Joshua's Farewell Address

241 Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem , and called for the elders of Israel and for their heads and their judges and their officers ; and they presented themselves before God . 2 Joshua said to all the people , "Thus says the Lord , the God of Israel , 'From ancient times your fathers lived beyond the River , namely, Terah , the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor , and they served other gods . 3 'Then I took your father Abraham from beyond e the River , and led him through all the land of Canaan , and multiplied his descendants and gave him Isaac . 4 'To Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau , and to Esau I gave Mount Seir to possess it; but Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt . 5 'Then I sent Moses and Aaron , and I plagued Egypt by what I did in its midst ; and afterward I brought you out. 6 'I brought your fathers out of Egypt , and you came to the sea ; and Egypt pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the Red e Sea . 7 'But when they cried out to the Lord , He put darkness between you and the Egyptians , and brought the sea upon them and covered them; and your own eyes saw what I did in Egypt . And you lived in the wilderness for a long time . 8 'Then I brought you into the land of the Amorites who lived beyond the Jordan , and they fought with you; and I gave them into your hand , and you took possession of their land when I destroyed them before you. 9 'Then Balak the son of Zippor , king of Moab , arose and fought against Israel , and he sent and summoned Balaam the son of Beor to curse you. 10 'But I was not willing to listen to Balaam . So he had to bless you, and I delivered you from his hand . 11 ' You crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho ; and the citizens of Jericho fought against you, and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Girgashite , the Hivite and the Jebusite . Thus I gave them into your hand . 12 'Then I sent the hornet before you and it drove out the two kings of the Amorites from before e you, but not by your sword or your bow . 13 ' I gave you a land on which you had not labored , and cities which you had not built , and you have lived in them; you are eating of vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant .' 14 "Now , therefore, fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and truth ; and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt , and serve the Lord .

15 "If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord , choose for yourselves today whom you will serve : whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River , or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living ; but as for me and my house , we will serve the Lord ." 16 The people answered and said , "Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods ; 17 for the Lord our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt , from the house of bondage , and who did these great signs in our sight and preserved us through all the way in which we went and among all the peoples through whose midst we passed . 18 "The Lord drove out from before us all the peoples , even the Amorites who lived in the land . We also will serve the Lord , for He is our God ." 19 Then Joshua said to the people , "You will not be able to serve the Lord , for He is a holy God . He is a jealous God ; He will not forgive your transgression or your sins . 20 " If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods , then He will turn and do you harm and consume you after He has done good to you." 21 The people said to Joshua , "No , but we will serve the Lord ." 22 Joshua said to the people , "You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen for yourselves the Lord , to serve Him." And they said , "We are witnesses ." 23 "Now therefore, put away the foreign gods which are in your midst , and incline your hearts to the Lord , the God of Israel ." 24 The people said to Joshua , "We will serve the Lord our God and we will obey His voice ." 25 So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day , and made for them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem . 26 And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God ; and he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of the Lord . 27 Joshua said to all the people , "Behold , this stone shall be for a witness against us, for it has heard all the words of the Lord which He spoke to us; thus it shall be for a witness against you, so that you do not deny your God ." 28 Then Joshua dismissed the people , each to his inheritance .

The Death of Joshua

29 It came about after these things that Joshua the son of Nun , the servant of the Lord , died , being one hundred and ten years old . 30 And they buried him in the territory of his inheritance in Timnath-serah , which is in the hill country of Ephraim , on the north of Mount Gaash . 31 Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who survived e e Joshua , and had known all the deeds of the Lord which He had done for Israel .

Joseph's Bones Buried at Shechem

32 Now they buried the bones of Joseph , which the sons of Israel brought up from Egypt , at Shechem , in the piece of ground which Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for one hundred pieces of money ; and they became the inheritance of Joseph's sons .

The Death of Eleazar

33 And Eleazar the son of Aaron died ; and they buried him at Gibeah of Phinehas his son , which was given him in the hill country of Ephraim .

Israel Passes over the Jordan

31 Then Joshua rose early in the morning ; and he and all the sons of Israel set out from Shittim and came to the Jordan , and they lodged there before they crossed . 2 At the end of three days the officers went through the midst of the camp ; 3 and they commanded the people , saying , "When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God with the Levitical priests carrying it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it. 4 "However , there shall be between you and it a distance of about 2,000 cubits by measure . Do not come near it, that you may know the way by which you shall go , for you have not passed this way before e ." 5 Then Joshua said to the people , " Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you." 6 And Joshua spoke to the priests , saying , "Take up the ark of the covenant and cross over ahead of the people ." So they took up the ark of the covenant and went ahead of the people .

7 Now the Lord said to Joshua , "This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel , that they may know that just as I have been with Moses , I will be with you. 8 "You shall, moreover, command the priests who are carrying the ark of the covenant , saying , 'When you come to the edge of the waters of the Jordan , you shall stand still in the Jordan .' " 9 Then Joshua said to the sons of Israel , "Come here , and hear the words of the Lord your God ." 10 Joshua said , "By this you shall know that the living God is among you, and that He will assuredly dispossess from before you the Canaanite , the Hittite , the Hivite , the Perizzite , the Girgashite , the Amorite , and the Jebusite . 11 "Behold , the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is crossing over ahead of you into the Jordan . 12 "Now then, take for yourselves twelve e men from the tribes of Israel , one man for each e tribe . 13 "It shall come about when the soles of the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the Lord , the Lord of all the earth , rest in the waters of the Jordan , the waters of the Jordan will be cut off , and the waters which are flowing down from above e will stand in one heap ."

14 So when the people set out from their tents to cross the Jordan with the priests carrying the ark of the covenant before the people , 15 and when those who carried the ark came into the Jordan , and the feet of the priests carrying the ark were dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows e all its banks all the days of harvest ), 16 the waters which were flowing down from above e stood and rose up in one heap , a great distance away at Adam , the city that is beside e Zarethan ; and those which were flowing down toward the sea of the Arabah , the Salt Sea , were completely cut off . So the people crossed opposite Jericho . 17 And the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel crossed on dry ground , until e all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan .