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Joshue 24
And Josue gathered together all the tribes of Israel
in Sichem, and called for the ancients, and the princes,
and the judges, and the masters: and they stood in the
sight of the Lord:
And he spoke thus to the people: Thus saith the Lord
the God of Israel: Your fathers dwelt of old on the
other side of the river, Thare the father of Abraham,
and Nachor: and they served strange gods.
And I took your father Abraham from the borders of Mesopotamia:
and brought him into the land of Chanaan: and I multiplied
his seed,
And gave him Isaac: and to him again I gave Jacob and
Esau. And I gave to Esau mount Seir for his possession:
but Jacob and his children went down into Egypt.
And I sent Moses and Aaron, and I struck Egypt with
many signs and wonders.
And I brought you and your fathers out of Egypt, and
you came to the sea: and the Egyptians pursued your
fathers with chariots and horsemen, as far as the Red
Sea.
And the children of Israel cried to the Lord: and he
put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought
the sea upon them, and covered them. Your eyes saw all
that I did in Egypt, and you dwelt in the wilderness
a long time:
And I brought you into the land of the Amorrhite, who
dwelt beyond the Jordan. And when they fought against
you, I delivered them into your hands, and you possessed
their land, and slew them.
And Balac son of Sephor king of Moab arose and fought
against Israel. And he sent and called for Balaam son
of Beor, to curse you:
And I would not hear him, but on the contrary I blessed
you by him, and I delivered you out of his hand.
And you passed over the Jordan, and you came to Jericho.
And the men of that city fought against you, the Amorrhite,
and the Pherezite, and the Chanaanite, and the Hethite,
and the Gergesite, and the Hevite, and the Jebusite:
and I delivered them into your hands.
And I sent before you hornets: and I drove them out
from their places, the two kings of the Amorrhites,
not with thy sword nor with thy bow.
And I gave you a land, in which you had not laboured,
and cities to dwell in which you built not, vineyards
and oliveyards, which you planted not.
Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him with a perfect
and most sincere heart: and put away the gods which
your fathers served in Mesopotamia and in Egypt, and
serve the Lord.
But if it seem evil to you to serve the Lord, you have
your choice: choose this day that which pleaseth you,
whom you would rather serve, whether the gods which
your fathers served in Mesopotamia, or the gods of the
Amorrhites, in whose land you dwell: but as for me and
my house we will serve the Lord.
And the people answered, and said: God forbid we should
leave the Lord, and serve strange gods.
The Lord our God he brought us and our fathers out of
the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage: and
did very great signs in our sight, and preserved us
in all the way by which we journeyed, and among all
the people through whom we passed.
And he hath cast out all the nations, the Amorrhite
the inhabitant of the land into which we are come. Therefore
we will serve the Lord, for he is our God.
And Josue said to the people: You will not be able to
serve the Lord: for he is a holy God, and mighty and
jealous, and will not forgive your wickedness and sins.
If you leave the Lord, and serve strange gods, he will
turn, and will afflict you, and will destroy you after
all the good he hath done you.
And the people said to Josue: No, it shall not be so
as thou sayest, but we will serve the Lord.
And Josue said to the people: You are witnesses, that
you yourselves have chosen you the Lord to serve him.
And they answered: We are witnesses.
Now therefore, said he, put away strange gods from among
you, and incline your hearts to the Lord the God of
Israel.
And the people said to Josue: We will serve the Lord
our God, and we will be obedient to his commandments.
Josue therefore on that day made a covenant, and set
before the people commandments and judgments in Sichem.
And he wrote all these things in the volume of the law
of the Lord: and he took a great stone, and set it under
the oak that was in the sanctuary of the Lord.
And he said to all the people: Behold this stone shall
be a testimony unto you, that it hath heard all the
words of the Lord, which he hath spoken to you: lest
perhaps hereafter you will deny it, and lie to the Lord
your God.
And he sent the people away every one to their own possession.
And after these things Josue the son of Null the servant
of the Lord died, being a hundred and ten years old:
And they buried him in the border of his possession
in Thamnathsare, which is situate in mount Ephraim,
on the north side of mount Gaas.
And Israel served the Lord all the days of Josue, and
of the ancients that lived a long time after Josue,
and that had known all the works of the Lord which he
had done in Israel.
And the bones of Joseph which the children of Israel
had taken out of Egypt, they buried in Sichem, in that
part of the field which Jacob had bought of the sons
of Hemor the father of Sichem, for a hundred young ewes,
and it was in the possession of the sons of Joseph.
Eleazar also the son of Aaron died: and they buried
him in Gabaath that belongeth to Phinees his son, which
was given him in mount Ephraim. |