I gave you a land on which you did not labor and cities you did not build; and now you live in them and eat from vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant.’

“Now therefore, fear the LORD and serve him with all sincerity and truth. Throw away the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.”

“But if serving the LORD seems evil (or undesirable) to you, then choose this day whom you will serve, whether it be the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

Then the people answered and said, “God forbid we should forsake the LORD to serve other gods! It was the LORD our God himself who brought us and our fathers out of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and performed those great signs before our eyes. He protected us on our entire journey and from all the nations through which we traveled. And the LORD drove out before us all the people, including the Amorites, who lived in the land. Therefore, we too will serve the LORD, because he is our God.”

Joshua said to the people, “You cannot serve the LORD. He is a holy God; He is a jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins, if you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, He will turn and bring disaster on you and make an end of you, after He has been good to you.”

But the people said to Joshua, “No! We will serve the LORD.”

Then Joshua said, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen to serve the LORD.”

“Yes, we are witnesses,” they replied.

“Now then,” said Joshua, “throw away the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the LORD God of Israel.”

And the people said to Joshua, “We will serve the LORD our God and obey him.”

On that day Joshua made a covenant for the people, and there at Shechem he reaffirmed for them decrees and laws. And Joshua wrote these things down in the Book of the Law of God. Then he took a large stone and set it up under an oak that was by the sanctuary of the LORD.

And Joshua said to all the people. “Look, this stone shall be a witness against us; for it has heard all the words the LORD has said to us. Therefore, It shall be a witness to you if you deny your God.”