24

The Covenant at Shechem

¹Then 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. ²And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ⚓‘Your fathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, dwelt on the other side of the River in old times; and ⚓they served other gods. ³⚓Then I took your father Abraham from the other side of the River, led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his descendants and ⚓gave him Isaac. ⁴To Isaac I gave ⚓Jacob and Esau. To ⚓Esau I gave the mountains of Seir to possess, ⚓but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt. ⁵⚓Also I sent Moses and Aaron, and ⚓I plagued Egypt, according to what I did among them. Afterward I brought you out.
⁶‘Then I ⚓brought your fathers out of Egypt, and you came to the sea; and the Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea. ⁷So they cried out to the Lord; and He put ⚓darkness between you and the Egyptians, brought the sea upon them, and covered them. And ⚓your eyes saw what I did in Egypt. Then you dwelt in the wilderness ⚓a long time. ⁸And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, who dwelt on the other side of the Jordan, ⚓and they fought with you. But I gave them into your hand, that you might possess their land, and I destroyed them from before you. ⁹Then ⚓Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose to make war against Israel, and ⚓sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you. ¹⁰⚓But I would not listen to Balaam; ⚓therefore he continued to bless you. So I delivered you out of his hand. ¹¹Then ⚓you went over the Jordan and came to Jericho. And ⚓the men of Jericho fought against you—also the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. But I delivered them into your hand. ¹²⚓I sent the hornet before you which drove them out from before you, also the two kings of the Amorites, but⚓not with your sword or with your bow. ¹³I have given you a land for which you did not labor, and ⚓cities which you did not build, and you dwell in them; you eat of the vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.’
¹⁴⚓“Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in ⚓sincerity and in truth, and ⚓put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and ⚓in Egypt. Serve the Lord! ¹⁵And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, ⚓choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether ⚓the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or ⚓the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. ⚓But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
¹⁶So the people answered and said: “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods; ¹⁷for the Lord our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way that we went and among all the people through whom we passed. ¹⁸And the Lord drove out from before us all the people, including the Amorites who dwelt in the land. ⚓We also will serve the Lord, for He is our God.”
¹⁹But Joshua said to 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. 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 you good.”
²¹And the people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve the Lord!”
²²So Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that ⚓you have chosen the Lord for yourselves, to serve Him.”
And they said, “We are witnesses!”
²³“Now therefore,” he said,⚓“put away the foreign gods which are among you, and ⚓incline your heart to the Lord God of Israel.”
²⁴And the people ⚓said to Joshua, “The Lord our God we will serve, and His voice we will obey!”
²⁵So Joshua ⚓made a covenant with the people that day, and made for them a statute and an ordinance ⚓in Shechem.
²⁶Then 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. ²⁷And Joshua said to all the people, “Behold, this stone shall be ⚓a witness to us, for ⚓it has heard all the words of the Lord which He spoke to us. It shall therefore be a witness to you, lest you deny your God.” ²⁸So ⚓Joshua let the people depart, each to his own inheritance.

Death of Joshua and Eleazar

²⁹⚓Now it came to pass after these things that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being one hundred and ten years old. ³⁰And they buried him within the border of his inheritance at ⚓Timnath Serah, which is in the mountains of Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaash.
³¹⚓Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had ⚓known all the works of the Lord which He had done for Israel.
³²⚓The bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel had brought up out of Egypt, they buried at Shechem, in the plot of ground ⚓which Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for one hundred pieces of silver, and which had become an inheritance of the children of Joseph.
³³And ⚓Eleazar the son of Aaron died. They buried him in a hill belonging to⚓Phinehas his son, which was given to him in the mountains of Ephraim.

