Isaiah 43:26

43:26 Remind me of what happened! Let’s debate!

You, prove to me that you are right! ¹ 

Joshua 24:15-24

24:15 If you have no desire ²  to worship ³  the Lord, choose today whom you will worship, ⁴  whether it be the gods whom your ancestors ⁵  worshiped ⁶  beyond the Euphrates, ⁷  or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. But I and my family ⁸  will worship ⁹  the Lord!”

24:16 The people responded, “Far be it from us to abandon the Lord so we can ¹⁰  worship ¹¹  other gods! 24:17 For the Lord our God took us and our fathers out of slavery ¹²  in the land of Egypt ¹³  and performed these awesome miracles ¹⁴  before our very eyes. He continually protected us as we traveled and when we passed through nations. ¹⁵  24:18 The Lord drove out from before us all the nations, including the Amorites who lived in the land. So we too will worship ¹⁶  the Lord, for he is our God!”

24:19 Joshua warned ¹⁷  the people, “You will not keep worshiping ¹⁸  the Lord, for ¹⁹  he is a holy God. ²⁰  He is a jealous God who will not forgive ²¹  your rebellion or your sins. 24:20 If ²²  you abandon the Lord and worship ²³  foreign gods, he will turn against you; ²⁴  he will bring disaster on you and destroy you, ²⁵  though he once treated you well.” ²⁶ 

24:21 The people said to Joshua, “No! We really will ²⁷  worship ²⁸  the Lord!” 24:22 Joshua said to the people, “Do you agree to be witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen to worship the Lord?” ²⁹  They replied, “We are witnesses!” ³⁰  24:23 Joshua said, ³¹  “Now put aside the foreign gods that are among you and submit to ³²  the Lord God of Israel.”

24:24 The people said to Joshua, “We will worship ³³  the Lord our God and obey him.” ³⁴ 

Joshua 24:1

Israel Renews its Commitment to the Lord

24:1 Joshua assembled all the Israelite tribes at Shechem. He summoned Israel’s elders, rulers, judges, and leaders, and they appeared before God.

Joshua 18:21-24

18:21 These cities belonged to the tribe ³⁵  of Benjamin by its clans: Jericho, ³⁶  Beth Hoglah, Emek Keziz, 18:22 Beth Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, ³⁷  18:23 Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, 18:24 Kephar Ammoni, Ophni, and Geba – a total of twelve cities and their towns.

Joshua 18:1

The Tribes Meet at Shiloh

18:1 The entire Israelite community assembled at Shiloh and there they set up the tent of meeting. ³⁸  Though they had subdued the land, ³⁹ 

[43:26]  ¹ tn Heb “you, tell in order that you may be right”; NAB “prove your innocence.”

[24:15]  ² tn Heb “if it is bad in your eyes.”

[24:15]  ³ tn Or “to serve.”

[24:15]  ⁴ tn Or “will serve.”

[24:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “your fathers.”

[24:15]  ⁶ tn Or “served.”

[24:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “the river,” referring to the Euphrates. This has been specified in the translation for clarity; see v. 3.

[24:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “house.”

[24:15]  ⁹ tn Or “will serve.”

[24:16]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “to.”

[24:16]  ¹¹ tn Or “can serve.”

[24:17]  ¹² tn Heb “of the house of slavery.”

[24:17]  ¹³ tn Heb “for the Lord our God, he is the one who brought up us and our fathers from the land of Egypt, from the house of slaves.”

[24:17]  ¹⁴ tn Or “great signs.”

[24:17]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and he guarded us in all the way in which we walked and among all the peoples through whose midst we passed.”

[24:18]  ¹⁶ tn Or “will serve.”

[24:19]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “said to.”

[24:19]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “you are not able to serve.”

[24:19]  ¹⁹ sn For an excellent discussion of Joshua’s logical argument here, see T. C. Butler, Joshua (WBC), 274-75.

[24:19]  ²⁰ tn In the Hebrew text both the divine name (אֱלֹהִים, ’elohim) and the adjective (קְדֹשִׁים, qÿdoshim, “holy”) are plural. Normally the divine name, when referring to the one true God, takes singular modifiers, but this is a rare exception where the adjective agrees grammatically with the honorific plural noun. See GKC §124.i and IBHS 122.

[24:19]  ²¹ tn Heb “lift up” or “take away.”

[24:20]  ²² tn Or “when.”

[24:20]  ²³ tn Or “and serve.”

[24:20]  ²⁴ tn The words “against you” are added for clarification.

[24:20]  ²⁵ tn Heb “bring you to an end.”

[24:20]  ²⁶ tn Heb “after he did good for you.”

[24:21]  ²⁷ tn The translation assumes that כִּי (ki) is emphatic. Another option is to take it as explanatory, “No, for we will….”

[24:21]  ²⁸ tn Or “will serve.”

[24:22]  ²⁹ tn Heb “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen for yourselves the Lord to serve him.”

[24:22]  ³⁰ 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.

[24:23]  ³¹ tn The words “Joshua said” are supplied for clarification.

[24:23]  ³² tn Heb “bend your heart toward.” The term לֵבָב (levav, “heart”) probably here refers to the people’s volition or will.

[24:24]  ³³ tn Or “will serve.”

[24:24]  ³⁴ tn Heb “and listen to his voice.”

[18:21]  ³⁵ tn Heb “the sons,” here referring to the tribe.

[18:21]  ³⁶ map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[18:22]  ³⁷ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[18:1]  ³⁸ tn Heb “the tent of assembly.”

[18:1]  ³⁹ tn Heb “and the land was subdued before them.”