Thematic Bible


Thematic Bible



So Joshua {made a covenant} with the people on that day, and he established for them a statute and a judgment at Shechem.

But Joshua said to the people, "You cannot serve Yahweh, for he [is] a holy and jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins. If you forsake Yahweh and serve foreign gods, he will turn and bring disaster to you; he will destroy you after he has done good to you." And the people said to Joshua, "No, we will serve Yahweh." read more.
And Joshua said to the people, "You [are] witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen for yourselves to serve Yahweh." And they said, "[We are] witnesses." He said, "Remove the foreign gods that [are] in your midst, and incline your hearts to Yahweh the God of Israel." And the people said to Joshua, "We will serve Yahweh our God, and we will listen to his voice." So Joshua {made a covenant} with the people on that day, and he established for them a statute and a judgment at Shechem. Then Joshua wrote these words in a scroll of the law of God, and he took a large stone and set it up there under a large tree, which [is] at the shrine of Yahweh. And Joshua said to all the people, "Look, this stone will be a witness against us, for it has heard all the words of Yahweh that he spoke with us. It will be as a witness against you, so that you do not deny your God." Then Joshua sent the people away to their inheritance.

All the lords of Shechem and Beth-Millo gathered, and they went and made Abimelech as king, near [the] oak of [the] pillar that [is] at Shechem. Verse ConceptsPillarsObelisksOaksMaking KingsCitizens

So Joshua {made a covenant} with the people on that day, and he established for them a statute and a judgment at Shechem. Then Joshua wrote these words in a scroll of the law of God, and he took a large stone and set it up there under a large tree, which [is] at the shrine of Yahweh. And Joshua said to all the people, "Look, this stone will be a witness against us, for it has heard all the words of Yahweh that he spoke with us. It will be as a witness against you, so that you do not deny your God."

And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem; he summoned the elders of Israel, their heads, their judges, and their officials, and they presented themselves before God. And Joshua said to all the people, "Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel: '{Long ago} your ancestors--Terah the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor--lived beyond the river, and they served other gods. I took your ancestor Abraham from beyond the river and led him through all the land of Canaan, and I increased his offspring; I gave him Isaac, read more.
and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. To Esau I gave the hill country of Seir to possess, but Jacob and his children went down [to] Egypt. And I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt with what I did in its midst; and afterward I brought you out. When I brought out your ancestors from Egypt, you came to the sea, and the Egyptians pursued after your ancestors with chariots and horsemen to the {Red Sea}. They cried out to Yahweh, and he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and he brought the sea over them and covered them; your own eyes saw what I did in Egypt. Then you lived in the wilderness for many days. And I brought you to the land of the Amorites who lived beyond the Jordan; they fought you, and I gave them into your hand; you took possession of their land, and I destroyed them {before you}. Then Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, set out and fought against Israel, and he sent and summoned Balaam son of Beor to curse you, but I was not willing to listen to Balaam, and he richly blessed you. So I rescued you from his hand, and you crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho. And the citizens of Jericho, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, fought against you, and I gave them into your hand. I sent before you [the] hornet and they drove out before you two kings of the Amorites; [but] not by your sword or bow. I gave to you a land that you have not labored on, and cities that you have not built, and you live in them; you eat [from] vineyards and olive groves that you have not planted.' "So now, revere Yahweh and serve him in sincerity and faithfulness; remove the gods that your ancestors served beyond the river and in Egypt, and serve Yahweh. But if it is bad in your eyes to serve Yahweh, choose for yourselves today whom you want to serve, whether it is the gods that your ancestors served beyond the river, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you [are] living; but as for me and my household, we will serve Yahweh." And the people answered and said, "Far be it from us that we would forsake Yahweh to serve other gods, for Yahweh our God brought us and our ancestors from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery, and did these great signs before our eyes. He protected us along the entire way that we went, and among all the peoples through whose midst we passed. And Yahweh drove out all the people before us, the Amorites who live [in] the land. We will serve Yahweh, for he [is] our God." But Joshua said to the people, "You cannot serve Yahweh, for he [is] a holy and jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins. If you forsake Yahweh and serve foreign gods, he will turn and bring disaster to you; he will destroy you after he has done good to you." And the people said to Joshua, "No, we will serve Yahweh." And Joshua said to the people, "You [are] witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen for yourselves to serve Yahweh." And they said, "[We are] witnesses." He said, "Remove the foreign gods that [are] in your midst, and incline your hearts to Yahweh the God of Israel." And the people said to Joshua, "We will serve Yahweh our God, and we will listen to his voice." So Joshua {made a covenant} with the people on that day, and he established for them a statute and a judgment at Shechem. Then Joshua wrote these words in a scroll of the law of God, and he took a large stone and set it up there under a large tree, which [is] at the shrine of Yahweh. And Joshua said to all the people, "Look, this stone will be a witness against us, for it has heard all the words of Yahweh that he spoke with us. It will be as a witness against you, so that you do not deny your God." Then Joshua sent the people away to their inheritance.

