Thematic Bible




Thematic Bible



So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, making statutes and ordinances in Shechem.

So Joshua told the people, "You will not be able to serve the LORD, because he is a God of Holiness. He is a jealous God, and he will forgive neither your transgressions nor your sins. If you abandon the LORD and serve foreign deities, then he will turn and do you harm, consuming you after all the good he has done for you." "No," the people replied to Joshua. "We will serve the LORD." read more.
Joshua responded, "You are giving testimony against yourselves, that you have chosen to serve the LORD." They replied, "We are witnesses!" Joshua said, "Therefore abandon the foreign gods that are among you, and turn your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel." The people replied, "We will serve the LORD our God and obey his voice." So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, making statutes and ordinances in Shechem. He wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God, took a large stone, moved it under the shade of the oak tree that was near the sanctuary of the LORD, and then told all of the people, "Look! This stone will testify for us, because it has heard everything that the LORD has spoken to us. So it will stand as a witness against you in the event that you deny your God." Then Joshua dismissed the people, and each man returned to his territorial inheritance.


If you think it's the wrong thing for you to serve the LORD, then choose for yourselves today whom you will serve the gods whom your ancestors served on the other side of the Euphrates River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose territories you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."

The LORD expelled all the people before us, including the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore, we also will serve the LORD, since he is our God." So Joshua told the people, "You will not be able to serve the LORD, because he is a God of Holiness. He is a jealous God, and he will forgive neither your transgressions nor your sins. If you abandon the LORD and serve foreign deities, then he will turn and do you harm, consuming you after all the good he has done for you." read more.
"No," the people replied to Joshua. "We will serve the LORD." Joshua responded, "You are giving testimony against yourselves, that you have chosen to serve the LORD." They replied, "We are witnesses!" Joshua said, "Therefore abandon the foreign gods that are among you, and turn your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel." The people replied, "We will serve the LORD our God and obey his voice."


Joshua said, "Therefore abandon the foreign gods that are among you, and turn your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel."


This is what you are to do to them: tear down their altars, break their pillars, cut down their ritual pillars, and burn their carved idols in fire,

You are not to bow down to their gods or serve them. You are not to follow their practices, but you are to overthrow them completely and smash their sacred stones to pieces.

Joshua said, "Therefore abandon the foreign gods that are among you, and turn your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel."

Obey what I am commanding you today and I'll drive out from before you the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. "Be very careful not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you are going, so they won't be a snare among you. Rather, you are to tear down their altars, you are to smash their sacred pillars, and you are to cut down their sacred poles

Then the LORD told Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan River, across from Jericho, "Tell the Israelis that when they have crossed the Jordan River to the land of Canaan, they are to drive out all the inhabitants of the land and destroy all their idols and their molten images. You are to demolish all their high places,

Be sure you destroy there all the places where the nations that you're going to dispossess serve their gods upon the high mountains and hills and under every leafy tree. Tear down their altars, cut down their sacred poles, and burn them. Cut down the carved images of their gods to erase their memory from that place."

Some time later, the angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim and announced to Israel, "I brought you up from Egypt and led you into the land that I promised to your ancestors. I had told them, "I'll never breach my covenant with you. As for you, you must not make any treaties with the inhabitants of this land. Instead, tear down their altars.' But you haven't obeyed me. What have you done?


Then Joshua assembled together all of the tribes of Israel at Shechem. He called for the leaders, officials, judges, and tribal officers of Israel. They assembled in formation before God, and Joshua told all of the people, "This is what the LORD God of Israel has to say: "Long ago your ancestors lived beyond the Euphrates River, including Terah, father of both Abraham and Nahor, where they served other gods. Then I took your ancestor Abraham from the other side of the Euphrates River and led him through the entire land of Canaan. I multiplied his descendants, and gave him his son Isaac. read more.
I gave Jacob and Esau to Isaac. And I gave Mount Seir to Esau as his possession, but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt. "Later I commissioned Moses and Aaron, and I inflicted plagues on Egypt by what I did among them. Afterwards, I brought all of you out. "Then I brought your ancestors out of Egypt, and you came to the Sea, and the Egyptians followed your ancestors with chariots and horsemen to the Reed Sea. But when they cried out to the LORD, he placed darkness between you and the Egyptians, brought the sea upon the Egyptians, and swallowed them up. Your own eyes saw what I did in Egypt. Then you lived in the desert for a long time. "I brought you into the territory of the Amorites, who lived on the other side of the Jordan River. They fought you, but I gave them into your control, and you took possession of their land. I destroyed them from your presence. "Then Zippor's son, King Balak of Moab, showed up and fought against Israel. He sent word to Balaam, summoning Beor's son to put a curse on you. But I wasn't willing to listen to Balaam. So he had to bless you, and I delivered you from his control. "Next, you crossed the Jordan River and arrived at Jericho. But the citizens of Jericho fought you, as did the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites, and the Jebusites, so I gave them into your control. "Then I sent hornets ahead of you to drive out two kings of the Amorites before you without your using either sword or bow. I gave you a land for which you never worked and cities that you didn't build, but that you have lived in. You're eating from vineyards and olive groves that you didn't plant.' "Now you must fear the LORD and serve him in faithfulness and truth. Throw away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Instead, serve the LORD. If you think it's the wrong thing for you to serve the LORD, then choose for yourselves today whom you will serve the gods whom your ancestors served on the other side of the Euphrates River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose territories you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." In response, the people said, "Far be it from us that we should abandon the LORD to serve other gods, since the LORD our God is the one who brought us and our ancestors up from the land of Egypt, from a life of slavery. He did those great things right in front of us, preserving us along the way that we traveled and among all the nations through whose territory we passed. The LORD expelled all the people before us, including the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore, we also will serve the LORD, since he is our God." So Joshua told the people, "You will not be able to serve the LORD, because he is a God of Holiness. He is a jealous God, and he will forgive neither your transgressions nor your sins. If you abandon the LORD and serve foreign deities, then he will turn and do you harm, consuming you after all the good he has done for you." "No," the people replied to Joshua. "We will serve the LORD." Joshua responded, "You are giving testimony against yourselves, that you have chosen to serve the LORD." They replied, "We are witnesses!" Joshua said, "Therefore abandon the foreign gods that are among you, and turn your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel." The people replied, "We will serve the LORD our God and obey his voice." So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, making statutes and ordinances in Shechem. He wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God, took a large stone, moved it under the shade of the oak tree that was near the sanctuary of the LORD, and then told all of the people, "Look! This stone will testify for us, because it has heard everything that the LORD has spoken to us. So it will stand as a witness against you in the event that you deny your God." Then Joshua dismissed the people, and each man returned to his territorial inheritance.