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Rh 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 even blessed you; 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 laboured, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell therein; of vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat. Now therefore fear the, 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 the. And if it seem evil unto you to serve the, 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 the .'

And the people answered and said: 'Far be it from us that we should forsake the, to serve other gods; for the our God, He it is that brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of 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 the  drove out from before us all the peoples, even the Amorites that dwelt in the land; therefore we also will serve the ; for He is our God.'

And Joshua said unto the people: 'Ye cannot serve the ; for He is a holy God; He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgression nor your sins. If ye forsake the, and serve strange 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 the .' And Joshua said unto the people: 'Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen you the, to serve Him.—And they said: 'We are witnesses.'—Now therefore put away the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the , the God of Israel.' And the people said unto Joshua: 'The 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 by the sanctuary of the. And Joshua said unto all the people: 'Behold, this stone shall be a witness against us; for it hath heard all the words of the which He spoke 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 the, died, being a