Covenant at Shiloh
Joshua 24, verse 1. Then Joshua gathered together all the tribes of Israel to Shiloh, and summoned their elders, scribes, and judges; and he set them before God. Joshua 24, verse 2. Then Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘From the beginning your fathers dwelt on the other side of the river, including Terah the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods. Joshua 24, verse 3. But I took your father Abraham from the other side of the river, led him into all the land, multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac, Joshua 24, verse 4. and to Isaac, Jacob and Esau. I gave Mount Seir to Esau as an inheritance, but Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt. There they became a great nation, both large and mighty.’ Joshua 24, verse 5. But the Egyptians maltreated them, so the Lord smote Egypt for what it did to them. Joshua 24, verse 6. After that, you came out of Egypt to the Red Sea, and the Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and horses to the Red Sea. Joshua 24, verse 7. So we cried out to the Lord, and He placed a cloud and darkness between us and the Egyptians. Then He brought the sea upon them, and it covered them. Thus your eyes saw what the Lord did in the land of Egypt. “You were in the desert for many days. Joshua 24, verse 8. Then He brought you into the land of the Amorites, who dwelt on the other side of the Jordan, and they fought with you; but the Lord gave them over into your hands that you might take possession of their land, and He utterly destroyed them from before you. Joshua 24, verse 9. Then Balak the son of Zippor, the king of Moab, arose to make war against Israel, and he sent and called Balaam to lay a curse on you. Joshua 24, verse 10. But the Lord your God would not destroy you, and greatly blessed you. He delivered you from their hands and gave them over to you. Joshua 24, verse 11. Then you crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho. The inhabitants of Jericho fought against you—also the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, the Jebusites, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, but the Lord gave them into your hands. Joshua 24, verse 12. He sent hornets before you and drove them out from before you, the twelve kings of the Amorites, but not with your sword or with your bow. Joshua 24, verse 13. He gave you a land for which you did not labor, and cities you did not build; and you dwelt in them. You ate from vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant. Joshua 24, verse 14. “Now therefore, fear the Lord, and serve Him in justice and righteousness. Remove the foreign gods your fathers served on the other side of the river and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. Joshua 24, verse 15. But if it does not please you to serve the Lord, choose gods for yourselves today whom you will serve, whether the gods of your fathers that were on the other side of the river, or the gods of the Amorites, among whom you dwell in their land. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord, because He is holy.” Joshua 24, verse 16. Then the people answered and said, “Far be it from us to forsake the Lord, so as to serve other gods. Joshua 24, verse 17. The Lord our God, He is God. He brought us and our fathers from Egypt and preserved us on the whole journey where we went, and among all the nations through whom we passed. Joshua 24, verse 18. The Lord cast out before us the Amorite and all the nations that inhabited the land. But as for us, we will serve the Lord, for He is our God.” Joshua 24, verse 19. But Joshua said to the people, “You cannot serve the Lord, for He is a holy God, and He being jealous will not forgive your sins and your lawless deeds. Joshua 24, verse 20. Whenever you forsake the Lord and serve other gods, then He shall come and deal harshly with you and will consume you, after He has done you good.” Joshua 24, verse 21. Then the people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24, verse 22. So Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen to serve the Lord. Joshua 24, verse 23. Now therefore, remove the foreign gods from among you and make your heart straight toward the Lord God of Israel.” Joshua 24, verse 24. Again the people said to Joshua, “We will serve the Lord, and obey His voice.” Joshua 24, verse 25. So Joshua established a covenant with the people on that day, and gave them a law and judgment in Shiloh before the tabernacle of the God of Israel. Joshua 24, verse 26. Then he wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God; and he took a large stone and set it up under the terebinth tree before the Lord. Joshua 24, verse 27. After this, Joshua said to the people, “Behold, this stone shall be a witness among you, because it has heard everything said to it by the Lord, whatever He spoke to us today. This stone shall be among you as a witness in the last days, whenever you lie to the Lord my God.” Joshua 24, verse 28. So Joshua sent the people away, and they went forth, each one to his place. Joshua 24, verse 29. Then Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders, as many as were with Joshua and saw all the works of the Lord which he did for Israel.
The Death of Joshua and Eleazar
Joshua 24, verse 30. Now it came to pass after these things that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of one hundred and ten years. Joshua 24, verse 31. They buried him within the boundary lines of his inheritance at Timnath Serah, on Mount Ephraim on the north side of Mount Gaash. Joshua 24, verse 32. In his grave they placed with him the stone knives with which he circumcised the sons of Israel at Gilgal, when he brought them out of Egypt, as the Lord ordered them. They remain there to this very day. Joshua 24, verse 33. The children of Israel also brought up the bones of Joseph from Egypt and buried them at Shechem, in the plot of land which Jacob purchased from the Amorites who dwelled in Shechem for one hundred lambs, and which was given to Joseph as his portion. Joshua 24, verse 34. After this, Eleazar the son of Aaron the high priest died and was buried in Gabaath, which belonged to Phinehas his son, and which he had given him on Mount Ephraim. Joshua 24, verse 35. On that day the children of Israel took the ark of God and carried it about among themselves, and Phinehas held the office of priest in place of Eleazar his father, until he died and was buried in his own place at Gabaath. Joshua 24, verse 36. But each of the children of Israel departed to his own place and to his own city. Then the children of Israel worshipped Astarte and Astaroth and the gods of the nations round about them. So the Lord gave them over into the hands of Eglon the king of Moab, and he ruled over them for eighteen years.