And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers; and they presented themselves before God.
And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt of old time beyond the River, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor: and they served other gods.
And I took your father Abraham from beyond the River, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac.
And I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave unto Esau mount Seir, to possess it: and Jacob and his children went down into Egypt.
And I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did in the midst thereof: and afterward I brought you out.
And I brought your fathers out of Egypt: and ye came unto the sea; and the Egyptians pursued after your fathers with chariots and with horsemen unto the Red Sea.
And when they cried out unto Jehovah, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them, and covered them; and your eyes saw what I did in Egypt: and ye dwelt in the wilderness many days.
And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, that dwelt beyond the Jordan: and they fought with you; and I gave them into your hand, and ye possessed their land; and I destroyed them from before you.
Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel: and he sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you;
but I would not hearken unto Balaam; therefore he blessed you still: so I delivered you out of his hand.
And ye went over the Jordan, and came unto Jericho: and the men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Girgashite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; and I delivered them into your hand.
And I sent the hornet before you, which drove them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; not with thy sword, nor with thy bow.
And I gave you a land whereon thou hadst not labored, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell therein; of vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat.
Now therefore fear Jehovah, and serve him in sincerity and in truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, and in Egypt; and serve ye Jehovah.
And if it seem evil unto you to serve Jehovah, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve Jehovah.
And the people answered and said, Far be it from us that we should forsake Jehovah, to serve other gods;
for Jehovah our God, he it is that brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of {Hebrew: bondmen.}bondage, and that did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the peoples through the midst of whom we passed;
and Jehovah drove out from before us all the peoples, even the Amorites that dwelt in the land: therefore we also will serve Jehovah; for he is our God.
And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve Jehovah; for he is a holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgression nor your sins.
If ye forsake Jehovah, and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you evil, and consume you, after that he hath done you good.
And the people said unto Joshua, Nay; but we will serve Jehovah.
And Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen you Jehovah, to serve him. And they said, We are witnesses.
Now therefore put away, said he, the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto Jehovah, the God of Israel.
And the people said unto Joshua, Jehovah our God will we serve, and unto his voice will we hearken.
So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.
And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God; and he took a great stone, and set it up there under the oak that was {Or, in}by the sanctuary of Jehovah.
And Joshua said unto all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness against us; for it hath heard all the words of Jehovah which he spake unto us: it shall be therefore a witness against you, lest ye deny your God.
So Joshua sent the people away, every man unto his inheritance.
And it came to pass after these things, that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Jehovah, died, being a hundred and ten years old.
And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathserah, which is in the hill-country of Ephraim, on the north of the mountain of Gaash.
And Israel served Jehovah all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, and had known all the work of Jehovah, that he had wrought for Israel.
And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem, in the parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of money: and they became the inheritance of the children of Joseph.
And Eleazar the son of Aaron died; and they buried him in {Or, Gibeah of Phinehas}the hill of Phinehas his son, which was given him in the hill-country of Ephraim.
Querverweise zu Josua 24,15 Jos 24,15
And she said, Behold, thy sister-in-law is gone back unto her people, and unto her god: return thou after thy sister-in-law.
Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works; but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and break in pieces their {Or, obelisks}pillars.
For I have known him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of Jehovah, to do righteousness and justice; to the end that Jehovah may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.
And Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave thee, and to return from following after thee, for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God;
Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.
I will {Or, give heed unto the perfect way}behave myself wisely in a perfect way:Oh when wilt thou come unto me?I will walk within my house {Or, in the integrity of my heart}with a perfect heart.
And Elijah came near unto all the people, and said, How long go ye limping between the two sides? if Jehovah be God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.
They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me; for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee.
I have sworn, and have confirmed it,That I will observe thy righteous ordinances.
As for you, O house of Israel, thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Go ye, serve every one his idols, {Or, but hereafter surely he shall hearken unto me and &c.}and hereafter also, if ye will not hearken unto me; but my holy name shall ye no more profane with your gifts, and with your idols.
lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they play the harlot after their gods, and sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee and thou eat of his sacrifice;
Thy testimonies have I taken as a heritage for ever;For they are the rejoicing of my heart.
Jesus said therefore unto the twelve, Would ye also go away?
of the gods of the peoples that are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth;
I have inclined my heart to perform thy statutesFor ever, even unto the end.
lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from Jehovah our God, to go to serve the gods of those nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth {Hebrew: rosh, a poisonous herb.}gall and wormwood;
Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou {Or, hast words}hast the words of eternal life.
and I said unto you, I am Jehovah your God; ye shall not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell. But ye have not hearkened unto my voice.
who, when he was come, and had seen the grace of God, was glad; and he exhorted them all, {Some ancient authorities read that they would cleave unto the purpose of their heart in the Lord.}that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord: