Yosua 24:14-18

24:14 Now ¹  obey ²  the Lord and worship ³  him with integrity and loyalty. Put aside the gods your ancestors ⁴  worshiped ⁵  beyond the Euphrates ⁶  and in Egypt and worship ⁷  the Lord. 24:15 If you have no desire ⁸  to worship ⁹  the Lord, choose today whom you will worship, ¹⁰  whether it be the gods whom your ancestors ¹¹  worshiped ¹²  beyond the Euphrates, ¹³  or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. But I and my family ¹⁴  will worship ¹⁵  the Lord!”

24:16 The people responded, “Far be it from us to abandon the Lord so we can ¹⁶  worship ¹⁷  other gods! 24:17 For the Lord our God took us and our fathers out of slavery ¹⁸  in the land of Egypt ¹⁹  and performed these awesome miracles ²⁰  before our very eyes. He continually protected us as we traveled and when we passed through nations. ²¹  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 ²²  the Lord, for he is our God!”

[24:14]  ¹ sn Joshua quotes the Lord’s words in vv. 2b-13 (note that the Lord speaks in the first person in these verses); in vv. 14-15 Joshua himself exhorts the people (note the third person references to the Lord).

[24:14]  ² tn Heb “fear.”

[24:14]  ³ tn Or “and serve.”

[24:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “your fathers.”

[24:14]  ⁵ tn Or “served.”

[24:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “the river,” referring to the Euphrates. This has been specified in the translation for clarity; see v. 3.

[24:14]  ⁷ tn Or “and serve.”

[24:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “if it is bad in your eyes.”

[24:15]  ⁹ tn Or “to serve.”

[24:15]  ¹⁰ tn Or “will serve.”

[24:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “your fathers.”

[24:15]  ¹² tn Or “served.”

[24:15]  ¹³ tn Heb “the river,” referring to the Euphrates. This has been specified in the translation for clarity; see v. 3.

[24:15]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “house.”

[24:15]  ¹⁵ tn Or “will serve.”

[24:16]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “to.”

[24:16]  ¹⁷ tn Or “can serve.”

[24:17]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “of the house of slavery.”

[24:17]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ tn Or “great signs.”

[24:17]  ²¹ 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]  ²² tn Or “will serve.”