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 lus thaum kawg

¹Mas Yausua sau zog txhua xeem Yixayee huvsi tuaj rau ntawm Sekhee, thiab hu Yixayee cov kev txwj laus thiab cov thawj thiab cov uas tu plaub thiab cov nom tswv tuaj, mas lawv kuj tuaj rau ntawm Vajtswv xubntiag. ²Mas Yausua hais rau ib tsoom pejxeem sawvdaws tias, “Yawmsaub uas yog cov Yixayee tus Vajtswv hais li no tias, ‘Yav thaum ub nej tej poj koob yawm txwv nyob ntawm ntug dej Yufeti sab hnub tuaj, yog Thela uas yog Aplahas thiab Nahau txiv, lawv yeej ua koom tu luag tej dab. ³Mas kuv coj nej txiv Aplahas tawm sab ntug dej Yufeti hnub tuaj los thiab coj nws los thoob plaws Khana‑as tebchaws thiab ua rau nws muaj tub ki coob coob. Kuv pub Yiha rau nws. ⁴Kuv pub Yakhauj thiab Exau rau Yiha. Kuv pub tej toj siab Xe‑i tebchaws rau Exau ua nws tug, tiamsis Yakhauj thiab nws cov menyuam tau mus rau nram Iyi tebchaws. ⁵Kuv txib Mauxe thiab Aloo los thiab kuv ua rau cov Iyi raug kev txom nyem vim tej uas kuv ua rau hauv lawv nruab nrab. Thiab yav tom qab kuv coj nej tawm los. ⁶Kuv coj nej tej poj koob yawm txwv tawm hauv Iyi tebchaws los mas nej los txog dej Hiavtxwv Liab. Cov Iyi tej tsheb ua rog thiab tej tub rog caij nees caum nej tej poj koob yawm txwv los txog dej Hiavtxwv Liab. ⁷Thaum lawv quaj thov Yawmsaub, mas nws kuj ua kom tsaus ntuj quas nej thiab cov Iyi, thiab nws ua rau dej hiavtxwv nyab kiag cov Iyi. Nej lub qhov muag yeej pom ntsoov tej uas kuv ua rau Iyi tebchaws. Thiab nej nyob hauv tebchaws moj sab qhua ntev. ⁸Mas kuv coj nej los rau hauv cov Amaulai lub tebchaws uas nyob sab ntug dej Yaladee hnub tuaj. Lawv ua rog rau nej mas kuv muab lawv cob rau hauv nej txhais tes thiab nej txeeb tau lawv lub tebchaws, thiab kuv muab lawv ua puam tsuaj tag rau ntawm nej hauv ntej. ⁹Thaum ntawd Xipaula tus tub Npalaj uas ua vajntxwv kav Mau‑a sawv tsees tawm tsam cov Yixayee. Npalaj txib neeg mus hu Npe‑au tus tub Npala‑as tuaj tsawm foom nej. ¹⁰Tiamsis kuv tsis quav ntsej Npala‑as, vim li ntawd nws thiaj foom koob hmoov rau nej xwb. Yog li no kuv thiaj li cawm nej dim hauv nws txhais tes. ¹¹Nej hla tus dej Yaladee los rau ntawm lub moos Yelikhau, mas cov neeg Yelikhau tawm tsam nej. Cov Amaulai, cov Pelixai, cov Khana‑as, cov Hivai, cov Kawkasi, cov Hivai thiab cov Yenpu kuj tawm tsam nej, tiamsis kuv muab lawv cob rau hauv nej txhais tes. ¹²Kuv tso daiv tso nkawj ua nej ntej mus ntiab cov Amaulai ob tug vajntxwv khiav ntawm nej hauv ntej mus, tsis yog nej li ntaj li hneev ua tau. ¹³Kuv muab lub tebchaws uas nej tsis tau khwv rau hauv pub rau nej thiab pub tej moos uas nej tsis tau tsim rau nej mas nej tau mus nyob rau hauv. Nej tau noj tej vaj txiv hmab thiab tej vaj txiv aulib uas nej tsis tau cog.’
¹⁴“Yog li no nimno nej cia li paub ntshai thiab hwm Yawmsaub thiab ua koom tu nws tuaj nruab siab tiag tiag mus li. Cia li muab tej dab uas nej tej poj koob yawm txwv txeev teev sab dej tim ub thiab hauv Iyi tebchaws tso pov tseg thiab ua koom tu Yawmsaub. ¹⁵Yog nej tsis kam ua koom tu Yawmsaub, hnub no nej cia li xaiv saib nej yuav ua koom tu tus twg, yuav ua koom tu tej dab uas nej tej poj koob yawm txwv txeev teev sab dej Yufeti tim ub, lossis ua koom tu cov Amaulai tej dab hauv lub tebchaws uas nej nyob no. Tiamsis kuv thiab kuv tsev neeg, peb yuav ua koom tu Yawmsaub.”
¹⁶Cov pejxeem teb tias, “Qhov uas peb yuav tso Yawmsaub tseg es mus ua koom tu luag tej dab, thov kom nyob deb ntawm peb, ¹⁷rau qhov Yawmsaub uas yog peb tus Vajtswv yog tus uas coj peb thiab peb tej poj koob yawm txwv tawm hauv Iyi tebchaws hauv txojkev ua qhev los, thiab yog tus uas ua tej txujci phimhwj rau peb pom thiab tsom kwm peb rau txhua txojkev uas peb taug thiab tsom kwm peb rau hauv txhua lub tebchaws uas peb hla mus. ¹⁸Thiab Yawmsaub ntiab tej neeg sawvdaws khiav ntawm peb hauv ntej huvsi mus, yog cov Amaulai uas nyob hauv lub tebchaws ntawd. Vim li no peb yuav ua koom tu Yawmsaub rau qhov nws yog peb tus Vajtswv.”
¹⁹Tiamsis Yausua hais rau cov pejxeem tias, “Nej ua koom tu Yawmsaub tsis tau li, rau qhov nws yog tus Vajtswv uas dawb huv. Nws yog tus Vajtswv uas khib xeeb nws yuav tsis zam nej tej kev fav xeeb thiab nej lub txim. ²⁰Yog nej tso Yawmsaub tseg mus ua koom tu luag tej dab, nws yuav tig kiag los ua kev txom nyem ceeblaj raug nej thiab rhuav tshem nej, txawm yog nws txeev ua zoo rau nej kuj xij.” ²¹Cov pejxeem hais rau Yausua tias, “Tsis yog li ntawd, peb yeej yuav ua koom tu Yawmsaub.” ²²Mas Yausua hais rau cov pejxeem tias, “Nej ua timkhawv rov rau nej hais tias nej xaiv yuav Yawmsaub thiab ua koom tu nws nav.” Lawv hais tias, “Peb ua tau timkhawv.” ²³Yausua hais tias, “Yog li ntawd cia li muab luag tej dab mlom uas nyob hauv nej pov tseg thiab muab lub siab xib rau Yawmsaub uas yog Yixayee tus Vajtswv.” ²⁴Mas cov pejxeem hais rau Yausua tias, “Peb yuav ua koom tu Yawmsaub uas yog peb tus Vajtswv thiab peb yuav mloog nws lus.”
²⁵Yog li no Yausua thiaj kom cov pejxeem cog lus tseg rau hnub ntawd thiab nws muab tej kab ke thiab tej kevcai cob rau lawv ntawm lub moos Sekhee. ²⁶Thiab Yausua sau tej lus no rau hauv Yawmsaub phau ntawv kevcai. Nws muab ib lub pob zeb loj teeb rau hauv tus qab ntoo qheb ntawm lub chaw pe hawm Yawmsaub. ²⁷Thiab Yausua hais rau cov pejxeem sawvdaws tias, “Saib nawj, lub pob zeb no yuav ua timkhawv rau peb, rau qhov lub pob zeb no tau hnov tej lus huvsi uas Yawmsaub hais rau peb. Yog tias nej fav xeeb rau nej tus Vajtswv, lub pob zeb no thiaj ua timkhawv kom nej.” ²⁸Ces Yausua txawm tso cov pejxeem nyias rov mus rau nyias thaj tebchaws uas yog lawv qub txeeg qub teg.

