Joshua 24:22-28

24:22 Joshua said to the people, “Do you agree to be witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen to worship the Lord?” 1  They replied, “We are witnesses!” 2  24:23 Joshua said, 3  “Now put aside the foreign gods that are among you and submit to 4  the Lord God of Israel.”

24:24 The people said to Joshua, “We will worship 5  the Lord our God and obey him.” 6 

24:25 That day Joshua drew up an agreement 7  for the people, and he established rules and regulations 8  for them in Shechem. 24:26 Joshua wrote these words in the Law Scroll of God. He then took a large stone and set it up there under the oak tree near the Lord’s shrine. 24:27 Joshua said to all the people, “Look, this stone will be a witness against you, for it has heard everything the Lord said to us. 9  It will be a witness against you if 10  you deny your God.” 24:28 When Joshua dismissed the people, they went to their allotted portions of land. 11 

1 tn Heb “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen for yourselves the Lord to serve him.”

2 sn Like witnesses in a court of law, Israel’s solemn vow to worship the Lord will testify against them in the divine court if the nation ever violates its commitment.

3 tn The words “Joshua said” are supplied for clarification.

4 tn Heb “bend your heart toward.” The term לֵבָב (levav, “heart”) probably here refers to the people’s volition or will.

5 tn Or “will serve.”

6 tn Heb “and listen to his voice.”

7 tn Heb “cut a covenant.”

8 tn Heb “a statute and a judgment.”

9 tn Heb “all the words of the Lord which he spoke with us.”

10 tn Or “lest,” “so that you might not.”

11 tn Heb “And Joshua sent the people away, each to his inheritance.”