Thematic Bible




Thematic Bible



On that day Joshua made a covenant for the people at Shechem and established a statute and ordinance for them.

But Joshua told the people, "You will not be able to worship the Lord, because He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not remove your transgressions and sins. If you abandon the Lord and worship foreign gods, He will turn against [you], harm you, and completely destroy you, after He has been good to you." "No!" the people answered Joshua. "We will worship the Lord." read more.
Joshua then told the people, "You are witnesses against yourselves that you yourselves have chosen to worship the Lord." "We are witnesses," they said. "Then get rid of the foreign gods that are among you and offer your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel." So the people said to Joshua, "We will worship the Lord our God and obey Him." On that day Joshua made a covenant for the people at Shechem and established a statute and ordinance for them. Joshua recorded these things in the book of the law of God; he also took a large stone and set it up there under the oak next to the sanctuary of the Lord. And Joshua said to all the people, "You see this stone-it will be a witness against us, for it has heard all the words the Lord said to us, and it will be a witness against you, so that you will not deny your God." Then Joshua sent the people away, each to his own inheritance.


Then all the lords of Shechem and of Beth-millo gathered together and proceeded to make Abimelech king at the oak of the pillar in Shechem.

On that day Joshua made a covenant for the people at Shechem and established a statute and ordinance for them. Joshua recorded these things in the book of the law of God; he also took a large stone and set it up there under the oak next to the sanctuary of the Lord. And Joshua said to all the people, "You see this stone-it will be a witness against us, for it has heard all the words the Lord said to us, and it will be a witness against you, so that you will not deny your God."


Joshua assembled all the tribes of Israel at Shechem and summoned Israel's elders, leaders, judges, and officers, and they presented themselves before God. Joshua said to all the people, "This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'Long ago your ancestors, including Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates River and worshiped other gods. But I took your father Abraham from the region beyond the Euphrates River, led him throughout the land of Canaan, and multiplied his descendants. I gave him Isaac, read more.
and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I gave the hill country of Seir to Esau as a possession, but Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt. " 'Then I sent Moses and Aaron, I plagued Egypt by what I did there, and afterwards I brought you out. When I brought your fathers out of Egypt and you reached the Red Sea, the Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen as far as the sea. Your fathers cried out to the Lord, so He put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea over them, engulfing them. Your own eyes saw what I did to Egypt. After that, you lived in the wilderness a long time. " 'Later, I brought you to the land of the Amorites who lived beyond the Jordan. They fought against you, but I handed them over to you. You possessed their land, and I annihilated them before you. Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, set out to fight against Israel. He sent for Balaam son of Beor to curse you, but I would not listen to Balaam. Instead, he repeatedly blessed you, and I delivered you from his hand. " 'You then crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho. The people of Jericho-as well as the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites, and Jebusites-fought against you, but I handed them over to you. I sent the hornet ahead of you, and it drove out the two Amorite kings before you. It was not by your sword or bow. I gave you a land you did not labor for, and cities you did not build, though you live in them; you are eating from vineyards and olive groves you did not plant.' "Therefore, fear the Lord and worship Him in sincerity and truth. Get rid of the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and worship the Lord. But if it doesn't please you to worship the Lord, choose for yourselves today the one you will worship: the gods your fathers worshiped beyond the Euphrates River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. As for me and my family, we will worship the Lord." The people replied, "We will certainly not abandon the Lord to worship other gods! For the Lord our God brought us and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, the place of slavery and performed these great signs before our eyes. He also protected us all along the way we went and among all the peoples whose lands we traveled through. The Lord drove out before us all the peoples, including the Amorites who lived in the land. We too will worship the Lord, because He is our God." But Joshua told the people, "You will not be able to worship the Lord, because He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not remove your transgressions and sins. If you abandon the Lord and worship foreign gods, He will turn against [you], harm you, and completely destroy you, after He has been good to you." "No!" the people answered Joshua. "We will worship the Lord." Joshua then told the people, "You are witnesses against yourselves that you yourselves have chosen to worship the Lord." "We are witnesses," they said. "Then get rid of the foreign gods that are among you and offer your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel." So the people said to Joshua, "We will worship the Lord our God and obey Him." On that day Joshua made a covenant for the people at Shechem and established a statute and ordinance for them. Joshua recorded these things in the book of the law of God; he also took a large stone and set it up there under the oak next to the sanctuary of the Lord. And Joshua said to all the people, "You see this stone-it will be a witness against us, for it has heard all the words the Lord said to us, and it will be a witness against you, so that you will not deny your God." Then Joshua sent the people away, each to his own inheritance.


On that day Joshua made a covenant for the people at Shechem and established a statute and ordinance for them.

Afterward, Samuel took a stone and set it upright between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, explaining, “The Lord has helped us to this point.”

Then Joshua set up in Gilgal the 12 stones they had taken from the Jordan, and he said to the Israelites, "When your children ask their fathers in the future, 'What is the meaning of these stones?' you should tell your children, 'Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.' read more.
For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over, just as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed over. This is so that all the people of the earth may know that the Lord's hand is mighty, and so that you may always fear the Lord your God."

Early in the morning Jacob took the stone that was near his head and set it up as a marker. He poured oil on top of it and named the place Bethel, though previously the city was named Luz. Then Jacob made a vow: "If God will be with me and watch over me on this journey, if He provides me with food to eat and clothing to wear, read more.
and if I return safely to my father's house, then the Lord will be my God. This stone that I have set up as a marker will be God's house, and I will give to You a tenth of all that You give me."

So Jacob picked out a stone and set it up as a marker. Then Jacob said to his relatives, "Gather stones." And they took stones and made a mound, then ate there by the mound. Laban named the mound Jegar-sahadutha, but Jacob named it Galeed. read more.
Then Laban said, "This mound is a witness between me and you today." Therefore the place was called Galeed, and [also] Mizpah, for he said, "May the Lord watch between you and me when we are out of each other's sight. If you mistreat my daughters or take other wives, though no one is with us, understand that God will be a witness between you and me." Laban also said to Jacob, "Look at this mound and the marker I have set up between you and me. This mound is a witness and the marker is a witness that I will not pass beyond this mound to you, and you will not pass beyond this mound and this marker to do me harm.

"Choose 12 men from the people, one man for each tribe, and command them, 'Take 12 stones from this place in the middle of the Jordan where the priests' feet are standing, carry them with you, and set them down at the place where you spend the night.' " So Joshua summoned the 12 men selected from the Israelites, one man for each tribe, read more.
and said to them, "Go across to the ark of the Lord your God in the middle of the Jordan. Each of you lift a stone onto his shoulder, one for each of the Israelite tribes, so that this will be a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, 'What do these stones mean to you?' you should tell them, 'The waters of the Jordan were cut off in front of the ark of the Lord's covenant. When it crossed the Jordan, the Jordan's waters were cut off.' Therefore these stones will always be a memorial for the Israelites." The Israelites did just as Joshua had commanded them. The 12 men took stones from the middle of the Jordan, one for each of the Israelite tribes, just as the Lord had told Joshua. They carried them to the camp and set them down there. Joshua also set up 12 stones in the middle of the Jordan where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant were standing. The stones are there to this day.