Joshua 24:15-28

24:15 If you have no desire ¹  to worship ²  the Lord, choose today whom you will worship, ³  whether it be the gods whom your ancestors ⁴  worshiped ⁵  beyond the Euphrates, ⁶  or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. But I and my family ⁷  will worship ⁸  the Lord!”

24:16 The people responded, “Far be it from us to abandon the Lord so we can ⁹  worship ¹⁰  other gods! 24:17 For the Lord our God took us and our fathers out of slavery ¹¹  in the land of Egypt ¹²  and performed these awesome miracles ¹³  before our very eyes. He continually protected us as we traveled and when we passed through nations. ¹⁴  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 ¹⁵  the Lord, for he is our God!”

24:19 Joshua warned ¹⁶  the people, “You will not keep worshiping ¹⁷  the Lord, for ¹⁸  he is a holy God. ¹⁹  He is a jealous God who will not forgive ²⁰  your rebellion or your sins. 24:20 If ²¹  you abandon the Lord and worship ²²  foreign gods, he will turn against you; ²³  he will bring disaster on you and destroy you, ²⁴  though he once treated you well.” ²⁵ 

24:21 The people said to Joshua, “No! We really will ²⁶  worship ²⁷  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?” ²⁸  They replied, “We are witnesses!” ²⁹  24:23 Joshua said, ³⁰  “Now put aside the foreign gods that are among you and submit to ³¹  the Lord God of Israel.”

24:24 The people said to Joshua, “We will worship ³²  the Lord our God and obey him.” ³³ 

24:25 That day Joshua drew up an agreement ³⁴  for the people, and he established rules and regulations ³⁵  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. ³⁶  It will be a witness against you if ³⁷  you deny your God.” 24:28 When Joshua dismissed the people, they went to their allotted portions of land. ³⁸ 

Luke 14:25-33

Counting the Cost

14:25 Now large crowds ³⁹  were accompanying Jesus, ⁴⁰  and turning to them he said, 14:26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate ⁴¹  his own father and mother, and wife and children, and brothers and sisters, and even his own life, ⁴²  he cannot be my disciple. 14:27 Whoever does not carry his own cross ⁴³  and follow ⁴⁴  me cannot be my disciple. 14:28 For which of you, wanting to build a tower, doesn’t sit down ⁴⁵  first and compute the cost ⁴⁶  to see if he has enough money to complete it? 14:29 Otherwise, ⁴⁷  when he has laid ⁴⁸  a foundation and is not able to finish the tower, ⁴⁹  all who see it ⁵⁰  will begin to make fun of ⁵¹  him. 14:30 They will say, ⁵²  ‘This man ⁵³  began to build and was not able to finish!’ ⁵⁴  14:31 Or what king, going out to confront another king in battle, will not sit down ⁵⁵  first and determine whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose ⁵⁶  the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 14:32 If he cannot succeed, ⁵⁷  he will send a representative ⁵⁸  while the other is still a long way off and ask for terms of peace. ⁵⁹  14:33 In the same way therefore not one of you can be my disciple if he does not renounce all his own possessions. ⁶⁰ 

[24:15]  ¹ tn Heb “if it is bad in your eyes.”

[24:15]  ² tn Or “to serve.”

[24:15]  ³ tn Or “will serve.”

[24:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “your fathers.”

[24:15]  ⁵ tn Or “served.”

[24:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “the river,” referring to the Euphrates. This has been specified in the translation for clarity; see v. 3.

[24:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “house.”

[24:15]  ⁸ tn Or “will serve.”

[24:16]  ⁹ tn Heb “to.”

[24:16]  ¹⁰ tn Or “can serve.”

[24:17]  ¹¹ tn Heb “of the house of slavery.”

[24:17]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ tn Or “great signs.”

[24:17]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn Or “will serve.”

[24:19]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “said to.”

[24:19]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “you are not able to serve.”

[24:19]  ¹⁸ sn For an excellent discussion of Joshua’s logical argument here, see T. C. Butler, Joshua (WBC), 274-75.

[24:19]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ tn Heb “lift up” or “take away.”

[24:20]  ²¹ tn Or “when.”

[24:20]  ²² tn Or “and serve.”

[24:20]  ²³ tn The words “against you” are added for clarification.

