- And it came to pass, a long time after the Lord had given rest unto Israel from all their enemies round about, that Joshua waxed old and stricken in age. And Joshua called for all Israel, and for their elders, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers, and said unto them, I am old and stricken in age. And you have seen all that the Lord your God has done unto all these nations because of you, for the Lord your God is he that has fought for you. Behold, I have divided unto you by lot these nations that remain, to be an inheritance for your tribes, from Jordan, with all the nations that I have cut off, even unto the great sea westward. And the Lord your God, he shall expel them from before you, and drive them from out of your sight, and you shall possess their land as the Lord your God has promised unto you. Be therefore very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that you turn not aside from that, to the right hand or to the left, that you come not among these nations, these that remain among you, neither make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause to swear by them, neither serve them, nor bow yourselves unto them. But cleave unto the Lord your God, as you have done unto this day. For the Lord has driven out from before you great nations, and strong, but as for you, no man has been able to stand before you unto this day. One man of you shall chase a thousand, for the Lord your God, he it is that fights for you, as he has promised you. Take good heed therefore unto yourselves that you love the Lord your God. Else — if you do in any way go back and cleave unto the remnant of these nations, even these that remain among you, and shall make marriages with them, and go in unto them, and they to you — know for a certainty that the Lord your God will no more drive out any of these nations from before you, but they shall be snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good land which the Lord your God has given you.
- And behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth. And you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing has failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spoke concerning you. All have come to pass unto you, and not one thing has failed thereof. Therefore, it shall come to pass that as all good things have come upon you which the Lord your God promised you, so shall the Lord bring upon you all evil things until he has destroyed you from off this good land which the Lord your God has given you. When you have transgressed the covenant of the Lord your God which he commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed yourselves to them, then shall the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and you shall perish quickly from off the good land which he has given unto you.
- And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers, and they presented themselves before God. And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus says the Lord God of Israel: Your fathers dwelled on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods. And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac. And I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau; and I gave unto Esau Mount Seir, to possess it, but Jacob and his children went down into Egypt. I sent Moses also, and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did among them; and afterward, I brought you out. And I brought your fathers out of Egypt, and you came unto the sea, and the Egyptians pursued after your fathers with chariots and horsemen unto the Red Sea. And when they cried unto the Lord, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them and covered them. And your eyes have seen what I have done in Egypt; and you dwelled in the wilderness a long season.
- And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, who dwelled on the other side of Jordan, and they fought with you. And I gave them into your hand, that you might possess their land, and I destroyed them from before you. Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and warred against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you. But I would not listen unto Balaam, therefore he blessed you still, so I delivered you out of his hand. And you went over Jordan and came unto Jericho, and the men of Jericho fought against you — the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites — and I delivered them into your hand. And I sent the hornet before you, which drove them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites — but not with your sword, nor with your bow. And I have given you a land for which you did not labor, and cities which you built not, and you dwell in them. Of the vineyards and oliveyards which you planted not do you eat.
- Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve — whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell — but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
- And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the Lord, to serve other gods. For the Lord our God, he it is that brought us up, and our fathers 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 wherein we went, and among all the people through whom we passed. And the Lord drove out from before us all the people, even the Amorites who dwelled in the land; therefore will we also serve the Lord, for he is our God. And Joshua said unto the people, You cannot serve the Lord — for he is a holy God, he is a jealous God, he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins — if you forsake the Lord and serve strange gods. Then he will turn and do you harm and consume you, after he has done you good. And the people said unto Joshua, Nay, but we will serve the Lord. And Joshua said unto the people, You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the Lord, to serve him. And they said, We are witnesses. Now therefore put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the Lord God of Israel. And the people said unto Joshua, The Lord our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey. So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.
- And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God, and took a great stone and set it up there under an oak that was by the sanctuary of the Lord. And Joshua said unto all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us, for it has heard all the words of the Lord which he spoke unto us. It shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest you deny your God.
- So Joshua let the people depart, every man unto his inheritance. And it came to pass after these things that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being a hundred ten years old. And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath-Serah, which is in Mount Ephraim, on the north side of the hill of Gaash. And Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua and who had known all the works of the Lord that he had done for Israel. And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem, in a parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of silver. And it became the inheritance of the children of Joseph. And Eleazar the son of Aaron died, and they buried him in a hill that pertained to Phinehas his son, which was given him in Mount Ephraim.
Chapter 5