So Joshua {made a covenant} with the people on that day, and he established for them a statute and a judgment at Shechem.

So Samuel took a single stone and put [it] between Mizpah and Shen, and he named it Ebenezer and said, "Up to here Yahweh has helped us." Verse ConceptsCeremoniesStonesMonumentsGod Helpshelphelping

And those twelve stones that they took from the Jordan, Joshua set up in Gilgal. And he said to the {Israelites}, "When your children ask in the future {their parents}, '{What is the meaning of these stones}?' you will let your children know [by] saying, 'Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground.' read more.
For Yahweh your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you, until you had crossed, just as Yahweh your God did to the {Red Sea}, which he dried up before us until we had crossed over, so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of Yahweh [is] strong, so that you may fear Yahweh your God {forever}."

And Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up [as] a stone pillar, and poured oil on top of it. And he called the name of that place Bethel; however, the name of the city [was] formerly Luz. And Jacob made a vow saying, "If God will be with me and protect me on this way that I am going, and gives me food to eat and clothing to wear, read more.
and [if] I return in peace to the house of my father, then Yahweh will become my God. And this stone that I have set up [as] a pillar shall be the house of God, and [of] all that you give to me I will certainly give a tenth to you."

And Jacob took a stone and set it up [as] a stone pillar. And Jacob said to his kinsmen, "Gather stones." And they took stones and made a pile of stones, and they ate there by the pile of stones. And Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, but Jacob called it Galeed. read more.
Then Laban said, "This pile of stones [is] a witness between me and you today." Therefore its name is called Galeed, and Mizpah, because he said, "Yahweh watch between me and you when {we are out of sight of each other}. If you mistreat my daughters, and if you take wives besides my daughters, [when] there is no man with us, see--God [is] a witness between me and you." And Laban said to Jacob, "See, this pile of stones, and see the pillar that I have set up between me and you. This pile of stones [is] a witness, and the pillar [is] a witness, that I will not pass beyond this pile of stones to you, and that you will not pass beyond this pile of stones and this pillar to me intending harm.

"Take twelve men from the people, {one man from each tribe}, and command them, saying, 'Take for yourselves twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan where the priests' feet stood firmly, and bring them over with you, and set them up in {the place where you will camp tonight}.'" So Joshua summoned the twelve men whom he had appointed from the {Israelites}, one from each tribe. read more.
And Joshua said to them, "Cross [over] before the ark of Yahweh your God to the middle of the Jordan, and each one of you lift up a stone on your shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the {Israelites}, so that this may be a reminder among you. When your children ask in the future, saying, '{What do these stones mean to you}?' you will say to them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off {from before} the ark of the covenant of Yahweh. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones will be as a memorial for the {Israelites} for eternity." Thus the {Israelites} did as Joshua commanded. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan as Yahweh told Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the {Israelites}, and they carried them over with them to {the camp}, and they put them there. Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests carrying the ark of the covenant [stood], and they are there to this day.