Part 145 (1/2)
24:12. And I sent before you and I drove them out from their places, the two kings of the Amorrhites, not with thy sword nor with thy bow,
24:13. And I gave you a land, in which you had not laboured, and cities to dwell in which you built not, vineyards and oliveyards, which you planted not.
24:14. Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him with a perfect and most sincere heart: and put away the G.o.ds which your fathers served in Mesopotamia and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.
24:15. But if it seem evil to you to serve the Lord, you have your choice: choose this day that which pleaseth you, whom you would rather serve, whether the G.o.ds which your fathers served in Mesopotamia, or the G.o.ds of the Amorrhites, in whose land you dwell: but as for me and my house we will serve thee Lord,
24:16. And the people answered, and said, G.o.d forbid we should leave the Lord, and serve strange G.o.ds.
24:17. The Lord our G.o.d he brought us and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage: and did very great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way by which we journeyed, and among all the people through whom we pa.s.sed.
24:18. And he hath cast out all the nations, the Amorrhite the inhabitant of the land into which we are come. Therefore we will serve the Lord, for he is our G.o.d.
24:19. And Josue said to the people: You will not be able to serve the Lord: for he is a holy G.o.d, and mighty and jealous, and will not forgive your wickedness and sins.
You will not be able to serve the Lord, etc... This was not said by way of discouraging them; but rather to make them more earnest and resolute, by setting before them the greatness of the undertaking, and the courage and constancy necessary to go through with it.
24:20. If you leave the Lord, and serve strange G.o.ds, he will turn, and will afflict you, and will destroy you after all the good he hath done you.
24:21. And the people said to Josue: No, it shall not be so as thou sayest, but we will serve the Lord.
24:22. And Josue said to the people, You are witnesses, that you yourselves have chosen you the Lord to serve him. And they answered: We are witnesses.
24:23. Now therefore, said he, put away strange G.o.ds from among you, and incline your hearts to the Lord the G.o.d of Israel.
24:24. And the people said to Josue: We will serve the Lord our G.o.d, and we will be obedient to his commandments.
24:25. Josue therefore on that day made a covenant, and set before the people commandments and judgments in Sichem.
24:26. And he wrote all these things in the volume of the law of the Lord: and he took a great stone, and set it under the oak that was in the sanctuary of the Lord.
24:27. And he said to all the people: Behold this stone shall be a testimony unto you, that it hath heard all the words of the Lord, which he hath spoken to you: lest perhaps hereafter you will deny it, and lie to the Lord your G.o.d.
It hath heard... This is a figure of speech, by which sensation is attributed to inanimate things; and they are called upon, as it were, to bear witness in favour of the great Creator, whom they on their part constantly obey.
24:28. And he sent the people away every one to their own possession,
24:29. And after these things Josue the son of Nun the servant of the Lord died, being a hundred and ten years old:
And after, etc... If Josue wrote this book, as is commonly believed, these last verses were added by Samuel, or some other prophet.
24:30. And they buried him in the border of his possession in Thamnathsare, which is situate in mount Ephraim, on the north side of mount Gaas.
24:31. And Israel served the Lord all the days of Josue, and of the ancients that lived a long time after Josue, and that had known all the works of the Lord which he had done in Israel.
24:32. And the bones of Joseph which the children of Israel had taken out of Egypt, they buried in Sichem, in that part of the field which Jacob had bought of the sons of Hemor the father of Sichem, for a hundred young ewes, and it was in the possession of the sons of Joseph.