Yausua thiab Ele‑axa tuag

²⁹Dhau ntawd Noo tus tub Yausua uas yog Yawmsaub tus qhev txawm tuag, nws hnub nyoog muaj ib puas kaum xyoo. ³⁰Lawv muab nws log rau hauv nws thaj teb uas yog nws qub txeeg qub teg ntawm lub moos Thinaxela uas nyob pem toj siab Efa‑i tebchaws ntawm lub roob Ka‑a sab ped.
³¹Cov Yixayee ua koom tu Yawmsaub tag Yausua sim neej thiab tag cov kev txwj laus uas nyob ntev dhau Yausua sim neej thiab paub txog txhua yam uas Yawmsaub tau ua rau cov Yixayee.
³²Yauxej cov pob txha uas cov Yixayee coj hauv Iyi tebchaws los ntawd lawv muab log rau hauv lub moos Sekhee, yog hauv thaj teb uas Yakhauj yuav ntawm Hamau cov tub ib puas lub txiag nyiaj.⚓ Hamau yog Sekhee txiv. Thaj teb ntawd poob ua Yauxej caj ces li qub txeeg qub teg.
³³Aloo tus tub Ele‑axa kuj tuag, mas lawv muab nws log ntawm lub moos Kinpe‑a uas yog nws tus tub Fineha lub moos uas tau muab ua Fineha teej tug yog nyob pem toj siab Efa‑i tebchaws.