Joshua’s Charge to Israel’s Leaders
1 A long time afterward, when the Lord had given erest to Israel from all their surrounding enemies, and Joshua fwas old and well advanced in years, 2 Joshua gsummoned all Israel, its elders and heads, its judges and officers, and said to them, “I am now old and well advanced in years. 3 And you have seen all that the Lord your God has done to all these nations for your sake, hfor it is the Lord your God who has fought for you. 4 Behold, iI have allotted to you as an inheritance for your tribes those nations that remain, along with all the nations that I have already cut off, from the Jordan to the Great Sea in the west. 5 The Lord your God jwill push them back before you and drive them out of your sight. And you shall possess their land, kjust as the Lord your God promised you. 6 Therefore, lbe very strong to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, mturning aside from it neither to the right hand nor to the left, 7 nthat you may not mix with these nations remaining among you oor make mention of the names of their gods por swear by them or serve them or bow down to them, 8 qbut you shall cling to the Lord your God just as you have done to this day. 9 rFor the Lord has driven out before you great and strong nations. And as for you, sno man has been able to stand before you to this day. 10 tOne man of you puts to flight a thousand, since it is the Lord your God uwho fights for you, just as he promised you. 11 vBe very careful, therefore, to love the Lord your God. 12 For if you turn back and cling to the remnant of these nations remaining among you wand make marriages with them, so that you associate with them and they with you, 13 know for certain that xthe Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations before you, ybut they shall be a snare and a trap for you, a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good ground that the Lord your God has given you.
14 “And now zI am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that anot one word has failed of all the good things1 that the Lord your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed. 15 But just as all the good things that the Lord your God promised concerning you have been fulfilled for you, so the Lord will bring upon you ball the evil things, until he has destroyed you from off this good land that the Lord your God has given you, 16 if you transgress the covenant of the Lord your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them. Then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and you shall perish quickly from off the good land that he has given to you.”
The Covenant Renewal at Shechem
1 Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel cto Shechem and dsummoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel. And ethey presented themselves before God. 2 And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Long ago, fyour fathers lived beyond the Euphrates,2 Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and gthey served other gods. 3 hThen I took your father Abraham from beyond the River3 and iled him through all the land of Canaan, and made his offspring many. jI gave him Isaac. 4 And to Isaac I gave kJacob and Esau. lAnd I gave Esau the hill country of Seir to possess, mbut Jacob and his children went down to Egypt. 5 nAnd I sent Moses and Aaron, oand I plagued Egypt with what I did in the midst of it, and pafterward I brought you out.
6 “‘Then pI brought your fathers out of Egypt, and qyou came to the sea. rAnd the Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea. 7 sAnd when they cried to the Lord, the put darkness between you and the Egyptians uand made the sea come upon them and cover them; vand your eyes saw what I did in Egypt. wAnd you lived in the wilderness a long time. 8 Then I brought you to the land of the Amorites, who lived on the other side of the Jordan. xThey fought with you, and I gave them into your hand, and you took possession of their land, and I destroyed them before you. 9 yThen Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel. zAnd he sent and invited Balaam the son of Beor to curse you, 10 abut I would not listen to Balaam. aIndeed, he blessed you. So I delivered you out of his hand. 11 bAnd you went over the Jordan and came to Jericho, cand the leaders of Jericho fought against you, and also cthe Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And I gave them into your hand. 12 And I sent dthe hornet before you, which drove them out before you, the two kings of the Amorites; it was enot by your sword or by your bow. 13 I gave you a land on which you had not labored fand cities that you had not built, and you dwell in them. You eat the fruit of vineyards and olive orchards that you did not plant.’
Choose Whom You Will Serve
14 g“Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. hPut away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 iAnd if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, jchoose this day whom you will serve, whether hthe gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or kthe gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. lBut as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
16 Then the people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods, 17 for it is the Lord our God who brought us and our fathers up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight and preserved us in all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed. 18 And the Lord drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the Lord, for he is our God.”
19 But Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the Lord, for he is ma holy God. He is na jealous God; ohe will not forgive your transgressions or your sins. 20 pIf you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then qhe will turn and do you harm and consume you, after having done you good.” 21 And the people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve the Lord.” 22 Then Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that ryou have chosen the Lord, to serve him.” And they said, “We are witnesses.” 23 He said, “Then sput away the foreign gods that are among you, and incline your heart to the Lord, the God of Israel.” 24 And the people said to Joshua, “The Lord our God we will serve, and his voice we will obey.” 25 So Joshua tmade a covenant with the people that day, and put in place ustatutes and rules for them at Shechem. 26 And Joshua vwrote these words in the Book of the Law of God. And whe took a large stone and set it up there xunder the terebinth that was by the sanctuary of the Lord. 27 And Joshua said to all the people, “Behold, ythis stone shall be a witness against us, for zit has heard all the words of the Lord that he spoke to us. Therefore it shall be a witness against you, lest you deal falsely with your God.” 28 So Joshua asent the people away, every man to his inheritance.
