The people replied: We would never leave Jehovah to serve other gods! Verse ConceptsForsaking GodZeal, ReligiousNot Forsaking GodDifferent Gods

They were united with their brothers, their rulers, and put themselves under a curse and an oath, to keep their steps in the way of God's law, which was given by Moses, the servant of God, and to keep and do all the orders of the Jehovah, our Lord, and his decisions and his rules. That way we would not give our daughters to the peoples of the lands, or take their daughters for our sons; If the peoples of the lands come to do trade in goods or food on the Sabbath day, that we would do no trade with them on the Sabbath or on a holy day. In the seventh year we would take no payment from any debtor. read more.
We made rules for ourselves, taxing ourselves a third of a shekel every year for the upkeep of the House of our God. For the holy bread, and for the regular meal offering and the regular burned offering on the Sabbaths and at the new moon and the fixed feasts, and for the sin-offerings to take away the sin of Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God. And we, the priests and the Levites and the people, made selection, by the decision of Jehovah, of those who were to take the wood offering into the house of God, by families at the regular times, year by year, to be burned on the altar of Jehovah our God, as it is recorded in the law; To take the first fruits of our land, and the first fruits of every sort of tree, year by year, into the house of Jehovah. As well as the first of our sons and of our cattle, as it is recorded in the law. The first lambs of our herds and of our flocks, which are to be taken to the house of our God, to the priests who are servants in the house of our God: That we would take the first of our rough meal, and our lifted offerings, and the fruit of every sort of tree, and wine and oil, to the priests, to the rooms of the house of our God. The tenth of the produce of our land to the Levites for the Levites, take a tenth in all the towns of our ploughed land. The priest, the son of Aaron, is to be with the Levites, when the Levites take the tenths. The Levites are to take a tenth of the tenths into the house of our God, to the rooms, into the storehouse. The children of Israel and the children of Levi are to take the lifted offering of the grain and wine and oil into the rooms where the vessels of the holy place are. This is together with the priests and the gatekeepers and the makers of music. We will not give up caring for the House of our God.

Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel together at Shechem. He called the elders, the leaders, the judges, and the officers of Israel, and they came to the presence of God. Joshua said to all the people: This is what Jehovah, the God of Israel says: 'Long ago your ancestors lived on the other side of the Euphrates River and worshiped other gods. One of those ancestors was Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor. I took Abraham, your ancestor, from the land across the Euphrates and led him through the whole land of Canaan. I gave him many descendants. I gave him Isaac, read more.
and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I gave Esau the hill country of Edom as his possession, but your ancestor Jacob and his children went down to Egypt. Later I sent Moses and Aaron, and I brought great trouble on Egypt. I led you out. I brought your ancestors out of Egypt, and the Egyptians pursued them with chariots and cavalry. When your ancestors got to the Red Sea they cried out to me for help. I put darkness between them and the Egyptians. I made the sea come rolling over the Egyptians and drown them. You know what I did to Egypt. You lived in the desert a long time. I brought you to the land of the Amorites, who lived on the east side of the Jordan. They fought you, but I gave you victory over them. You took their land. I destroyed them as you advanced. The king of Moab, Balak son of Zippor, fought against you. He sent word to Balaam son of Beor and asked him to put a curse on you. But I would not listen to Balaam, so he blessed you, and in this way I rescued you from Balak. You crossed the Jordan and traveled to Jericho. The men of Jericho fought you, as did the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. I gave you victory over all of them. You advanced and I threw them into panic in order to drive out the two Amorite kings. Your swords and bows had nothing to do with it. I gave you a land that you had never worked and cities that you had not built. Now live there and eat grapes from vines that you did not plant, and olives from trees that you did not plant. Honor Jehovah and serve him sincerely and in truth. Get rid of the gods that your ancestors used to worship in Mesopotamia and in Egypt, and serve only Jehovah. If you are not willing to serve him, decide today whom you will serve, the gods your ancestors worshiped in Mesopotamia or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are now living. As for my family and me, we will serve Jehovah.' The people replied: We would never leave Jehovah to serve other gods! Jehovah our God brought our fathers and us out of slavery in Egypt. We saw the miracles he performed. He kept us safe wherever we went among all the nations through which we passed. As we advanced to this land, Jehovah drove out all the Amorites who lived here. We also will serve Jehovah. He is our God! Joshua said to the people: You may not be able to serve Jehovah. He is a holy God and will not forgive your sins. He will tolerate no rivals, and if you leave him to serve foreign gods, he will turn against you and punish you. He will destroy you, even though he was good to you before. The people said to Joshua: No! We will serve Jehovah! Joshua replied: You are your own witnesses to the fact that you have chosen to serve Jehovah. They said: We are witnesses! Remove the foreign gods you have. He demanded: Pledge your loyalty to Jehovah, the God of Israel. The people said to Joshua: We will serve Jehovah our God. We will obey his commands. Joshua made a covenant for the people that day at Shechem. He gave them laws and rules to follow. Joshua wrote these commands in the Book of the Law of God. Then he took a large stone and set it up under the oak tree in Jehovah's sanctuary. He told the people: This stone will serve as our witness. It has heard all the words that Jehovah spoke to us. So it will be a witness against you, to keep you from rebelling against your God. Joshua sent the people away, and everyone returned to their own part of the land.