24

Yausua tej lug thaus kawg

¹Mas Yausua sau zog cov quas xeem Yixayee huvsw tuaj rua ntawm Sekhee, hab hu Yixayee cov kev txwj quas laug hab cov thawj hab cov kws tu plaub hab cov num tswv tuaj, mas puab kuj tuaj rua ntawm Vaajtswv xubndag. ²Mas Yausua has rua ib tsoom pejxeem suavdawg tas, “Yawmsaub kws yog cov Yixayee tug Vaajtswv has le nuav tas, ‘Yaav thau u mej tej laug nyob ntawm ntug dej Yufeti saab nub tuaj, yog Thela kws yog Aplahaa hab Nahau txwv, puab yeej ua koom rua luas tej daab. ³Mas kuv coj mej txwv Aplahaa tawm saab ntug dej Yufeti nub tuaj lug hab coj nwg lug thoob plhawv Khana‑aa tebchaws hab ua rua nwg muaj tub ki coob coob. Kuv pub Yiha rua nwg. ⁴Kuv pub Yakhauj hab Exau rua Yiha. Kuv pub tej toj sab Xe‑i tebchaws rua Exau ua nwg tug, tassws Yakhauj hab nwg cov mivnyuas tau moog rua nraag Iyi tebchaws. ⁵Kuv khaiv Mauxe hab Aloo lug hab kuv ua rua cov Iyi raug kev txom nyem vem tej kws kuv ua rua huv plawv puab. Hab yaav tom qaab kuv coj mej tawm lug. ⁶Kuv coj mej tej laug tawm huv Iyi tebchaws lug mas mej lug txug dej Havtxwv Lab. Cov Iyi tej tsheb ua rog hab tej tub rog caij neeg lawv mej tej laug lug txug dej Havtxwv Lab. ⁷Thaus puab quaj thov Yawmsaub, mas nwg kuj ua kuas tsaus ntuj quas mej hab cov Iyi, hab nwg ua rua dej havtxwv nyaab hlo cov Iyi. Mej lub qhov muag yeej pum ntsoov tej kws kuv ua rua Iyi tebchaws. Hab mej nyob huv tebchaws moj saab qhua ntev.
⁸“ ‘Mas kuv coj mej lug rua huv cov Amaulai lub tebchaws kws nyob saab ntug dej Yalatee nub tuaj. Puab ua rog rua mej mas kuv muab puab cob rua huv mej txhais teg hab mej txeeb tau puab lub tebchaws, hab kuv muab puab ua puam tsuaj taag rua ntawm mej hauv ntej. ⁹Thaus ntawd Xipaula tug tub Npalaj kws ua vaajntxwv kaav Mau‑a sawv tseeg tawm tsaam cov Yixayee. Npalaj khaiv tuabneeg moog hu Npe‑au tug tub Npala‑aa tuaj tsawm foom mej. ¹⁰Tassws kuv tsw quav ntsej Npala‑aa, vem le hov nwg txhad foom koob moov rua mej xwb. Yog le nuav kuv txhad le cawm mej dim huv nwg txhais teg. ¹¹Mej hlaa tug dej Yalatee lug rua ntawm lub moos Yelikhau, mas cov tuabneeg Yelikhau tawm tsaam mej. Cov Amaulai, cov Pelixai, cov Khana‑aa, cov Hivai, cov Kawkasi, cov Hivai hab cov Yenpu kuj tawm tsaam mej, tassws kuv muab puab cob rua huv mej txhais teg. ¹²Kuv tso daiv tso nkawj ua mej ntej moog lawv cov Amaulai ob tug vaajntxwv tswv ntawm mej hauv ntej moog, tsw yog mej le ntaaj le neev ua tau. ¹³Kuv muab lub tebchaws kws mej tsw tau khwv rua huv pub rua mej hab pub tej moos kws mej tsw tau tswm rua mej mas mej tau moog nyob rua huv. Mej tau noj tej vaaj txwv maab hab tej vaaj txwv aulib kws mej tsw tau cog.’
¹⁴“Yog le nuav nwgnuav mej ca le paub ntshai hab fwm Yawmsaub hab ua koom rua nwg tuaj nruab sab tag tag moog le. Ca le muab tej daab kws mej tej laug txeev teev saab dej tim u hab huv Iyi tebchaws tso pov tseg hab ua koom rua Yawmsaub. ¹⁵Yog mej tsw kaam ua koom rua Yawmsaub, nub nua mej ca le xaiv saib mej yuav ua koom rua tug twg, yuav ua koom rua tej daab kws mej tej laug txeev teev saab dej Yufeti tim u, lossws ua koom rua cov Amaulai tej daab huv lub tebchaws kws mej nyob nuav. Tassws kuv hab kuv tsev tuabneeg, peb yuav ua koom rua Yawmsaub.”
¹⁶Cov pejxeem teb tas, “Qhov kws peb yuav tso Yawmsaub tseg es moog ua koom rua luas tej daab, thov kuas nyob deb ntawm peb, ¹⁷tsua qhov Yawmsaub kws yog peb tug Vaajtswv yog tug kws coj peb hab peb tej laug tawm huv Iyi tebchaws huv txujkev ua qhev lug, hab yog tug kws ua tej txujci phemfwj rua peb pum hab tsom kwm peb rua txhua txujkev kws peb taug hab tsom kwm peb rua huv txhua lub tebchaws kws peb hlaa moog. ¹⁸Hab Yawmsaub ntab tej tuabneeg suavdawg tswv ntawm peb hauv ntej huvsw moog, yog cov Amaulai kws nyob huv lub tebchaws hov. Vem le nuav peb yuav ua koom rua Yawmsaub tsua qhov nwg yog peb tug Vaajtswv.”
¹⁹Tassws Yausua has rua cov pejxeem tas, “Mej ua koom rua Yawmsaub tsw tau le, tsua qhov nwg yog tug Vaajtswv kws dawb huv. Nwg yog tug Vaajtswv kws khib xeeb nwg yuav tsw zaam mej tej kev faav xeeb hab mej lub txem. ²⁰Yog mej tso Yawmsaub tseg moog ua koom rua luas tej daab, nwg yuav tig hlo lug ua kev txom nyem ceblaaj raug mej hab rhuav tshem mej, txawm yog nwg txeev ua zoo rua mej kuj xwj.” ²¹Cov pejxeem has rua Yausua tas, “Tsw yog le ntawd, peb yeej yuav ua koom rua Yawmsaub.” ²²Mas Yausua has rua cov pejxeem tas, “Mej ua timkhawv rov rua mej has tas mej xaiv yuav Yawmsaub hab ua koom rua nwg nav.” Puab has tas, “Peb ua tau timkhawv.” ²³Yausua has tas, “Yog le ntawd ca le muab luas tej txoov daab kws nyob huv mej pov tseg hab muab lub sab xwb rua Yawmsaub kws yog Yixayee tug Vaajtswv.” ²⁴Mas cov pejxeem has rua Yausua tas, “Peb yuav ua koom rua Yawmsaub kws yog peb tug Vaajtswv hab peb yuav noog nwg lug.”
²⁵Yog le nuav Yausua txhad kuas cov pejxeem cog lug tseg rua nub ntawd hab nwg muab tej kaab ke hab tej kevcai cob rua puab ntawm lub moos Sekhee. ²⁶Hab Yausua sau tej lug nuav rua huv Yawmsaub phoo ntawv kevcai. Nwg muab ib lub pob zeb luj teeb rua huv qaab tug ntoo qheb ntawm lub chaw pe hawm Yawmsaub. ²⁷Hab Yausua has rua cov pejxeem suavdawg tas, “Saib nawj, lub pob zeb nuav yuav ua timkhawv rua peb, tsua qhov lub pob zeb nuav tau nov tej lug huvsw kws Yawmsaub has rua peb. Yog tas mej faav xeeb rua mej tug Vaajtswv, lub pob zeb nuav txhad ua timkhawv kom mej.” ²⁸Tes Yausua txawm tso cov pejxeem nyag rov moog rua nyag thaaj tebchaws kws yog puab qub txeeg qub teg.