Joshua’s Death and Burial
29 bAfter these things Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being 110 years old. 30 And they buried him in his own inheritance at cTimnath-serah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gaash.
31 dIsrael served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua eand had known all the work that the Lord did for Israel.
32 fAs for the bones of Joseph, which the people of Israel brought up from Egypt, they buried them at Shechem, in the piece of land gthat Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of money.4 It became an inheritance of the descendants of Joseph.
33 And Eleazar the son of Aaron died, and they buried him at Gibeah, the town of hPhinehas his son, which had been given him in ithe hill country of Ephraim.
Give Thanks to the Lord, for He Is Good
1 iPraise the Lord!
jOh give thanks to the Lord, kfor he is good,
lfor his steadfast love endures forever!
2 Who can utter the mighty deeds of the Lord,
or declare all his praise?
3 Blessed are they who observe justice,
who mdo righteousness at all times!
4 nRemember me, O Lord, when you show favor to your people;
help me when you save them,1
5 that I may look upon the prosperity of your ochosen ones,
that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation,
that I may glory with your inheritance.
6 pBoth we and qour fathers have sinned;
we have committed iniquity; we have done wickedness.
7 Our fathers, when they were in Egypt,
did not consider your wondrous works;
they rdid not remember the abundance of your steadfast love,
but srebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.
8 Yet he saved them tfor his name’s sake,
uthat he might make known his mighty power.
9 He vrebuked the Red Sea, and it wbecame dry,
and he xled them through the deep as through a desert.
10 So he ysaved them from the hand of the foe
and zredeemed them from the power of the enemy.
11 And athe waters covered their adversaries;
not one of them was left.
12 Then bthey believed his words;
they csang his praise.
13 But they soon dforgot his works;
they did not wait for ehis counsel.
14 But they had fa wanton craving in the wilderness,
and gput God to the test in the desert;
15 he hgave them what they asked,
but sent ia wasting disease among them.
16 When men in the camp jwere jealous of Moses
and Aaron, kthe holy one of the Lord,
17 lthe earth opened and swallowed up Dathan,
and covered the company of Abiram.
18 mFire also broke out in their company;
the flame burned up the wicked.
19 They nmade a calf in Horeb
and worshiped a metal image.
20 They oexchanged the glory of God2
for the image of an ox that eats grass.
21 They pforgot God, their Savior,
who had done great things in Egypt,
22 wondrous works in qthe land of Ham,
and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.
23 Therefore rhe said he would destroy them—
had not Moses, his schosen one,
tstood in the breach before him,
to turn away his wrath from destroying them.
Peace with God Through Faith
1 aTherefore, since we have been justified by faith, bwe1 have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also cobtained access by faith2 into this grace din which we stand, and ewe3 rejoice4 in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we frejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering gproduces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hhope does not put us to shame, because God’s love ihas been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
6 For jwhile we were still weak, at the right time kChrist died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but lGod shows his love for us in that mwhile we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, nwe have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from othe wrath of God. 10 For if pwhile we were enemies qwe were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by rhis life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received sreconciliation.
Death in Adam, Life in Christ
12 Therefore, just as tsin came into the world through one man, and udeath through sin, and vso death spread to all men5 because wall sinned— 13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but xsin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not ylike the transgression of Adam, zwho was a type of athe one who was to come.
15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for bmany. 16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For cthe judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought djustification. 17 For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness ereign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.
18 Therefore, as one trespass6 led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness7 leads to justification and life for fall men. 19 For as by the one man’s gdisobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s hobedience the many will be made righteous. 20 Now ithe law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, jgrace abounded all the more, 21 so that, kas sin reigned in death, lgrace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Dead to Sin, Alive to God
1 What shall we say then? mAre we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can nwe who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us owho have been baptized pinto Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were qburied therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as rChrist was raised from the dead by sthe glory of the Father, we too might walk in tnewness of life.
5 For uif we have been united with him in va death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that wour old self8 xwas crucified with him in order that ythe body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For zone who has died ahas been set free9 from sin. 8 Now bif we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that cChrist, being raised from the dead, will never die again; ddeath no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, eonce for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves fdead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
12 Let not gsin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 13 hDo not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but ipresent yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 14 For jsin kwill have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
Slaves to Righteousness
15 What then? lAre we to sin mbecause we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves nto anyone as obedient slaves,10 you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But othanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the pstandard of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and, qhaving been set free from sin, rhave become slaves of righteousness. 19 sI am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For tjust as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members uas slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.
20 vFor when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 wBut what fruit were you getting at that time from the things xof which you are now ashamed? yFor the end of those things is death. 22 But now that you zhave been set free from sin and ahave become slaves of God, bthe fruit you get leads to sanctification and cits end, eternal life. 23 dFor the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