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

[24:20]  ²⁵ tn Heb “after he did good for you.”

[24:21]  ²⁶ tn The translation assumes that כִּי (ki) is emphatic. Another option is to take it as explanatory, “No, for we will….”

[24:21]  ²⁷ tn Or “will serve.”

[24:22]  ²⁸ tn Heb “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen for yourselves the Lord to serve him.”

[24:22]  ²⁹ 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]  ³⁰ tn The words “Joshua said” are supplied for clarification.

[24:23]  ³¹ tn Heb “bend your heart toward.” The term לֵבָב (levav, “heart”) probably here refers to the people’s volition or will.

[24:24]  ³² tn Or “will serve.”

[24:24]  ³³ tn Heb “and listen to his voice.”

[24:25]  ³⁴ tn Heb “cut a covenant.”

[24:25]  ³⁵ tn Heb “a statute and a judgment.”

[24:27]  ³⁶ tn Heb “all the words of the Lord which he spoke with us.”

[24:27]  ³⁷ tn Or “lest,” “so that you might not.”

[24:28]  ³⁸ tn Heb “And Joshua sent the people away, each to his inheritance.”

[14:25]  ³⁹ sn It is important to note that the following remarks are not just to disciples, but to the large crowds who were following Jesus.

[14:25]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:26]  ⁴¹ tn This figurative use operates on a relative scale. God is to be loved more than family or self.

[14:26]  ⁴² tn Grk “his own soul,” but ψυχή (yuch) is frequently used of one’s physical life. It clearly has that meaning in this context.

[14:27]  ⁴³ sn It was customary practice in a Roman crucifixion for the prisoner to be made to carry his own cross. Jesus is speaking figuratively here in the context of rejection. If the priority is not one’s allegiance to Jesus, then one will not follow him in the face of possible rejection; see Luke 9:23.

[14:27]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “and come after.” In combination with the verb ἔρχομαι (ercomai) the improper preposition ὀπίσω (opisw) means “follow.”

[14:28]  ⁴⁵ tn The participle καθίσας (kaqisas) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[14:28]  ⁴⁶ tn The first illustration involves checking to see if enough funds exist to build a watchtower. Both ψηφίζω (yhfizw, “compute”) and δαπάνη (dapanh, “cost”) are economic terms.

[14:29]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “to complete it, lest.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation and ἵνα μήποτε ({ina mhpote, “lest”) has been translated as “Otherwise.”

[14:29]  ⁴⁸ tn The participle θέντος (qentos) has been taken temporally.

[14:29]  ⁴⁹ tn The words “the tower” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[14:29]  ⁵⁰ tn The word “it” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[14:29]  ⁵¹ tn Or “mock,” “ridicule.” The person who did not plan ahead becomes an object of joking and ridicule.

[14:30]  ⁵² tn Grk “make fun of him, saying.”

[14:30]  ⁵³ sn The phrase this man is often used in Luke in a derogatory sense; see “this one” and expressions like it in Luke 5:21; 7:39; 13:32; 23:4, 14, 22, 35.

[14:30]  ⁵⁴ sn The failure to finish the building project leads to embarrassment (in a culture where avoiding public shame was extremely important). The half completed tower testified to poor preparation and planning.

[14:31]  ⁵⁵ tn The participle καθίσας (kaqisa") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[14:31]  ⁵⁶ tn On the meaning of this verb see also L&N 55.3, “to meet in battle, to face in battle.”

[14:32]  ⁵⁷ tn Grk “And if not.” Here δέ (de) has not been translated; “succeed” is implied and has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[14:32]  ⁵⁸ tn Grk “a messenger.”

[14:32]  ⁵⁹ sn This image is slightly different from the former one about the tower (vv. 28-30). The first part of the illustration (sit down first and determine) deals with preparation. The second part of the illustration (ask for terms of peace) has to do with recognizing who is stronger. This could well suggest thinking about what refusing the “stronger one” (God) might mean, and thus constitutes a warning. Achieving peace with God, the more powerful king, is the point of the illustration.

[14:33]  ⁶⁰ tn Grk “Likewise therefore every one of you who does not renounce all his own possessions cannot be my disciple.” The complex double negation is potentially confusing to the modern reader and has been simplified in the translation. See L&N 57.70.