Yausua hab Ele‑axa tuag

²⁹Dhau ntawd Noo tug tub Yausua kws yog Yawmsaub tug qhev txawm tuag, nwg noob nyoog muaj ib puas kaum xyoo. ³⁰Puab muab nwg log rua huv nwg thaaj teb kws yog nwg qub txeeg qub teg ntawm lub moos Thinaxela kws nyob peg toj sab Efa‑i tebchaws ntawm lub roob Ka‑a saab peg.
³¹Cov Yixayee ua koom rua Yawmsaub taag Yausua swm neej hab taag cov kev txwj quas laug kws nyob ntev dhau Yausua swm neej hab paub txug txhua yaam kws Yawmsaub tau ua rua cov Yixayee.
³²Yauxej cov pob txhaa kws cov Yixayee coj huv Iyi tebchaws lug hov puab muab log rua huv lub moos Sekhee, yog huv thaaj teb kws Yakhauj yuav ntawm Hamau cov tub ib puas lub txag nyaj.⚓ Hamau yog Sekhee txwv. Thaaj teb hov poob ua Yauxej caaj ceg le qub txeeg qub teg.
³³Aloo tug tub Ele‑axa kuj tuag, mas puab muab nwg log ntawm lub moos Kinpe‑a kws yog nwg tug tub Fineha lub moos kws tau muab ua Fineha teej tug yog nyob peg toj sab Efa‑i tebchaws.